Mets Notes: Carlos Mendoza on Francisco Alvarez’s new swing; Clay Holmes to start spring training opener

Mets spring training continued on Wednesday in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Here are the key things to know from camp:

Carlos Mendoza talks Francisco Alvarez’s new swing

Alvarez is coming off an uneven year at the plate.

He slashed .237/.307/.403 (.710 OPS) with 11 home runs and 14 doubles in 342 plate appearances over 100 games in 2024, which gave him a tick-above-average OPS+ of 101.

A late-season power surge — Alvarez smacked five homers and had a 1.000 OPS over the last 15 games of the regular season — helped him end September on a high note. But he struggled in the postseason, failing to homer in 43 at-bats over 13 games while posting a .577 OPS.

And Alvarez has revamped his swing as he looks for more consistency in 2025.

“I think there’s rhythm now, there’s a better base,” Mendoza said about the adjustments. “The gather, the load. He’s getting himself in a better position. It’s batting practice, so he’s gonna have to play around with the mechanics because there’s some major adjustments there.

“Middle of the field — that’s what we want. That approach, middle of the field, use the whole field. He’s getting at-bats, we know the impact is real. We’ll see how he progresses here once we start playing games.”

It’s expected that Alvarez will begin the year toward the bottom of the Mets’ lineup, with the first five hitters likely being some combination of Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Mark Vientos, Pete Alonso, and Brandon Nimmo.

But as Alvarez showed in 2023 when he blasted 25 home runs in 123 games, he can be a true difference-maker.

Clay Holmes to start Grapefruit League opener

Holmes, who is making the transition from reliever to starter, will get the start in the Mets’ first spring training game this Saturday at 1:10 p.m. on SNY.

Mendoza said the plan is for Holmes to pitch three innings and/or throw roughly 40-to-45 pitches.

Shortly after signing with the Mets in December, Holmes said his goal is to throw at least 160 innings this season.

“It’s hard to just put arbitrary numbers on things and say, ‘If you hit this number, that’s all you can handle.’ I don’t believe in that,” Holmes said. “I think there’s definitely things you need to monitor, to see how your body’s holding up and the strength and mobility things. … I want to throw as many innings as I can.”

Holmes tossed 63.0 innings over 67 appearances last season for the Yankees.

Edwin Diaz impresses during live bullpen session

Diaz was among the pitchers who had live bullpen sessions on Wednesday, and part of his day included striking out Starling Marte looking.

Mendoza said that Diaz “looked good” and that he touched 96 mph.

“He’s around the plate. Like the breaking ball — the slider,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza added that a major point of emphasis this season for Diaz will be controlling the running game, and that he threw over to first base a few times during his session.

“That’s gonna be a big difference this year, especially with him,” Mendoza explained. “Not a secret — controlling the running game. A little bit quicker to the plate, so those are some of the things that he’s working on. It was good to see that today.”