New York Mets Top Prospect Is "100% Sure" He'll Be On Opening Day Roster

There's been some doubt about whether New York Mets' top prospect Francisco Alvarez will make the team coming out of spring training. Just don't tell that to Alvarez himself.

Francisco Álvarez: "Estoy 100% seguro de que estaré en el roster de los #Mets para el Opening Day"
— César Sequera Ramos (@CesarSequera11) January 10, 2023

Translation (as if you didn't know): "I'm 100% sure I'll be on the Mets roster for Opening Day."

The 21-year-old power-hitting catcher made a brief major league cameo this past September, at the age of 20, getting into five games for the Mets, hitting one home run and going 2-for-12 overall.

There's no doubt about Alvarez's offensive readiness; he hit .260 with a .374 on-base, a .511 slugging and an .885 OPS with 27 homers and 22 doubles in 112 games last season between Double-A and Triple-A.

However, it's behind the plate that the Mets will need to see some improvement. Alvarez thinks he's ready on that side of the ball as well.

"My defense is ready for the major leagues," Alvarez said. "What the Mets asked me to do was improve my English so I could communicate with the entire pitching staff."

He said he's been picking the brain of legendary future Hall of Fame catcher Yadier Molina, and others. "Asking Molina I have taken advantage of getting answers. A lot of those questions were about game management and working with a pitching staff," said Alvarez.

Just as a safety net, though, the Mets signed catcher Omar Narvaez this winter, and they also have Tomas Nido on the roster. James McCann was traded away this offseason.

Photo: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports