Francisco Alvarez says Mets have 'the best lineup in baseball'
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — At a time of year ripe for talking the talk, Francisco Alvarez opened spring training with a grand declaration Monday, the official report date for Mets pitchers and catchers.
“We are the best lineup in baseball,” he said after taking batting practice and catching a bullpen session for new starting pitcher Clay Holmes. “We can fight with any team.”
And here’s the thing: There is a chance Alvarez is right.
It isn’t so clear-cut as to be stated as fact, but for mid-February optimism, it’s easy to see where he is coming from.
Consider that last season, the Mets ranked seventh in the majors with 4.74 runs per game, well above average. Then they added Juan Soto, one of the top handful of hitters in the game, to a group that largely returned.
With a top half of a lineup that features — in some order — Francisco Lindor, Soto, Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos, the Mets have a lot to like. Mix in Jesse Winker/Starling Marte as a designated hitter platoon that looks good on paper, a potential bounce back for Jeff McNeil and what Alvarez is sure is going to be a big leap forward, and the Mets could be a wrecking ball against opposing pitching staffs.
Re-signing Alonso — whose two-year, $54 million contract is expected to be made official any day now — was the finishing touch.
“It’s going to be a great lineup,” Alvarez said. “We have Pete, we have a little bit of everything. We have hitting guys, we have power hitters, we have everything.”
The flip side is, of course, that maybe Lindor doesn’t repeat his career year, maybe Alonso’s dip in power last season was a red flag, maybe Vientos gets exposed in his second full season — all variables that will play out over the next eight (or nine) months.
Alvarez is one of those uncertainties. Coming off what he described as the worst year of his baseball life, he said he feels “way stronger” than he did at points in 2024, when left thumb surgery interrupted his sophomore season.
He improved over his rookie year by some measures — his average jumped from .209 to .237, his OBP by a similar margin — but experienced a drop-off in slugging. He totaled 11 home runs, down from 25 the previous year, and in August lamented that “I don’t feel powerful.”
Still just 23 years old, Alvarez said he focused in recent months on improving his mental game, which failed him during his slumps.
“I lost my mind for a little bit. I think it’s normal,” Alvarez said. “Everybody has those moments. So if I have bad moments this year, it’s not going to affect me like last year.
“My mind is going to be way stronger than last year. This game is a mental game. That is a key for this year for me.”
Consistency, which would figure to help the psychological side, was a goal for Alvarez and hitting coach Eric Chavez.
“I said [to Alvarez], in a couple of years, you will be the best-hitting catcher in the league,” Chavez said last year. “But you gotta learn how to hit first. Let’s get your hit tool down and the power will come.”
If the Mets really do have the best lineup in baseball, Alvarez probably will be a major reason why.
“I feel way stronger right now,” Alvarez said. “I feel way better. My thumb is feeling way better. So I think this year I have no excuses for anything.”
Notes & quotes: Although position players don’t need to report until Saturday, Lindor is among the few in camp already . . . Dominican reliever Huascar Brazoban, who has had visa-related delays in the past and missed all of spring training with the Marlins last year, had no such issues this time around and was an on-time arrival . . . Manager Carlos Mendoza is set to speak to reporters for the first time on Tuesday, with president of baseball operations David Stearns to follow Wednesday . . . With the introduction of their new blue pullover road alternate jersey, the Mets took the blue home alternate out of the rotation . . . Tylor Megill, 6-7, looked cramped as he rolled up in a sedan, a rental until his personal vehicle arrives. “It makes me feel like Shaq,” he said.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
