NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: METS VS DODGERS

October 17, 2024

Francisco Alvarez

Citi Field

New York Mets

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. Francisco, last night after the game Carlos said he thought you looked a little bit in between at the plate. How would you characterize where you are offensively right now?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: I feel very late to the fastball. I tried to get early to the fastball. I think that was the problem. I couldn't get early to the fastball, so I have to be early with the fastball, so I can look better on the plate.

Q. When you feel that way, what is the adjustment you have to make to catch up to the fastball and be on time?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: So the first thing is, like, be early with my front foot and be shorter to the ball. If I can be shorter to the ball, I can be way better.

Q. With every pitch mattering so much and pitching changes even sometimes happening more often in the postseason, is it even more challenging as a catcher to lock in on every moment, every pitch, because there's so much more significance in the postseason?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: I really think like it's the same game. We have to do the same thing we do in the season. Nothing changes. It's the same game. We have the same result. We want to win, we want to win. So nothing changes. I think everything is the same.

Q. You in the past have sometimes acknowledged that in big moments you try too hard, swing too big or what have you. Do you think that's happening at all in the playoffs right now?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: Yeah, I think, like, sometimes maybe I try to do too much. But, like I said before, I can't get to the fastballs and I feel approaching, that's why I look like I want to do more than I can do.

So I really think the biggest thing is I have to be on time on the fastball and that's it.

Q. When you do find yourself trying to do too much, what emotions are you feeling inside?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: I just want to -- my first thing is just hit the ball on the bottom and that's it. It's my thing. I try to be simple in those moments, and that's it.

Q. You fell into a little bit of a slump over the summer and then you were able to come out of it. Talking to Jeremy Barnes, he said it was an adjustment you made with your hips. Are you trying to make the same adjustment now?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: I think like a hitter, when we have problems, it's the same problem. My hips are very fast, I open my hips always very fast. I have to stay closed.

Now I'm on time for the fastball and I feel approaching, I use my hips so fast. So I just have to slow down my hips and slow down my body and I can do better.

Q. Does it get tough to slow things down the deeper you go into the postseason and the more pressure there is kind of is in each game?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: I don't think it's more like pressure or something like that. I just think it's the same game. I think every day when I come to the clubhouse it's the same game, the same result. We want to win in the season. In the season we want to win every day.

If we don't win, we go to the next day. If I don't do good, I go to the next day. Today is just another day. Yesterday was frustrating. Today is another day, and I keep it going.

Q. Earlier this season, when you went through some struggles, you put in some extra work. You would come in early and work with Carlos Beltrán. Have you been doing that now as well? Are you trying to step away a little bit and maybe take fewer swings before the game?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: So, yes, I come to the cage. I'm working with Carlos. I keep doing what I was doing in the season. I'm working with the hitting coaches. I'm working with everybody. I'm listening to everybody.

My teammates, they tell me to slow down your game, and be shorter to the ball. Be more simple, so, yes.

Q. Yesterday Carlos Mendoza said he wanted to keep starting you because he felt at one point you would break out of this. What does that level of confidence do for your own confidence? And, essentially, do you think it's just a matter of time for you?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: I really appreciate Carlos to say that and give me that confidence. That is why we are here in the playoffs. He gives confidence to every player.

We feel very comfortable in the clubhouse. We feel very comfortable in the dugout, that is why we're winning so many games. We are here because he gives the confidence to every player. So I really appreciate that.

Q. There have been so many times this season when pitchers maybe have been struggling and you've been the guy to go to the mound and help them out and talk them through it. Is there anybody on the team that's been that for you?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: Yes, we have a really good group. Lindor, he talks to me -- winker, Marte, he talked to me. Marte, he don't talk too much, and yesterday he came to me and he talked to me.

I was, like, wow, he really loves me and he wants to talk to me. And I feel like he talked to me from his heart. And I really appreciate all my teammates and all my coaches, too.

Q. Is there a point soon after the game yesterday where Mendoza had said to you, you know, don't worry about it, you'll continue to be the catcher moving forward and did that need to be said to you?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: When we were hitting in the eighth, he called me and I went to where he was. And he told me, hey, just be early for the fastball, be ready for the fastball. And he said don't worry about it. You got that, you're going to play tomorrow.

And he gave me confidence, he gave me that confidence. I really like what he does in that moment. He gives me a lot of confidence.

Yesterday when I went home and I feel really good even if I don't have a good game, but I feel very good because he gives me the confidence in the game. So I really appreciate him and I like what he does in the moment.

Q. Were you worried that he would consider making a change at catcher? Or were you confident that he would stick with you despite the struggle you were having?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: I was worried more because I didn't do good. I was worried more for that. If he don't want me to play today, I kind of understand that because I didn't do good yesterday and the past three or four days.

But he gives me the confidence. And today is another day. I can have a different result and can flip everything today.

Q. I know a couple weeks ago you suffered those back spasms. Are you fully healthy right now? If not, how have you managed the grind of this part of the season, the toll it's taken on your body?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: So my body feels really good. My body feels really good. And I feel good. I feel ready to compete.

So the only thing that happened in the day I have a little tension in my back. And I feel like I was feeling really bad that day. And Carlos gave me a day off. After that, it was feeling great.

Q. What did Marte say to you?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: He come to me and he told me, hey, be happy. Play your game. Don't try to do too much. But the real thing from Marte is he don't talk too much, and I feel like he talked to me from the heart (taps heart), and I appreciate him doing that.

He never talked to me like that, he never says something about that. And yesterday he walked up to me and I really like what he said.

Q. Jose Quintana has good numbers with you behind the plate as well. Why do you think you two have worked well together?

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ: With Quintana, he's a guy, like, he's going to compete every pitch, even if he's doing good or he's doing bad. He always competes every pitch. And how he thinks is like kind of the same how I think. So that is why I really think we have a good result.