NEW YORK — Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez sustained a small fracture in his left pinky finger when he was hit by a pitch on Wednesday night, yet the Mets hope he will be able to return to baseball activities as soon as this weekend.
“This should be relatively short,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But obviously, it’s a little bit of a setback compared to what the original plan was.”
Alvarez, who sprained the UCL in his right thumb earlier this month, was making his first rehab appearance for Triple-A Syracuse when he fractured the pinky on his opposite hand. He had the finger taped on Thursday afternoon, when he participated in a throwing drill at Citi Field. The Mets plan to wait for Alvarez’s inflammation to subside before determining next steps, but if he can tolerate the pain, he could restart baseball activities within two or three days.
The question is how much pain Alvarez can endure. If he returns this season, he will already be playing through the discomfort of his ligament tear, which will require postseason surgery to fix. Now, Alvarez has a broken bone in his catching hand, which figures to be a source of even more discomfort.
“We’re not going to put him in a position where he’s very uncomfortable,” Mendoza said. “As tough as he is, he’s human. So I think we’ve got to get him to a point where it’s manageable, because now we’re talking about the receiving hand, too. But it’s a small fracture. We’ve just got to wait.”
The Mets have reason to hope Alvarez can rejoin them at some point in September, considering he was batting .323/.408/.645 in 21 games after returning from a brief demotion to the Minor Leagues. But Alvarez has struggled to stay on the field, enduring a series of hand injuries over the past two seasons. He has broken multiple bones, including a fractured left hamate during Spring Training and a UCL tear in his left thumb in 2024.
In Alvarez’s absence, Luis Torrens and Hayden Senger have split time behind the plate. While both are strong defensive catchers, neither is the offensive force that Alvarez can be at his best.
“Obviously, he’s frustrated,” Mendoza said. “But … there’s still hope. There’s still a feeling that he can get back this year and help us win baseball games.
“Definitely, you don’t want to be on the IL. You don’t want to be missing time. In Alvy’s case, it’s been hard for him. But our job is to continue to support him and continue to stay positive with him, and we will. Because he’s very strong mentally, physically, and he’ll get through this, too.”
Source link
