In Francisco Alvarez’s first 85 games of what statistically was a disappointing sophomore season, the Mets catcher slugged six home runs.
In his past nine games, Alvarez has demolished five.
At the right time of the calendar, Alvarez has transformed into the powerful slugger who became baseball’s best prospect and who crushed 25 home runs in his rookie campaign last year.
Speaking of transforming, Alvarez’s demeanor and performance has led to a few animalistic compliments.
“He’s almost foaming at the mouth to get up [to the plate] there,” Brandon Nimmo said to laughs.
“He’s a dog back there,” added Sean Manaea, who was excellent in seven-plus innings throwing to Alvarez.
Alvarez was a beast again Saturday, when he pulled a homer into the left-field seats to tie the game in the second inning and added a two-run double in the seventh to add a cushion to what became a 6-3 win over the Phillies at Citi Field.
The 22-year-old catcher missed nearly two months upon requiring surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb in April.
He came back before his stroke did, hitting just .232 with five dingers in 69 games from his return on June 11 to Sept. 10.
He put in countless hours working with hitting coaches Jeremy Barnes and Eric Chavez, the tweaks perhaps only becoming evident in the past couple weeks.
“Hard-working kid,” Carlos Mendoza said. “It looks like it happened like that, but he’s been working really hard behind the scenes for months.”
At a time when the Mets have needed production particularly from a righty — J.D. Martinez is in a deep slump and the Phillies pitched around Pete Alonso, who was walked three times and hit by a pitch in five plate appearances — Alvarez came through.
With the Mets down one in the second inning, Alvarez destroyed a Ranger Suarez cutter that jumped off his bat at 113.8 mph for the hardest hit homer of his career.
The Mets had crept up by one in the seventh inning when Alvarez delivered with two outs.
His drive into left-center split the outfielders and landed, padding the lead and allowing the fifth-largest crowd in regular-season Citi Field history to take a breath.
In the biggest moments, it seems as if Alvarez, too, can breathe.
“Those moments make me different,” Alvarez said.