New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez has suffered another injury setback, this time a fractured left pinkie finger after being hit by a pitch during a Triple-A rehab game on Wednesday.
Manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed Thursday that Alvarez, 23, will pause baseball activities for a few days until swelling subsides.
Alvarez had just begun a rehab assignment while recovering from a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb, an injury sustained on a headfirst slide into second base earlier this month. The thumb injury requires surgery, but doctors have cleared him to delay the procedure until the offseason if he can manage the pain.
“This should be relatively short,” Mendoza said. “But when you hear fracture, you think worst case. Fortunately, that’s not what we’re dealing with.”
The pinkie fracture marks Alvarez’s fourth hand injury in two years. He missed nearly two months in 2023 following thumb surgery and lost the start of this season to a fractured hamate bone in his left hand. Despite the setbacks, Alvarez had shown promise before the UCL sprain, batting .323 with four homers and a 1.054 OPS in 21 games after being recalled from Syracuse in July.
In his absence, the Mets will continue to split catching duties between veteran Luis Torrens and rookie Hayden Senger.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].