There’s no denying the Mets have been playing some bad baseball of late.

With Thursday afternoon’s 5-0 loss to the Reds, New York dropped their fifth straight series. It was the seventh time they've been shutout this season after being blanked just eight times last year.

The starting rotation has been pretty bad, and as a result the bullpen has been overworked. The offense has broken out in spurts, but as a whole has been very inconsistent.

Overall, not much has been going right for Buck Showalter’s squad lately. Perhaps one of the lone bright spots, however, has been the play of catcher Francisco Alvarez.

Alvarez was one of the only members of the Mets offense to show some sign of life on Thursday afternoon. He singled the other way in his first at-bat, then again went to the opposite field for a double later in the day.

Alvarez finished 2-for-4, giving him hits in four of his last five games. Looking at a bigger sample, he's hitting .375 with five extra base-hits, two of which were homers, and a .949 OPS over his past ten games.

After a bit of a slow start to his second stint at the big-league level, the 21-year-old has settled in nicely.

And it’s not just offensively where he’s shown early improvements, Alvarez has really shined defensively as well. Since being called back up from Triple-A, he’s ranked in the 90th percentile in pitch framing. His 1.94 second pop time is tied for 13th among catchers, and has rated in the 68th percentile, both according to Baseball Savant.

The skipper has certainly taken notice of his recent play.

"Alvy’s been a real bright spot for us as far as his catching and engagement. He’s starting to hit some balls the other way now. He’s been really solid, I'm proud of him," Showalter said postgame Thursday. "He’s showing us that he can handle the load."

So what is it that's enabled this success? Alvarez recently told reporters it’s all about just staying confident.

"I will always continue to have confidence in myself whether I am playing or not playing," he said. "My job is to come out here and prepare myself every single day and give 100 percent every time I am here."