The New York Mets had to deal with another tough injury last night, and they'll lose Alvarez for an extended stretch.
The New York Mets continue to edge into uncharted waters with the sheer number of injuries they’ve sustained this season, and last night they lost catcher/DH Francisco Alvarez with a meniscus tear that will keep him out for 6-8 weeks, according to a report from Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and multiple other outlets.
The injury occurred in the sixth inning of the Mets’ 10-2 route of the Detroit Tigers, and it happened on a violent swing as it looked like Alvarez had wrenched his knee with his leg buckling slightly. For a moment it looked like he might be able to stay in the game, but a home plate visit from manager Carlos Mendoza and trainer Joe Golia quickly changed his situation, and now he’s on the 10-day IL and is slated to have surgery to repair his right knee.
The timeline for his return is 6-8 weeks, although that can’t be confirmed until the surgery is performed.
"Once they go in there, we'll have a better understanding of what we're dealing with," Mendoza said. "All we know is we have to wait until they go in there and find what we got."
Alvarez has been swinging from his heels for a while now, and Mets broadcast analyst Ron Darling commented that Alvarez’s swing had “gotten big” compared to the short, quick swing he was featuring at the start of the year. Catcher Hayden Senger was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse in a corresponding move, with Luis Torrens now getting most of the starts behind the plate for the Mets.
Alvarez was hitting .241 with a .710 OPS through 37 games as the starting catcher this year, but his production has become more intermittent after a solid start, and his defense has been noticeably subpar. It’s yet another setback for a player the Mets were once expecting to become a star, and Alvarez’s previous injuries include multiple torn thumb ligaments and a fractured left hamate bone.
Injuries aside, it’s fair to wonder how long the Mets will stay committed to Alvarez as their long-term starter.
Meniscus tears have become a thing for the Mets this year, as DiComo noted. Outfielder Mike Tauchman and Jared Young have both gone down with the same injury, and Tauchman will be out until midsummer with Young slated to return in late May or June after the latter was placed on the IL on April 15.
The Mets have plenty of prospect depth waiting in the wings at other positions, but unfortunately catcher isn’t one of them, so it will be up to Torrens to hold the fort. The good news is that he's been playing well and even giving the Mets some offense, so hopefully that will continue.