Francisco Alvarez was at the batting cages at Citi Field around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, one of the few spectators in a nearly empty stadium.
Alvarez, an on-off mainstay in the Mets’ lineup, is working harder to determine what he needs to change in his swing and approach at the plate to find the consistency he hasn’t seen since June.
Alvarez’s production dropped off significantly after the All-Star break.
In the first half of the season, he recorded 42 hits in 142 at-bats, 4 home runs, 23 RBIs, 37 strikeouts, and an OPS of .844.
After the hiatus, he entered Wednesday’s game with 10 hits in 60 at-bats and a .444 OPS, giving up just one home run, walking twice and striking out 19 times.
He also is without a hit in his past 11 at-bats.
Asked what he saw in Alvarez’s most recent at-bats, manager Carlos Mendoza said he saw “a little bit of everything,” from catchers chasing balls that “can do damage” to delays.
“I think he’s going through it and he’s exploring a little bit. It was good to see him get some early at-bats today,” Mendoza said before the Mets played against the Athletics on Wednesday night. “He’s been working really hard.” [hitting coaches Eric Chavez] Shavei and [Jeremy Barnes] “Barnesy.”
For the season as a whole, Alvarez chased more pitches outside the strike zone (29.4%), a 3.3% higher chase rate than he did in the 2023 season.
Similarly, hard hit rate also decreased by 6.3 percent.
Alvarez hit just five home runs in 61 games.
Last season, he had 14 hits with that same number.
However, Mendoza doesn’t think these hardships will be too much of a burden for Alcarez.
“The good thing is, we’re looking at the same guy. Good mentality, positivity,” Mendoza said. “He knows how important he is to the organization, so he wants to contribute. But whether that’s being late sometimes, chasing or just missing pitches, that’s what we’re looking at.”
