Mets rookie Brett Baty: Francisco Alvarez deserves No. 1 prospect ranking

PHILADELPHIA — There might not be a Mets player, prospect or coach who better knows Francisco Alvarez — and his game — than Brett Baty.

The club’s two top prospects — one a standout third baseman, one a stud catcher — have been teammates for most of their climb through the system.

And there might not be a Mets player, prospect or coach who speaks higher of Alvarez than does Baty.

“He deserves that No. 1 [prospect] ranking in baseball,” Baty said before the Mets’ 7-2 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Friday. “He is the best player I’ve ever played with, for sure.”

Baty then looked around a major league clubhouse ahead of the third game of his career.

“I don’t know about [that] anymore,” he added with a smile.

Baty, who went 1-for-3 with a two-run single in the Mets’ win on Friday night, and Alvarez made their professional debuts together in 2019 with the Gulf Coast League Mets, shortly after Baty was the club’s first-round draft pick and a year after Alvarez was signed as an international free agent.

Each was a part of the Mets’ player pool at the alternate site in 2020. Baty beat Alvarez to High-A Brooklyn in 2021, then was promoted sooner to Double-A Binghamton. Both prospects opened this year in Binghamton, and Alvarez moved quicker, jumping to Triple-A Syracuse in July while Baty didn’t get the call-up until this month.

Of course, Baty played just six games with Syracuse before injuries to Luis Guillorme and Eduardo Escobar helped him beat Alvarez to the major leagues.

Though they are not teammates right now, they are still texting.

“He was like, ‘I’m so happy for you, congratulations,’ stuff like that,” Baty said. “He was like, ‘I love you.’ I texted him back, it was awesome.”

Baty made an immediate impact — literally — by blasting a home run in Atlanta on Wednesday with his first major league swing.

Baty is not a Mets decision-maker and is not lobbying for his pal to get the call-up, too. But whenever Alvarez’s time comes, Baty said he believes he will be ready to make an impact, too.

“I know the kind of player he is, and I know how serious he takes this,” said the 22-year-old, who was playing third base and batting eighth on Friday. “If that was the opportunity that he was given, I know he would give 100 percent.

“Like I said, he’s the best hitter I’ve ever seen.”

The Mets have lost catcher James McCann to the injured list twice this season and are playing right now without Tomas Nido, who is on the COVID-19 list. So far, they have sought more experienced help than Alvarez, first with Patrick Mazeika and currently with Michael Perez, who caught Chris Bassitt on Friday.

The demands of a catcher, who has to learn both opposing pitchers and his own, are more intense than for a third baseman. The Mets have held off calling up the 20-year-old, righty-hitting Alvarez, who had a better chance of finding a DH role before the club traded for righty-hitting Darin Ruf.

Alvarez destroyed Double-A pitching in 67 games (with 18 home runs and a .922 OPS) before an up-and-down start with Syracuse, where he was finding his way on base but hitting just .167 in his first 29 games.

The only route to a promotion this season might be further injuries to the Mets’ catchers or designated hitter options. But if those injuries do strike and Alvarez’s phone rings, Baty said he believes his buddy can help.

“If it happens, it happens,” Baty said. “If it doesn’t, he’ll be ready to go next year.”