Carlos Mendoza shut down the speculation immediately.
“Alvie is playing tomorrow,” the Mets manager said after the 8-0, Game 3 loss to the Dodgers at Citi Field on Wednesday.
But the speculation concerning the playing time of Francisco Alvarez exists for a reason: The young catcher, who generally does plenty well, is hurting the Mets right now.
At the plate, Alvarez struck out in all three of his at-bats, including a large one in the second inning, to fall to 5-for-35 (.143) without an extra-base hit, with 13 strikeouts and just one walk in the postseason.
Defensively, Alvarez made a poor throw and probably a poor decision to lead to the Dodgers’ first two runs, both unearned, in the second inning.
Mendoza has stuck by Alvarez, who has received every postseason start and who is “maybe trying to do a little too much at times,” the manager had said Tuesday.
He appeared to try to do too much with no one out and Max Muncy on first in the second.
Teoscar Hernandez hit a dribbler in front of the plate that Alvarez pounced on and tried to get the lead runner.
It would have been a close play at second base if the ball reached a glove.
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It did not: Alvarez’s throw hit a sliding Muncy, ensuring each runner was safe and the Dodgers had a rally going.
“It’s a bang-bang play at second base,” Mendoza said after two infield singles and a sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers a lead they did not surrender. “I don’t know if [Jose] Iglesias would have caught that ball, he would be out. Maybe tried to do a little too much there.”
There would be opportunities for Alvarez to atone for his mistakes but he could not capitalize, which has been the story of his postseason.
He repeatedly had opportunities Monday to blow open Game 2 and could not, leaving seven on base.
He left three more on base Wednesday, when yet again large spots seemed to find him at the plate and yet again he came up empty.
In the bottom of the second, the Mets loaded the bases with one out for Alvarez, who sure looked to be attempting to do too much on the first pitch, on which he swung hard and flung his bat into the netting behind the plate.
Four pitches later, Alvarez froze on a fastball that was called strike three, his first of three punch-outs in which his bat did not leave his shoulder.
The Mets declined to make Alvarez available afterward and said he would speak to reporters before Thursday’s Game 4.
“I think offensively he’s in between,” Mendoza said. “I think he’s late making his move, which is not allowing him to make some good swing decisions. That’s why you see him at times taking the fastball or late on the fastball and then chasing.
“That tells you right there that we have a guy that is late getting ready.”
The Mets’ problem is not just a struggling Alvarez but a lack of a reliable option behind him.
After a great start with the club, Luis Torrens has cooled off. He has not taken an October at-bat and finished the regular season in an 0-for-16 rut.
Whether it is faith in the incumbent or a lack of faith in the backup, the Mets are not planning a change behind the plate.
“He’s a good hitter. He’s a good player,” Mendoza said of Alvarez. “We’re facing an elite pitching staff as well. He’ll come through for us.”
