Around 2:30 Wednesday afternoon, Francisco Alvarez was in the Citi Field batting cages, one of the only people in a nearly empty stadium.
An on-and-off powerhouse for the Mets lineup, Alvarez is taking extra steps to figure out what needs to change in his swing or plate approach to find some sort of consistency — something he hasn’t seen since June.
Alvarez’s production took a significant dip after the All-Star break.
In the first half of the season, he went 42-for-142 with four home runs, 23 RBIs, 37 strikeouts and an .844 OPS.
Since the break, he entered play Wednesday with 10 hits in 60 at-bats for a .444 OPS and has only recorded one home run while walking twice and striking out 19 times.
He also has been hitless in his last 11 trips to the plate.
When asked what he has seen in Alvarez’s recent at-bats, manager Carlos Mendoza said he saw “a little bit of everything,” from chasing to being late on pitches the catcher “can do damage with.”
“I think he’s going through it and he’s searching a little bit. It was good to see him out there today for early hitting,” Mendoza said before the Mets took on the A’s Wednesday night. “He’s working really hard with [hitting coaches Eric Chavez] Chavey and [Jeremy Barnes] Barnesy.”
On the season overall, Alvarez is going after more pitches outside of the strike zone (29.4 percent), which is a chase rate 3.3 percent higher than the 2023 season.
Similarly, his hard-hit percentage has decreased by 6.3 percent.
Through 61 games, Alvarez had only five home runs.
Through the same number last season, he had 14.
Nevertheless, Mendoza doesn’t see the struggles weighing too much on Alcarez.
“The good thing is we see the same guy. Good spirit. Positive,” Mendoza said. “He knows how much he means to the ballclub so he wants to contribute. But that’s what we’re seeing whether it’s late at times or chasing or just missing pitches.”
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