CHICAGO — Francisco Alvarez's offensive production has plummeted, but not enough to prompt manager Carlos Mendoza to consider reconfiguring the Mets' catching staff.
“Alvarez is our player,” Mendoza said Saturday when asked about the possibility of Luis Torrens adding another spot in the lineup. “Luis has done a great job, but Alvarez is our player.”
Alvarez entered the day with a .435 OPS, his lowest since the All-Star break, and his last multi-hit game was on Aug. 7.
Coming into this game, Alvarez had allowed one hit (all singles) in each of his previous three starts, so he was arguably taking a step in the right direction.
“He hasn't produced the results, but he's chasing them at times, but I think he's getting close,” Mendoza said before the Mets beat the White Sox, 5-3, on Saturday at Guaranteed Rate Field.[Friday] He's had a couple of swings where he whiffed on a couple pitches and missed the slider off the end of the bat a couple of times, but I like what I'm seeing right now. He's working really hard.”
Mendoza noted that Alvarez arrived early on Friday and Saturday to work on his swing mechanics.
“I'm sure he's close to winning,” Mendoza said of Alvarez, who was 0-for-4 in Saturday's win.
Alex Young is expected to be recalled Sunday when the roster expands to 28 players to add a second left-handed pitcher to the Mets' bullpen.
According to Joel Sherman of the Washington Post, the team also plans to call up utility man Pablo Reyes.
Young pitched in seven games for the Mets with a 1.29 ERA before being used to await Reid Garrett's return from the disabled list.
Mendoza pointed to Young's ability to pitch multiple innings and his success against right-handed pitchers as factors that worked in his favor.
The Mets have used Danny Young as the only left-handed pitcher in their bullpen for the past three weeks.
Reyes has appeared in 21 games for the Red Sox this season and will bring speed and defense off the bench.
Edwin Diaz missed Saturday's pitching appearance as he was pitching three consecutive days for the first time this season.
The Mets closer missed a save on a Corbin Carroll grand slam in Arizona on Wednesday, but pitched a perfect ninth inning on Friday for his second straight good outing.
Since then, Diaz has rarely thrown the slider that Carroll used to hit home runs.
Three days earlier, Jackson Merrill hit a walk-off home run on a slider against Diaz in San Diego.
Diaz only used the pitch once, on Thursday and Friday.
But Diaz said he liked the slider he threw on Friday and would have liked to throw another one, but gave it up to Alvarez.
As for the three consecutive days of work, Diaz said he is willing to repeat it if necessary.
“We're playing a playoff game, so we're always ready,” Diaz said.
