New York Mets starting catcher Franciso Alvarez will miss 6-8 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a fracture in his left hamate bone, announced Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. Alvarez suffered the injury on Saturday while taking live at-bats at the Mets spring training facility.
Franciso Alvarez to Miss 6-8 Weeks with a Left Hamate Fracture
Alvarez, who is entering his third season with the Mets, will undergo surgery on Monday and is expected to miss 6 to 8 weeks as he recovers. It’s bad news for Alvarez and the Mets, as this marks the second straight year he will miss time with an injury to his left hand after tearing a ligament in his left thumb, which required surgery last season.
After recovering from surgery last year, Alvarez was unable to find the same success he had as a rookie in 2023 when he hit 25 home runs and posted a .721 OPS. After returning in mid-June last year, Alvarez hit .237/.311/.411 with 10 home runs. In the playoffs, Alvarez struggled as the Mets reached the NLCS, hitting .256 with only one extra-base hit in 13 games. Alvarez also has some of baseball’s best pitch framing and pop time metrics. Once considered one of the Met’s top prospects, Alvarez has been league average, boasting a 99 career WRC+. If Alvarez can stay healthy, he has all the tools to become one of the best catchers in baseball.
With Alvarez out, the only other catcher on the Mets 40-man roster is Luis Torrens. Mendoza also mentioned during his press conference that the President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns, hasn’t ruled out outside help at catcher. If the Mets look to free agents for help, former Met James McCann, and Yasmani Grandal would make the most sense. The Mets could also look at prospect Kevin Parada to fill the backup catcher role behind Torrens if they choose to stay in-house.
Main Photo Credits: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
The post Francisco Alvarez to Miss 6-8 Weeks with a Left Hamate Fracture appeared first on Last Word On Baseball.