Will Francisco Alvarez's walk-off heroics serve as a turning point for the Mets?

The struggling catcher came up with a monster clutch hit to help New York beat the Orioles in the opening game of the series. It could be another huge moment in the overall context of the year...

Andrew Steele

Aug 20, 2024

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

The Mets walked off the Orioles 4-3 to open up their series against Baltimore with a big win on Monday night (box)
C Francisco Alvarez hit a mammoth 421 feet walk-off home run - the first of his career - in the bottom of the ninth to clinch a huge win after New York had blown a 3-0 lead (video)
LHP David Peterson tossed a season-high seven innings and allowed three runs - two earned - on six hits with one walk and eight strikeouts
RHP José Buttó and RHP Edwin Díaz combined to throw two scoreless innings in relief with no hits, one walk and one strikeout
DH J.D. Martinez got the Mets on the board in the first inning with a two-run home run - his first homer since August 3
LF Tyrone Taylor scored 1B Pete Alonso with a RBI single in the fourth to make it a 3-0 game, before the Orioles came back to tie it in the seventh inning
New York went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left five runners on base
The Mets are now 8-6 in August and 16-14 since the All-Star break with a crucial 10-day stretch now on deck
Liz Benn, the Mets’ director of major league operations, will depart the organization affective after the season (NY Post)

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Playoff Race 🏁

The Braves didn’t play on Monday but both the Padres and the Diamondbacks won. As a result of beating the Orioles, the Mets are now 1.5 games back of Atlanta for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.

There are 37 games remaining.

Per FanGraphs, the Mets have a 28.4% chance of making the postseason.

New York has the eighth most difficult schedule in MLB the rest of the way.

Tiebreakers:

vs. ATL: 5-5
vs. ARI: 2-2
vs. SD: 3-0
vs. CIN: 2-1
vs. STL: 4-2 (finished)
vs. SF: 2-4 (finished)
vs. PIT: 5-2 (finished)
vs. CHC: 4-3 (finished)

Injury Updates 🏥

OF Brandon Nimmo (right shoulder discomfort) had an MRI come back clean and is now officially day-to-day
RHP Dedniel Núñez (right pronator strain) will make a rehab outing on Tuesday, likely for Triple-A Syracuse

Down on the Farm 🌾

All four Mets minor league affiliates were off on Monday

Mets Top 30 Prospect Rankings

Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (65-60) vs. Orioles (73-53)

Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY

Starters: LHP José Quintana (6-8, 4.26 ERA) vs. RHP Dean Kremer (5-9, 4.48 ERA)

When: 7:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

Will walk-off heroics act as another crucial turning point for these Mets? ✍️

Cast your mind back to May 29.

The Mets, having just been embarrassed by the Dodgers, were seemingly imploding from the inside out.

Things were unravelling quickly and it wasn’t pretty.

The season looked over before the calendar had even been flipped to June.

But, then, Francisco Lindor called a team meeting and, just like that, the script was flipped and the Mets quickly morphed into one of the best teams in baseball.

The Mets, in an instant, rose from the dead and breathed new life into their season to save the summer and keep their postseason hopes alive.

Throughout a stretch of just incredibly good and fun baseball, we witnessed several season-defining moments and storyline that could serve as the iconic images of an entire year.

However, the All-Star break arrived and, since then, the Mets have crashed back to earth and the reality has been sobering.

After falling all over themselves for the past little stretch, this team is now effectively slugging it out with the Braves for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. And, with a do-or-die 10-game stretch on deck, the season will really come down to what happens over the next week or so.

Therefore, what we witnessed on Monday night at Citi Field could serve as another momentum-shifting, season-saving, year-defining moment that could lead to a truly memorable finish to 2024.

After the Orioles had erased a 3-0 deficit to make it a tied game, wiping out a huge two-run homer from J.D. Martinez in the first inning, the game looked to be heading to extra innings. And, given the Mets’ significant struggles in the 10th inning this year, you didn’t like their chances.

Francisco Álvarez had other ideas, however.

The catcher, engulfed in an all-time slump, stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth and received the green light from manager Carlos Mendoza to swing for the fences on a 3-0 count.

Well, he swung for the fences alright.

Seranthony Dominguez’s 98-mph fastball was doomed as soon as the pitch left the pitcher’s hand.

Alvarez, defying all of his recent struggles, launched a mammoth 421-feet home run high and deep to left-center field to walk it off for the Mets.

Cue scenes of passionate celebrations as Alvarez unleashed a torrent of relieved energy, pounding his chest as he rounded the bases with Citi Field going nuts.

It was exactly the kind of jubilation we’ve become so accustomed to when things have gone well for this team this year.

Single moments like that can act as a spark for something much bigger, just like Lindor’s smart decision to call a team meeting in the wake of the team’s darkest hour led to some of their brightest days this year.

So it is feasible to suggest that Alvarez’s heroics on Monday could lead to some more special times for the Mets over the next few weeks.

Maybe that monster blast and the release of pure emotion and frustration immediately after was just what this team needed to reset and get back on another run of winning baseball.

If the events of Monday night can serve as a spark for a positive stretch, especially over the next 10 days, then we will be looking back at Alvarez’s display of elite clutch-hitting as arguably one of the moments that saved an entire season.

Monday could also be a dramatic turning point for Alvarez himself.

The catcher has been devoid of any power for a substantial stretch, failing to hit a homer in his previous 56 plate appearances.

During that stretch, he had just nine hits (.170) with 16 strikeouts and just one extra-base hit.

As we see so often throughout baseball, one swing can change everything and a power surge from Alvarez down the stretch would be both timely and incredibly welcome.

Of course, Monday was just one game.

The Orioles are a damn fine baseball team and they will be heard from in the next two games. Both the Padres and the Diamondbacks have been taking care of business at an elite clip since the All-Star break, and they will be formidable foes on the road.

Monday’s electric win won’t mean a damn thing if the Mets go on to lose a bunch of the next several games.

Especially given who they are going up against.

But, that said, we’ve seen this team ride individual moments to month-long stretches of success already this year.

Maybe, just maybe, Alvarez’s walk-off heroics will act as another crucial turning point for these Mets as they look to make their season and move a tantalizing step closer to October baseball over the next few weeks.

Around the League 🚩

The Braves announced that 3B Austin Riley will miss six-to-eight weeks with a right hand fracture
Max Muncy homered in his return from the IL and Gavin Stone recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts as the Dodgers beat the Mariners 3-0
Yainer Diaz hit a walk-off blast to help the Astros beat the Red Sox for their 11th win in the last 12 games
Jackson Merrill continued to state his case for the NL Rookie of the Year Award after lacing a bases-clearing double in the Padres’ 5-3 win over the Twins
Corey Seager blasted two home runs in three innings to help lead the Rangers past the Pirates