Dario Alvarez

Organization Prospect Rankings

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  Ranked New York Mets #22 prospect in 2015
  Released by the Phillies in August 2009 while a member of their Dominican Summer League team, Alvarez did not play affiliated ball at all from 2010 through 2012. He caught the eye of Mets international scouting director Chris Becerra in the Venezuelan League's junior-circuit Parallel League, signing in January 2013. Alvarez began 2014 as a 25-year-old at low Class A Savannah, but he dominated the league as a starter/reliever and then made nine scoreless appearances at high Class A St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton to receive an unlikely September callup. He pitches at about 90 mph and can touch 94, but his plus 80 mph slider is a reliable out pitch now that Mets coaches have tuned down the wayward lefty's busy delivery, which once featured a full back turn to the batter. Alvarez's slider often leaves lefthanders bailing out on a pitch that begins in their batter's box and sweeps across the plate. While his ceiling is low, Alvarez can fill a specific role on a major league roster as a situational lefty, and he's ready to do so in 2015.