MLB Fans Were Rightfully in Awe of This Ridiculous Play by Mets Catcher

The Mets’ Francisco Alvarez is quickly becoming one of the best catchers in the majors. Known primarily for his power hitting (he has 15 home runs this season, tied for the most in the majors by a catcher), he’s also a good defensive player. He’s ranked 10th in framing according to Baseball Savant and 14th in Baseball Prospectus’s catcher defense metric. 

Not a fan of advanced stats, though? Just check out this play Alvarez made in Wednesday night’s win over the Diamondbacks. 

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On an 0–2 count, Mets pitcher Kodai Senga threw one of his unhittable “ghost fork” pitches in the dirt. Evan Longoria swung and missed, but the ball got past Alvarez and rolled all the way to the backstop. Alvarez chased it down and made a great off-balance throw to first to record the out. 

Kodai Senga, Dirty 84mph Ghost Fork. 👻🍴

Crazy good throw by Alvarez. 😲 pic.twitter.com/clmftXTHHi

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 6, 2023

That’s a really outstanding play. The way Alvarez was able to slide to grab the ball and make a strong, accurate throw to first while his momentum carried him the other way is fantastic. Longoria might have been safe if he had started running to first immediately instead of dejectedly starting to make his way to the dugout, but at least his confusion gave Alvarez a chance to make a memorable play. 

Alvarez made an even more memorable play later in the game. On a full count with two outs in the ninth and the Mets trailing 1–0, he hit a game-tying home run to keep his team alive. Later in that inning, Mark Canha drove home Brett Baty to take the lead and New York hung on to win its fourth in a row. 

Fans were in awe of that throw to first: 

Some how Alvarez just made an extremely difficult play look routine/common. Wow. https://t.co/8tO1KDvLZ5

— Landon Vodka (@Coach_Vodka) July 6, 2023

This is best play I’ve ever seen a catcher make. https://t.co/wiJvTj979e

— Geoff Silver (@GeoffSilver) July 6, 2023

Such a sick throw by the catcher. Ridiculous. https://t.co/LuKNBgU8O7

— Jeff Mustonen - Penix 4 Heisman (@UWMoose) July 6, 2023

Unreal athletic play by Alvarez to save an out https://t.co/uDUq7Ati3F

— Alex Weiner (@alexjweiner) July 6, 2023

This is absurd https://t.co/EntEPfkNen

— Matt Hopkins DPT (@HopsAP) July 6, 2023