Just when things were potentially starting to turn for the Mets, they are going to be without Francisco Alvarez for a stretch.
The starting catcher is headed to the injured list with a right thumb injury, as first reported by Joel Sherman of the New York Post on Tuesday.
Alvarez suffered the injury in the eighth inning of Sunday’s 7-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners in the Little League Classic in Williamsport, PA, on a night in which he went 3-for-4. He returned to New York for an MRI while the Mets went to DC for their three-game set against the Washington Nationals.
The 23-year-old appeared to have rediscovered his swing over the last 21 games after returning from a one-month stint in Triple-A Syracuse. He was batting .323 with a 1.054 OPS, four home runs, and 13 RBI.
In his first 35 games of the season before his demotion, a season that started late after he underwent surgery to repair the hamate bone in his left hand, he batted just .236 with three home runs and 11 RBI.
As they have done throughout significant portions of the season, the Mets will turn to Luis Torrens to pick up the load left by Alvarez’s absence. The journeyman backstop has found a home in Queens, largely predicated on his defense and arm behind the plate. He leads the league in catching 41.7% of would-be base-stealers this season.
Still, losing Alvarez for a stretch at this time of the season is as difficult a blow to contend with as any.
After taking two of three from the Mariners, the Mets enter Tuesday’s series opener in DC 5.5 games back of the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the National League East with 38 games left to play. They hold the third and final NL Wild Card spot by a single game over the Cincinnati Reds.
