Alvarez is starting at catcher and batting ninth Thursday against the Nationals.
Alvarez is just 5-for-31 (.161) with one home run in 31 plate appearances since his April 7 promotion from Triple-A Syracuse, but he is at least drawing more starts now over Tomas Nido. The 21-year-old has been in the Mets' lineup three of the last four games, including Thursday night's series finale versus Washington.