ARLINGTON, Texas — The first breaking ball from Texas Rangers reliever David Robertson fooled New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez. He failed to complete the follow-through on his swing on a pitch that landed low in the zone. Strike one.
That’s all it took. From there, Alvarez zeroed in. There would be no more mistakes — not from the 22-year-old, anyway.
In fact, Alvarez was so locked in, he watched a pitch narrowly miss out of the zone away that was nonetheless called a strike. In response, Alvarez dropped his hands, turned to home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski and nodded his head. The count: 1-2. No panic.
From there, Alvarez laid off an enticing cutter away then ignored another breaking ball out of the zone. With the count full, Robertson’s cutter got too much of the plate. Alvarez crushed it for a two-run double.
Alvarez’s two-out hit against a tough, veteran right-hander in the eighth inning capped the Mets’ comeback. Yes, another one. And then they won. Again. In its ongoing reversal of its season, New York (35-37) ended the day just a half-game out of a wild-card spot.
A GAME-TYING 2-RBI DOUBLE FOR FRANCISCO ALVAREZ! pic.twitter.com/8peOHLBjGh
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 19, 2024
The Mets have won seven straight — their longest winning streak of the season — mostly because they are getting production from the best players in their lineup. That theme continued Tuesday night in the Mets’ 7-6 win over the Rangers, with Pete Alonso’s double in the ninth inning providing the final margin, but there was also another key development.
The Mets’ younger everyday position players — third baseman Mark Vientos and Alvarez — showed they’re ready for the moment, too.
In a sign of how far he’s come over the last two years, when in the distant past he’d be too aggressive in critical moments, Alvarez said he tried to remain patient during his at-bat against Robertson. He caught Robertson last year when they shared a clubhouse. The familiarity helped, he said. He waited on a mistake and pounced on an opportunity. He thought small and came up big.
“That was a really special at-bat,” Alonso said.
It ended with Alvarez’s third hit of the game. It was his second straight three-hit game. After Alvarez (thumb surgery) returned to the lineup June 11, he struggled to find his timing and went 2-for-14 without an extra-base hit over his first six games back. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said he noticed an improvement with the timing during an at-bat Monday when Alvarez fouled off a slider. Before Tuesday’s game, Mendoza said, “We know he can be a pretty dangerous hitter soon.”
It didn’t take long. With the rust gone, Alvarez is at a point where he can play three games in a row, Mendoza said. He’s also a considerable threat in the lineup again.
Vientos, 24, has a similar story. He had cooled down after a torrid stretch upon his recall on May 15. Over a 10-game stretch heading into Monday, Vientos was 6-for-32 (.188 batting average). The league had made some adjustments to him. It was his turn to counter (after all, an inability to do just that contributed to Brett Baty, 24, losing his job to Vientos). Monday, Vientos went 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Tuesday, Vientos went 3-for-5 with a home run carrying a 113 mph exit velocity.
From Mendoza’s perspective, Vientos didn’t panic. He’s playing every day regardless of the handedness of the pitcher, so he remained relaxed. He stayed ready to hit pitches that he could do damage on, like fastballs and hanging breaking balls. And he hasn’t missed many of those.
“That was massive — massive,” Alonso said. “Mark had a huge day at the plate. And then Alvy with that laser to left-center — so clutch. That was big-time.”
The ideal scenario for the Mets this season was to have their veteran bats perform the way they’re capable of and have their young hitters contribute without feeling the added pressure of needing to do any heavy lifting. At last, it’s happening. It’s no wonder, especially after racking up 14 runs Monday, that people within the Mets figured they could erase a four-run deficit Tuesday. In the bullpen, Mets relievers looked at Rangers closer Kirby Yates’ pristine stats and figured the Mets were due to get to him. In the dugout, position players thought a rally was entirely feasible. They were all right. Afterward, Mendoza told one of his coaches, “I never felt we were out of that game.” The way things have been going, why would he?
The Mets wanted to compete for the playoffs in 2024, but they also wanted to see more of what they had in their young players. A few key position-player prospects lost time with injuries. Atop that list is top prospect Jett Williams, who said at Globe Life Field — he lives nearby and Mendoza asked him to be with the team — that he planned to participate in the Arizona Fall League but acknowledged he would likely be out the rest of the year after wrist surgery. At the major-league level, though, Vientos is running with an opportunity and Alvarez is demonstrating growth in his second full season. Batting sixth and seventh in a deep lineup that took a while to click the way it was expected to, Vientos and Alvarez are also helping New York win.
(Photo of pitcher Luis Severino and catcher Francisco Alvarez: Tim Heitman / USA Today)
