Mets backstop Francisco Alvarez, along with interpreter Alan Suriel, catches up with Post columnist Steve Serby for some Q&A:

Q: Did you ever catch a perfect game or a no-hitter at any level?

A: No.

Q: How much would you love to do that?

A: More than going 4-for-4 with four homers.

Q: Why?

A: Well, if I catch a perfect game that means we have the best chance to win, as opposed to a 4-for-4 game with four homers.

Q: Do you remember the perfect game Felix Hernandez pitched in 2012?

A: I’ve seen the last out, yeah.

Q: What do you remember thinking when you watched that?

A: First and foremost, I was proud because Felix is a Venezuelan pitcher and he just brought a lot of joy and honor to all the Venezuelan people because they were all rooting for him. Back when I watched it, I used to think, “Maybe one day I can throw a perfect game.” But now that I’m on the other side I think I can catch one instead (smile).

Q: Do you remember Johan Santana’s no-hitter?

A: I’ve only seen the last out.

Q: Will you watch the All-Star Game?

A: If I’m not on it, probably not.

Q: Why not?

A: I don’t like watching other players play.

Q: When will you be an All-Star?

A: In my mind I’m already a star (smile).

Q: Do you think you would participate in a Home Run Derby?

A: Yeah, I think so.

Q: What’s your favorite home run so far?

A: The one here [on May 17] against Tampa [Bay], I like that one, but I think there’s one in Triple-A that I hit to win the game that I would consider my favorite or one that I hit in High-A against the Yankees.

Q: What’s it like hitting a really long home run?

A: When you connect with it and you start seeing it go, you start to feel like the best player in the world. At that point, it just starts to give you more confidence that you can do more and even better than that.

Q: Pete Alonso talks about feeling dangerous at the plate. What is it like for you feeling dangerous at the plate?

A: I think anytime I go up to bat it’s dangerous, because I can hit a home run.

Q: What drives you?

A: Everything motivates me, but the thing that primarily motivates me is winning, just having that feeling after a game that you win, it just continues to motivate you to want more of that.

Q: And when the team doesn’t win, how frustrated do you get?

A: I can’t even sleep at night.

Q: What’s the biggest obstacle you had to overcome?

A: When I was younger, a lot of people didn’t believe in me, in my skill set. Once I got to the academy, there were still kinda those doubts, and that’s what motivated me, that’s what drove me to just kinda overcome that and to prove people wrong.

Q: Why didn’t people believe in you?

A: That’s just how people are. Sometimes they’ll see another player who they deem is better at that certain time, but they don’t see that a player can grow. That’s why I like when people don’t believe in me because it gives me that motivation to prove them wrong.

Q: Where does your confidence come from? Have you always had that?

A: When I first started playing, I wasn’t as confident as I am now, and then I started reading more, and I started reading different types of books and they started giving me more confidence. And now, as I’ve grown older, I feel like I’ve finally developed the confidence that I’ve always been looking for as a player.

Q: What kind of books?

A: It’s like more of a psychology book, like a motivational book.

Q: What’s your on-field mentality when you put the uniform on?

A: It changes completely once I put that uniform on, I see my teammates in a completely different way. I see those guys as my brothers. It also changes the way I look at the game. It’s not just me against just the other team in a vacuum, it’s me against every single player against that team whenever they come up to bat.

Q: Do you not like the other team?

A: None of ’em.

Q: Do you talk to hitters when you’re behind the plate?

A: Oh yeah, if they talk to me, I’ll talk to them. But at that point when they’re talking to me, I’m already focused on the game plan. If they’re more concerned with talking, then that’s on them.

Q: Does it get you angry when someone steals a base against you?

A: I feel like it’s like when someone comes into your house and takes your food, that’s how I feel.

Q: How would you describe Max Scherzer?

A: He’s been one of the guys that has really taken me under his wing and has really taught me a lot. He pulls me aside on days that I’m not playing and we go through what’s going on in the game. He gives me a lot of good ideas. He listens to me in the same way. Max is one of those types of guys where he’ll listen to everybody and he doesn’t say the wrong opinion, he takes the good from what everybody says and tries to execute that. He’s one of those guys that’s always continuously working hard and his mind’s always going to be better and better.

Q: How do you get to know what makes each pitcher tick?

A: Every pitcher has a different personality, and what we’re here for at the end of the day is to help them be better. We have to put them over us. At the end of the day we all respect each other and that’s what we’re looking for is the respect of each other.

Q: Do you feel like you know the personality of each guy?

A: You never completely understand a person, as much as you try.

Q: How do you communicate well with your teammates?

A: I think my English is good, I’ve been obviously learning a lot more day by day each year. I’m able to talk to the coaches, I’m able to talk to my teammates. There are days where I say the wrong thing and [Brett] Baty corrects me and says, “Nah you don’t say it like that, you say it like this.” (smile) I feel pretty good about my English, and I also listen to a lot of English songs, a lot of English things just to continue to learn. But when it comes down to the interviews, I feel like I need a little bit more confidence and maybe learn a little bit more words to be able to actually do them all in English.

Q: How good can Baty be?

A: He can be like Freddie Freeman as a hitter. Or maybe even better.

Q: How about Ronny Mauricio?

A: He’s one of those guys that I’ve hit in front of him, I’ve hit behind him in the lineup and when I’m watching him … that guy’s in a league of his own. He’s one of those guys that can hit 30 home runs from the left-hand side and 30 home runs from the right-hand side if that’s what he commits to doing. But he’s one of those guys that always has a plan, and he never deviates from it. He’s one of those guys that never makes an excuse whether he’s hurt or he’s tired. You ask him how he’s doing, “Oh I’m doing fine, we gotta go win this game, we need to go do our job.” He knows how to play the game, whether it’s small-ball, whether it’s to make the right play defensively, whether it’s to move the guy over, whatever it may be. He’s one of those guys that’s gonna be one of the best players because he’s committed to doing so.

Q:.Eduardo Escobar’s U.S. citizenship?

A: [Without interpreter] I’m proud of him. [With interpreter] I used to see him studying everyday at the table to be able to pass the test. I really am proud of him just because of how tremendous of a person he really is.

Q: Would you want to do that?

A: For sure. If I’m a citizen I can get a majority of my family over here to the United States, and it would give me more peace of mind and just more peace overall.

Q: Why does Venezuela produce so many catchers?

A: I think since Salvador Perez came into the league [in 2011] he’s opened the door for a lot of us.

Q: Why is it so much fun being a catcher?

A: For me, being a catcher is the best thing in the world. It’s the most fun position in my opinion just because you’re involved in every single play, and every stage of the game you’re a part of it.

Q: What do you like about J.T. Realmuto?

A: He’s a great overall athlete. He’s a great catcher, he can steal bases, he can hit.

Q: Henry Blanco?

A: When he was with the Lions of Caracas, they used to call him The Captain because he won a lot there. He was essentially seen as like the boss behind the plate just because of his good he was and how different he saw the game.

Q: If you could face one pitcher in MLB history to test your skills?

A: Randy Johnson.

Q: Why him?

A: First and foremost because he used to throw super hard and he was competitive. There were times where he would throw in, or he would throw in on hitters and he would stare them down to kind of intimidate them and I just think if that were to happen today, like sometimes pitchers throw in and I look back but they don’t say anything. I feel like if I look back at him (laugh), it may start a situation … I just kinda want to prove to everybody that I could hit off of him.

Q: If you could pick the brain of any catcher in MLB history?

A: The one that I always wanted to talk to, I actually spoke to him, was Yadier Molina.

Q: Did he give you any advice?

A: We spoke for about 45 minutes to an hour because he was coaching a team in the winter league in Venezuela. He just taught me a lot about the competition of the game, how to keep that in mind that when I go out there, I’m competing against the other catcher. Whichever catcher feels best at the end of the game, it’s probably because the team ended up winning. He just told me a lot where sometimes the game may get a little bit too quick on you, so be sure to look up from time to time, look around the crowds, look into your dugout, and just take a deep breath just to see how everyone else is reacting. Because at the end of the day, the catcher’s the one that has the most control, so if you’re freaking out, maybe other people are freaking out. He also told me to just make sure that you’re on top of it with the hitters that are on the opposing team, that you’re studying up on them just to try to find their weaknesses.

Q: When was this?

A: January.

Q: You’re a Miguel Cabrera fan?

A: Miguel’s the example for every single Venezuelan player, whether it’s in the big leagues, in the minor leagues trying to come up, trying to get signed, or just started baseball. He’s our idol for everybody out there that’s trying to make it.

Q: Which catchers do you like to study?

A: All of them. I like watching every catcher because every catcher does something that’s good. Whether people consider them a bad catcher or a good catcher, they all do something that’s really good. Sometimes when I finish my early work, I go out there to go see what the other catcher’s doing to see if I can pick something up from his routine and implement it into mine.

Q: Where do you need to improve?

A: I need to improve everything.

Q: Favorite tattoo?

A: (Looks down at left arm) The lion.

Q: Why?

A: Because it was my first tattoo and it’s got a lot of personality and that’s because he’s the king of the jungle.

Q: When you play baseball do you consider yourself a lion on the field?

A: Yeah, because I feel like I have a lot of personality but I also feel like I need to have a lot of security in myself as a player.

Q: You have a tattoo on the right side of your neck that says “Grateful.”

A: Because we have to be thankful for being alive each and every day.

Q: You lost your older sister years ago?

A: I lost a cousin [Friday], and it’s rough because you know you’re never gonna see that person again so all you really have are those memories and you think of them, but yeah, it feels really bad.

Q: Why did they call you “Troll” as a young boy?

A: When I was younger, I was a little shorter and stocky, and strong, so one day, one of my coaches at the academy started calling me Troll just out of nowhere, and then he came up to me and told me that he was watching a movie called “The Trolls,” and he said, “I thought it looked like you.”

Q: Who used to pitch kernels of corn to you?

A: It was my brothers and it was two house workers. It was a woman and a man.

Q: You can make lasagna?

A: We had a game postponed. … I told Baty to come over to my apartment because I was going to cook. It’s a different type of lasagna though, it has ham in it so not like normal Italian style. Baty said it was good, so it seems I’m a good chef.

Q: Describe your mother.

A: Without my mom I wouldn’t be where I am right now. My mom was the one that was always on top of us to be the best kids that we could possibly be. She wanted me to focus on school, she wanted me to focus on being a better person, the baseball thing came pretty much last for her. I didn’t graduate high school, but once I was able to get my high school degree at the Mets academy, I think she was more happy when I got that degree than I did when I made my MLB debut.

Q: Describe your father.

A: My dad was a tremendously hard worker. He’s just one of those guys that never gave up, and that’s where I get my work ethic from. He’s one of those people that maybe has a fourth- or fifth-grade education, and he comes from a really poor family, so he never gave up and he always found a way to come out on top. That’s what’s been my biggest driving factor. He’s my main role model in my eyes. If if wasn’t for him and if it wasn’t for my mom, I wouldn’t be where I am today. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be the hard worker that I am today.

Q: Your grandmother?

A: My grandmother was the first one who took me to go play baseball.

Q: One favorite childhood memory?

A: Just how happy we are when we’re kids.

Q: Four dinner guests?

A: My mom, my dad and my two nephews.

Q: Favorite movie.

A: “Now You See Me.”

Q: Favorite actor.

A: Will Smith.

Q: Favorite actress.

A: Jennifer Lopez.

Q: Favorite meal.

A: Arepas.

Q: Why do you like playing in New York?

A: I just feel like New York is different … just the environment, the fans, the expectations, it’s all different and that’s why I like playing here.

Q: How does it feel being a fan favorite?

A: It feels good because you get the cheers and everything, but honestly where I want to be accepted and where I want to be everybody’s favorite is in that clubhouse, because that means they come up to you and they trust you and they see you in a different light.

Q: Are you recognized?

A: Yeah, sometimes.

Q: How do you feel about that?

A: I need to get used to it. Sometimes I don’t like it just because I don’t know how to act around it.

Q: All your teammates talk about your work ethic. Why do you work at your craft so hard?

A: Because I want to win. I want at the end of the season where if we roll into a city, they don’t just say, “Ah it’s just the Mets,” I want them to be scared of us when we get there and that’s why I work as hard as I do.

Q: Biggest dream as a boy?

A: My biggest dream when I was a kid was to play for the Lions of Caracas in the Venezuelan winter league ’cause that’s what I used to watch, but as I got older, I realized that that wasn’t the best league, that the major leagues was the best league and that was my only goal after that was to get to the big leagues. And now it’s just to be the best that I can now.

Q: Your dream now?

A: To be in the Hall of Fame and to win at least three World Series.