QUEENS, NY — New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez is beginning a rehab assignment with Single-A St. Lucie on Wednesday, where he is expected to catch between five and six innings, per manager Carlos Mendoza.
Alvarez underwent surgery in early March to repair a fractured hamate bone in his left hand and was given a six-to-eight-week timetable for a return.
Within the last week, the 23-year-old had caught bullpens and taken batting practices, which indicates a late April or early May return is still in the cards.
His backup, Luis Torrens, had held things down admirably until he suffered a forearm contusion during the home opener on Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
He underwent an MRI on Tuesday, which came back negative and will rule out any thoughts of a stint on the injured list.
“He feels better,” Mendoza said of Torrens. “I feel like [Tuesday], toward the end of the game, he started to feel a lot better. Then [Wednesday], he’s back trying to go through baseball activities again… Before we got the MRI results, we didn’t know what we were dealing with, but that x-ray, MRI helped.”
Hayden Senger has gotten the start behind the plate in each of the three previous games and got the nod once again on Wednesday with no other catcher on the roster. He went 2-for-4 in the Mets’ 10-5 victory over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday.
“He’s been really impressive,” Mendoza said of Senger. “We knew the defense was always going to be there, but the way he’s handling the pitching staff, leading those guys, calling really good games, making adjustments in his preparation… We’ve seen how elite he is receiving and blocking, his ability to shut down a running game, but then offensively, he’s giving us some really good at-bats.”
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