The lack of home runs isn’t an issue for Eric Chavez.
When it comes to Francisco Alvarez’s long slump, the Mets hitting coach doesn’t think it’s an issue.
“Literally what I told him is, ‘Everybody wants to talk about home runs, everybody wants to jump on home runs,’ and I told him, ‘I just want you to be a good hitter,'” Chavez said of the catcher, who was hitless in four at-bats in Saturday’s 4-0 win over the Marlins at Citi Field. “I said, ‘In a few years, you’re going to be the best offensive catcher in the sport. There’s no doubt about that.’ I’ll say that. There’s no doubt about it. But he just needs to learn how to be a good hitter.”
It’s an ongoing process.
After missing seven weeks with a torn ligament in his left thumb, Alvarez gave the Mets a boost in June with a 1.125 OPS in 15 games. Alvarez got a hit in 11 of those games, with eight extra-base hits. But July was a tough month for Alvarez, who posted a .577 OPS. He’s only recently started to show signs of improvement at the plate, but he’s only slashing .243/.282/.297 this month.
“I said to him, ‘You hit 25 homers last year. Do you think it was a good year? I didn’t think so,'” Chavez said of Alvarez, who has a mediocre .712 OPS this season but five homers and 27 RBIs in 214 at-bats. “When I looked at all your numbers, I thought they were just not good. I said, ‘You were a good hitter when you came back from injury this year. You’ll work on hitting home runs, but you have to be a good hitter first, make consistent contact and hit mistakes, and the home runs will come.’ Everybody wants to hit home runs right away. That makes it a little confusing.”
Chavez believes the 22-year-old Alvarez was too focused on hitting home runs, trying to pull the ball too much and not using all sides. Chavez feels he’s made progress recently. From July 1 to Aug. 4, Alvarez struck out 26 times in 20 games. He has nine strikeouts in his last 10 games.
“I tell him, ‘He’s got a Ferrari engine. He just needs to learn how to use the brakes,'” the hitting coach said. “He can drive a car at 100 mph. I want him to drive it at 30. If he can control his body, he’ll be a lot better.”
