Hey, did you hear? The Mets are starting to remember how to win baseball games consistently again (we hope). New York beat the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday to win its third consecutive game. Francisco Alvarez had a hand in the fun thanks to a go-ahead moonshot in the seventh inning.
Alvarez’s blast was significant for a couple of reasons. First of all, it was his 14th of the year. In the blink of an eye, he’s slugged the most home runs as a rookie at his position in franchise history. And he certainly did it in style with an absolute tank at Chase Field:
467 feet and 110 mph off the bat. Oh, and the #Mets rookie catcher HR record. This kid is the real deal. #LGM pic.twitter.com/SpBGaatjwU
— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) July 4, 2023
We’ve seen Alvarez display this kind of power for years in the Mets’ minor-league system. But still, it hits differently when it happens in the big leagues. This blast had to feel extra good because the rookie backstop just scuffled through a tough June.
Alvarez slashed .292/.363/.667 with seven home runs and 17 RBI in 80 plate appearances during the month of May. He followed that with a .151/.205/.329 line, four homers, and seven RBI through 78 plate appearances in June. There’s no better way to come out of a slump than by blasting a ball nearly 500 feet, right?
I’ve been thinking about this homer since he launched it on Tuesday evening. This is already the longest Mets home run of 2023 so far. But naturally, I then started wondering…when was the last time a New York hitter sent one longer than Alvy? It’s been almost two calendar years.
New York’s longest home run of 2022 happened on April 22nd by James McCann. Coincidentally enough, he did it in Arizona vs. the Diamondbacks and sent this ball 452 feet:
JAMES MCCANN DESTROYS HIS FIRST HOMER OF THE SEASON! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/Df6Zd7ZxA1
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 23, 2022
With that knowledge in hand, it was time to go back to 2021. Old friend Michael Conforto hit the longest home run of that season. He sent this ball 469 feet at Citi Field on September 29th:
Michael Conforto goes deep! pic.twitter.com/1N76qORHtL
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 30, 2021
That was actually Scooter’s last home run of the season, and his last homer as a member of the Mets. Talk about going out on a high note, right?
If we continue to go back in time, there’s only one man who has hit a ball further since 2019. Would you be shocked if I said it was Pete Alonso? Well, you shouldn’t be. He also slugged one 467 feet, which he did on September 17, 2019. But before that happened, he sent this one 474 feet in Minnesota against the Twins:
There you have it, folks. The Mets just might possibly have another premier power bat from their farm system. Let’s hope we’ll get to see Alonso and Francisco Alvarez do this kind of yard work together in Queens for the foreseeable future.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
