The lack of home runs doesn’t bother Eric Chavez.
This is not the problem, believes the Mets hitting coach, when it comes to Francisco Alvarez’s ongoing lack of form.
“I literally told him this: ‘Everybody wants to talk about home runs, everybody wants to get right into home runs.’ I told him: ‘I just want you to be a good hitter,'” Chavez said of the catcher, who was 0-for-4 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 this game, no question.’ I put my name on that. There’s no doubt about it. But he just has to learn to be a good hitter.”
It is an ongoing process.
After missing seven weeks with a torn ligament in his left thumb, Alvarez came back red hot, posting a 1.125 OPS in 15 games in June to give the Mets a boost. He hit safely in 11 of those games and had eight extra-base hits. But July was not good, with Alvarez managing just a .577 OPS. Only recently has he looked better at bat, though he’s only hitting .243/.282/.297 this month.
“I told him, ‘Last year you hit 25 home runs. Did you think it was a good year? Because I didn’t,'” Chavez said of Alvarez, who has a mediocre .712 OPS this season but just five home runs and 27 RBIs in 214 at-bats. “When you looked at all your numbers, I thought they weren’t good at all. I said, ‘When you came back from your injury this year, you were a good hitter. You’ll learn to hit home runs, but become a good hitter first and make consistent contact and hit the mistakes, then the home runs will come.’ Everyone just wants to hit home runs right away — that messes things up a little bit.”
Chavez believes the 22-year-old Alvarez has been too focused on the home run and trying to pull the ball instead of using all the pitches. Chavez has noticed progress recently. From July 1 to August 4, Alvarez struck out 26 times in 20 games. In the last 10 games, he has missed nine times.
“I tell him: He has a Ferrari engine. He just needs to work on the brakes,” said the hitting coach. “He can drive the car at 100. I need him at 30. Once he learns to control his body, he’ll be better.”
