At the beginning of the year, many questions surrounded Francisco Alvarez. People wondered whether he could stay healthy, whether he would maintain the offensive momentum he showed in 2025, and whether he would show the hoped-for defensive improvements. Unfortunately, 2026 did not turn out like anyone hoped, for Alvarez or the Mets, and while his offense was better than his defense, it was not the breakout year some desired.
Alvarez started the season strong with the first successful ABS challenge
in Major League Baseball and hit his first home run of the season on Opening Day. Things were looking up until he tore his right meniscus on May 12 during a plate appearance and was expected to be out for six to eight weeks. However, in keeping with his custom of quick healing, he returned less than four weeks later, on June 9.
Given the number of injuries on the team, Alvarez spent more time as designated hitter than expected at the beginning of the season. Offensively, the season was a mixed bag for him. He had a good start to the season, but some of the same issues that have plagued him in the past came up. He struggled with identifying the best pitches to hit this year. He took more pitches in the zone than he should have, whiffed more on pitches outside the zone than the team average, yet his chase rate was right around the team average. Alvarez hit a long slump after the trade deadline, when his strikeout rate jumped from 26.4% before to 39.4% after. His OPS was .777 before the trade deadline and .579 after the deadline. He ended the year hitting .233/.311/.399, and his wRC+ was 99.
Defensively, Alvarez struggled again this year. He split his time behind the dish with Luis Torrens, starting 82 games as catcher and playing a total of 88 games at the position. His DRS was -5 (-6.9/1000 innings), and his FRV was -2 (-2.8/1000 innings) in 720.0 innings, despite being slightly above average at 2.2 framing runs. His cERA was 4.54. He did not benefit from comparisons to Torrens, one of the best defensive catchers in the game. Overall, his fWAR clocked in at 1.4.
At the end of the season, it did not feel like much had been resolved. It’s been pointed out that Alvy is only 24 years old, which is fair. He has spent four full seasons in the majors, which is also fair. Who knows, maybe next year will be the year of realizing stuff when it comes to questions about Francisco Alvarez.
