Mets have another good luck charm not named Grimace to thank for resurgence

Would you look at that? The New York Mets won again. They took both games in the Queens portion of the Subway Series, beating the New York Yankees 12-2 on Wednesday to get back to .500 for the first time in a long time.

The Mets have been playing their best baseball of the season since Grimace threw out the first pitch at Citi Field on June 12. They've gone 11-2 since that fateful day, and are now just 1.5 games out of a postseason spot.

While Grimace, of course, deserves a lot of credit, there's one other good luck charm whose contributions simply cannot be overlooked. That good luck charm is Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez.

Francisco Alvarez's return has been a catalyst in Mets streak

The Mets have gone on two big hot streaks this season. This one has generated the most publicity, obviously, but the Mets bounced back from their 0-5 start by going on a 12-3 stretch immediately after. They took series on the road against teams like the Braves and Dodgers. What's notable about that streak is that Alvarez was playing most of the time.

He left the first game of that Dodgers series with a thumb injury which wound up sidelining him for almost two full months. While they won the Dodgers series, the Mets had a rough finish to the month of April and went 9-19 in May. They were one of the worst teams in baseball during the time Alvarez missed.

He returned from the injured list the day before Grimace threw out the first pitch, and it's no coincidence that the Mets have picked up their play substantially since.

This is a real statistic. They're 22-8 when he appears in a game overall this season. Mostly everyone on the team has stepped up, obviously, but his contributions on both sides of the plate cannot be ignored.

Mets pitchers have a 2.71 ERA when throwing to Alvarez. Mets pitchers have ERAs well over 4.00 when throwing to Omar Narvaez, Luis Torrens, and Tomas Nido the other catchers who have seen substantial action on this Mets team. In fact, Alvarez's 2.71 catcher ERA leads the majors for catchers who have caught more than 21 games.

On the offensive side of things, he's slashing .313/.383/.521 on the season with four home runs and 19 RBI. He's been incredibly clutch as well, hitting over .300 with runners in scoring position. Since returning from the IL, he's slashing .415/.500/.732 with three home runs and 11 RBI in 14 appearances, and that's after he got off to a 2-for-14 start.

Grimace deserves a ton of credit, obviously, but the Mets getting a budding star back has clearly made a huge impact. They've pitched better, and have been the best offensive team in the majors in the month of June. As long as Alvarez can stay healthy, this Mets team is capable of playing competitive baseball.