The argument against calling up Francisco Alverez

The first potential downside I see in calling him up is the lack of playing time. There is only one DH spot and Buck Showalter already has put J.D. Davis and Dom Smith in the lineup. Why run the risk of ruining his development, by getting him limited at-bats against the best pitchers in the world when he can go to triple AAA and face pitchers that are on the verge of playing in the majors? Some of them have already played in the majors and were sent down to make room on the roster.

Well, what about putting him in as catcher? He needs to improve his defense, according to Prospects Live, they describe his defense as "passable". There is more to catching than just defense, you also have to get to know the pitching staff. This season we saw how difficult it is to manage a new pitching staff after James McCann went on the IL and they had to call up Patrick Mazeika. In his first start as catcher this season Patrick Mazeika and Chris Bassitt had difficulty getting the signs right and calling a pitch. Another aspect of catching is calling pitches. In 2019, Noah Syndergaard made it public that he preferred not to have Wilson Ramos catching for him. Rightfully so because with Ramos behind the plate Noah had a 5.09 ERA in 92 innings while with Tomás Nido he had a 2.45 ERA in 66 innings according to NBC Sports. Calling pitches poorly can make the pitching staff worse, and it wasn't which is not what you want for a team trying to compete. So let him stay in the minors where he would get the opportunity to develop as a catcher as well as a hitter and then in spring training Álverez can practice with the major league pitchers and build a rapport with them.

The last reason why I would wait to call him up is to preserve his confidence. The Mets have a lot of pressure on them, with the amount of money they spent this offseason generating a lot of hype for the team, and thankfully they have lived up to it. As of writing this article, the Mets have the best record in the National League; however, the Braves have reduced a ten-and-a-half game division lead down to three games in the span of one month. Do you think the fans and the media will be patient if Álverez starts his career off in a slump? Last year when Mets fans started booing after the team performed poorly, Javy Baez and Fransico Lindor held their thumbs to the fans. Both Lindor and Baez are seasoned veterans who have been around professional baseball for a long time and when New York let them have it they didn't handle the situation properly. I don't know Fransico Álverez personally so I don't know how mature he is, but how do you think a 20-year-old version of you might handle doing poorly on the field? New York media is one of the biggest markets in the world, and they will ask about your poor performance waiting for you to slip up. That's not including the thousands of fans booing you in person, sending you direct messages on social media, and making disparaging remarks in your comment section. Do you think that would affect your confidence?

The New York fans and media are only kind when athletes are producing, so why rush him up to the show and instead get him some at-bats in triple AAA would be a good test run before calling him up.