How Francisco Alvarez has made Mets’ pitching staff better: ‘Love this kid’
NY Post
The Francisco Alvarez Effect has been real.
The Mets are 29-13 in games in which their precocious young catcher plays and 17-32 without him.
Sure, the upgrade with the bat — his .852 OPS began play Wednesday as third-best among catchers with at least 100 plate appearances — has been significant.
But Alvarez’s influence on the pitching staff has been nearly as stark.
Consider the fact that with Alvarez squatting behind home plate, Mets pitchers brought a 3.25 ERA into the Mets’ 6-2 win over the Nationals at Citi Field.
The Mets’ team ERA entered play an entire run higher — 4.25 — and only four primary catchers in all of MLB brought better marks than Alvarez’s into play (Atlanta’s Sean Murphy at 2.55, Philadelphia’s J.T. Realmuto at 2.86, Boston’s Reese McGuire at 3.01 and Seattle’s Cal Raleigh at 3.25).
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