Francisco Alvarez, Photo by Dan Fritz
New York Mets prospect Francisco Alvarez is absolutely raking right now.
The Venezuela catcher, who was ranked by MLB as the No. 13 prospect for the 2018-19 international period, has been a rising star for a while now and he’s really taken that next giant leap so far this season.
Boasting supreme physical strength and explosive power at the plate, Alvarez has been enjoying a stellar year and he was unstoppable for the Brooklyn Cyclones on Saturday.
He doubled deep off the wall in left-center in the fourth inning for the Cyclones against the Hudson Valley Renegades, before showing off his deadly swing with a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning.
It was Alvarez’s fifth home run of the season and, also worth noting, his bat flip game is coming on pretty nicely, as you can see in the below clip.
Francisco Álvarez hit a go-ahead home run in the 8th inning yesterday for the Brooklyn Cyclones.
It’s his 5th home run of the season and his bat flip game is improving.
— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) June 13, 2021
It was just a statement game from Alvarez who, thanks to the fact that he is built like an absolute tank, will hit in the majors and it shouldn’t be too long before we see him in Queens given the current rapid trajectory he’s riding.
And Saturday wasn’t just a one-off either.
Alvarez has been an absolute stud all year long and you only have to delve into some of his stats to get the full picture on just how impressive he’s really been.
For instance, the way Alvarez can just destroy a baseball with absolute ease is scary and that’s backed up by some of his exit velocity numbers on his home runs, including 109 and 104.7 mph.
Alvarez also has nine entries into the hardest hit balls in 2021 among Mets prospects in the minors (prior to Saturday), and that massive raw power will play at any level.
In total, Alvarez has five runs, 12 hits, three home runs, 10 RBIs, a .250 average, .500 slugging and an .839 OPS in 15 games and 48 at bats for the Cyclones, while he also hit promising numbers for the St. Lucie Mets.
Make no doubt about it, Alvarez is an absolute monster in the box, he’s a hell of a lot of fun to watch and if he can keep on mashing the way he is, then don’t be surprised to see the catcher in a Mets uniform sooner rather than later.
