The Mets have four prospects named to MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospect list for 2023.
The players:
C Francisco Alvarez: No. 3
3B Brett Baty: No. 21
C Kevin Parada: No. 36
OF Alex Ramirez: No. 96
The Mets had four players on the 2022 list with Alvarez as the No. 1 prospect, Baty at No. 18, Parada No. 37 and Ramirez at No. 85. This is the fourth year Alvarez and Baty have made the list. They made their debuts on the 2020 list with Alvarez at No. 63 and Baty at No. 93.
Shortstop Jett Williams, who was recently named to Baseball America’s Top 100 list for 2023 at No. 98, did not make the cut.
Baty, 23, and Alvarez, 21, who made their MLB debuts last season, are both expected to contribute at the big league level again this season.
Baty appeared in 11 games and had 42 plate appearances. And despite socking a pair of home runs, he struggled at the plate with just seven hits in 38 at-bats (.184 average). He fared much better in 95 games at the Double-A and Triple-A level where he slashed .315/.410/.533 and a .843 OPS with 22 doubles, 19 homers and 60 RBI.
Alvarez appeared in just five games at the end of last season, but he collected his first hits (a double and a home run) in 14 plate appearances. In 112 games at the minor league level, he slashed .260/.374/.511 and a .885 OPS with 22 doubles, 27 homers and 78 RBI between Double-A and Triple-A.
Fellow Mets catcher Tomas Nido said “there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that [Alverez is] going to be a stud” and called the prospect “the real deal.”
“I think the world of [Alvarez] and I think he’s going to be really good,” Nido told SNY’s Eamon McAnaney on Wednesday. “When he’s ready, it’s going to be what everyone expects.”
Of course, Alvarez may not be there on Opening Day, but Mets GM Billy Eppler wouldn’t commit to it.
“I’m not going to say one way or the other,” Eppler told Joel Sherman of The New York Post. “I’m going to let time and the process of evaluation organically allow that to happen.”
And expect Alvarez to remain behind the plate.
“Yes, I believe he is a catcher,” Eppler told The Post. “Because I have in-house data that shows improvement and strong receiving ability from Double-A, and that it was good from his limited time at Triple-A.”
In order to be eligible for the MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list, players needed rookie status in 2023, which includes players who made their big league debut last season but failed to accumulate the necessary service time of 45 days on the active roster, 1230 at- at bats or 50 innings pitched.