That's more like it.

Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez has had a subpar season compared to the expectations the organization and the young backstop have for him. But it seems Alvarez is making some changes to get him right offensively before the regular season ends, and that showed in Tuesday's series opener with the Rangers.

The 24-year-old went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. Alvarez now has a three-game hitting streak going, and over the last week, his offensive numbers are starting to blossom.

"He's a really good hitter. Even the outs were good today," Mets manager Andy Green said after the 6-3 win. "Using the whole field. Did a nice job last week, just relaxing, shooting the ball around the field. It’s good to see him be himself.

Every season, some people go through some tough stretches. Our goal is to shrink those and get to the best version of him quicker in the future. We know who he can be, especially against left-handed pitching; to have him in the lineup is huge."

Back on Sept. 16, Green benched Alvarez for Luis Torrens after the catcher went 1-for-9 in the Baltimore series and was batting .148 (4-27) in his previous seven games. The Mets skipper was confident Alvarez could snap out of his funk, and he's starting to.

While his power numbers are up from the previous two seasons, he already has a career-high in strikeouts (125), and most other offensive numbers are down from a year ago. But after his big performance on Tuesday, Alvarez is now batting .286 (8-28) over his last seven games with a home run and five RBI.

"Feeling good right now at the plate," Alvarez said after the win. "I started working to stay back and make contact deeper. I have a lot of power. It’s no secret. Just need to make contact as deep as I can. My bat can play better."

Green was asked what the best version of Alvarez is, and he said a hitter that "has real power to all fields."

"[He] Doesn’t have to try to hit the ball hard to hit the ball hard," Green continued. "In this day and age, it’s launch angle and exit velo. He can get up to 115s and when he just takes his swing, he’ll hit it plenty hard and often. Squaring up the ball is all he needs to do, and he did it really well today."

Alvarez was asked to critique his 2026 season. But the Venezuela native smiled and said there are still five games left in the season. Once it's over, then he can answer.

If Alvarez can continue this offensive momentum through the end of the season and attack the offseason, the 2027 Mets could have the best catching duo in baseball.

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