Francisco Alvarez ‘won’t stop’ during Mets’ magical ride
The Mets have played 20 games since Sept. 16, and Francisco Alvarez has started 17 of them.
Luis Torrens last started a game Sept. 30 — the meaningless back end of the doubleheader in Atlanta — and has not gotten the nod on a day the Mets had just a single game since Sept. 28.
It has been two weeks since Alvarez was out of the lineup during a game that mattered — and even that day, he pinch hit in the eighth inning and caught in the ninth.
The Mets’ three days of rest between the NLDS and NLCS will be helpful for their pitching staff and helpful for players like Alvarez, but he was not asking for this respite.
“The baseball doesn’t stop, so I won’t stop,” Alvarez said before the Mets eliminated the Phillies at Citi Field on Wednesday, when he started the club’s seventh playoff game in nine days.
Maybe this is the advantage of having a 22-year-old ball of energy as a starting catcher.
Alvarez offensively has not had a strong postseason, going 4-for-26 with an RBI and nine strikeouts.
He has been better behind the plate, where he has thrown out two runners in 10 tries and worked well with a pitching staff that owns a 3.06 postseason ERA.
His best moments during the playoffs have been small — calming down a pitcher or charging toward Jose Quintana during the sixth inning of Game 3 in Milwaukee.
Quintana faced a full count against Gary Sanchez, and the pitch clock had reached a single second remaining.
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Alvarez spotted the clock, jolted out of his stance and ran toward Quintana, trading a mound visit for a potential walk.
With the next pitch, Quintana struck out Sanchez for his final out of the game.
There was some question whether Alvarez — who has been worse than Torrens at cutting down base stealers — would get the entirety of the time against speedy teams.
Manager Carlos Mendoza proclaimed Alvarez his guy, and Alvarez has been a fixture of every starting lineup.
The Mets will hope his power comes in handy at some point during this run. In terms of enthusiasm, Alvarez has not slowed down.
“He’s just an unbelievable kid,” catching coach Glenn Sherlock said. “He’s got so much energy. He prepares. He gets treatment. He makes sure he’s ready to play. He knows what the priorities are in these games. The kid comes ready.
“If he’s not in there, he’s very disappointed. He wants to be in there every day.”
