The New York Mets optioned Francisco Alvarez to Triple-A prior to Sunday's game, and it's hard to say that the move wasn't justified. Alvarez has slashed .236/.319/.333 with three home runs and 11 RBI in 35 games this season while also regressing in a major way defensively. Alvarez has been outplayed in every facet of the game by Luis Torrens this season, so handing Torrens the starting role makes sense for a team looking to keep pace in the NL East.
Still, sending Alvarez down is a move that hurts, and it's tough not to give hitting coach Eric Chavez at least some of the blame for how his career has unfolded thus far. Alvarez was once considered MLB's top prospect, thanks in large part to his light-tower power. Alvarez's power would be electric from a player at any position, but the right-handed slugger being a catcher with such a high offensive ceiling made him an easy prospect to get excited about.
Alvarez showed off that power in a big way in his rookie year, as he socked 25 home runs in 123 games in 2023. Sure, he had areas where he had to improve to become more of a well-rounded player, but how can you not get excited by a catcher hitting 25 home runs as a rookie?
Well, Chavez was one of very few individuals who were not thrilled with Alvarez's rookie year.
Get Eric Chavez the fuck off my team. He broke Alvarez. Wtf is this pic.twitter.com/GWNDhIFflL
— George (@Georgemonokrou2) August 25, 2024
"I told him: Listen, you hit 25 home runs last year," Chavez said back in 2024. "That's great. I looked at your year and I don't think it was very good. There's a lot of areas you could get better at."
Really? Sure, Alvarez certainly showed he had more room to grow, but how is a 25-home run season from a 21-year-old rookie catcher not a good year? Not only were Chavez's comments certainly demoralizing, but whatever adjustments Alvarez has made since have made him regress as a hitter.
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Eric Chavez deserves a lot of blame for Francisco Alvarez's regression
Since the 25-home run campaign, Alvarez has combined to go deep just 14 times in 135 games over the past two seasons. In fact, he nearly hit as many home runs in 2023 (25) as extra-base hits in 2024 and 2025 combined (33). A big reason why his power has decreased is because his approach has changed.
Alvarez pulled the ball 38.5 percent of the time overall and 19.0 percent of the time in the air in 2023. Those numbers dipped to 33.0 percent and 14.7 percent in 2024, and 32.9 percent and 10.6 percent this season. It goes without saying that pulling the baseball, particularly in the air, gives you the best chance of doing damage. Alvarez is doing less of that, and his power has fallen off a cliff as a result.
This approach presumably has a lot to do with Chavez wanting Alvarez to be a more well-rounded hitter. He's more interested in Alvarez lining a single to right field than pulling a 450-foot home run to left field. I mean, he launched a 452-foot blast on Saturday, and found himself demoted to the Minors before the Mets played another game.
Alvarez has to be better, obviously, but you can't help but blame the change of his approach on the hitting coach.
Francisco Alvarez has to go back to what got him to the Majors
Alvarez was far from perfect in his rookie year. Yes, the 25 home runs were great, but he had a .284 OBP and a .721 OPS. He's been getting on base more since that rookie year, but his OPS has still dipped because his power has disappeared.
Alvarez became the highly-touted prospect he was because of his power. Why the Mets wanted him to go away from what worked for him to pursue hitting opposite-field singles is something only Chavez can answer. Shouldn't the Mets want him to do what they signed him to do? Why are we changing a 23-year-old's approach?
Hopefully, the Mets will simply let Alvarez let it rip in Triple-A and watch him hit more 450-foot moonshots. It's important that he finds his way on base, but he needs to rediscover that power stroke.
Mets offense as a whole has underwhelmed under Eric Chavez
Ultimately, this is beyond Alvarez. This entire Mets offense has underwhelmed this season. Many thought the offense would carry New York, but instead, the team ranks tied for 12th in runs scored and has hit just .214 with runners in scoring position, the second-worst mark in the Majors.
While the players have to perform better, it's hard not to look at Chavez. I mean, has anyone not named Pete Alonso, who has been using outside resources, performed better than expected this season? I'd argue that guys like Alvarez, Juan Soto and Mark Vientos have taken major steps back from where they were previously.
The Mets are not going to fire Chavez, at least not right now, but he should be firmly under the microscope, especially given how this 23-year-old who was seen as a future star just a couple of years ago has taken such a step back.