WASHINGTON, D.C. – It will take about two weeks to find out if Francisco Alvarez’s season is over.
The Mets catcher, who sprained the UCL in his right thumb sliding into second base in the seventh inning of their win against the Mariners Sunday, was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Monday ; it will take 10-14 days to see if the inflammation subsides before they’re able to determine if he’ll be able to play through it, manager Carlos Mendoza said. Regardless, Alvarez will need surgery on the ligament eventually; the procedure has an approximately eight-week recovery time, according to the National Institutes of Health.
“He’s already on medicine and he’s feeling better, but I think it’s just how much he can tolerate?” Mendoza said Tuesday before the Mets began their three-game set against the Nationals. “He was pretty frustrated…I’m a little optimistic but we’ll see. We’ve just got to wait.”
Luis Torrens will take on primary catching duties, and the Mets recalled catcher Hayden Senger from Triple-A Syracuse Tuesday.
The injury couldn’t have happened at a worst time for Alvarez, or the Mets for that matter. After a two-month swoon that saw them bumped out of first place and in danger of losing the third and final wild card spot to the upstart Reds, they finally stirred to life this past weekend, taking two of three from the Mariners, keyed by a promising major-league debut from Nolan McLean and Francisco Lindor’s reinvigorated bat.
After a rough start that saw Alvarez get demoted to Triple-A in June, the catcher had turned a significant corner. Since rejoining the Mets on July 21, he was slashing .323/.408/.645 with four homers and 13 RBIs in 21 games. In 35 games prior to his demotion, Alvarez, who missed most of spring training with a broken hamate bone in his left thumb, had been hitting .236 with three homers. He also missed about two months last year with a left thumb sprain.
“We’ll see where he’s at [after the 10-14 days] as far as gripping the bat, if he’s going to be able to swing,” Mendoza said. “There’s players in the past who can play through this and that’s what we’re giving a chance [to happen]…We don’t think it’s going to be an issue [with regards to catching] but it’s more like swinging the bat and gripping the bat. That’s why we’re still optimistic because it’s not the receiving hand.”
If he can play through it, Alvarez will need a rehab assignment, which likely places a best-case return timeline at late September. In the interim, the Mets will turn to the light-hitting but defensively elite Torrens.
“He’s a good player,” Mendoza said of Torrens, who’s hitting .214/.280/.301 in 75 games. “He was a big part of this team at the beginning of the year, him and Senger both, when we were winning a lot of games and we’re going to need those guys to step up now.”
Un momento histórico
Tuesday marked the first time in baseball history that a game featured two Venezuelan managers – Mendoza for the Mets and interim manager Miguel Cairo for the Nationals . The first pitch was signed by both managers and will be headed to Cooperstown.
“It’s just an honor for both of us, a privilege,” Mendoza said. “I’m humbled by it. This is a big deal back home. I didn’t recognize that until it was brought up to me. It’s a special day and I’m happy to represent the country.”
Mendoza and Cairo are two of four Venezuelan-born managers to make it to the big leagues, according to Elias Sports Bureau. The other two are Ozzie Guillen and Al Pedrique, who managed the Diamondbacks for one year in 2004; that team didn’t square off against the White Sox that season. There currently are six Latin American managers in baseball.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.