Mets top prospect Francisco Alvarez was optioned to Triple-A on Wednesday morning, and when asked about the move, manager Buck Showalter didn't express much willingness to predict that Alvarez would be back any time soon.
In fact, when asked if Alvarez would see the majors at all in 2023, Showalter was noticeably non-committal.
"I hope so, in some ways. That means that we're doing real well and our catchers are healthy and doing well," Showalter said. "I hope that's the case.
He's got a chance to be called up in September.
"Anything else I said would be promoting the failure or the health of one of the guys that we have. And we like our two guys. They're in the top seven or eight of catching in baseball. We're lucky to have both of them. I hope at some point Francisco is as good as they are."
Alvarez was called up last September, but struggled at the plate this spring. The Mets have also made it clear that they want Alvarez to be big-league ready defensively as well when he is called up, so it isn't unrealistic to expect him in the minors for most of the 2023 campaign.
"He's not a guy you'd like sitting around as a backup catcher, but we could go that direction," Showalter said. "We feel good that he's going to be able to carry the load if and when he comes up.
"I just want him to continue to improve defensively."
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