Alvarez homers in rehab game, also takes HBP off injured hand

The Mets hope to see the return of catcher Francisco Alvarez in the coming days or weeks.

On Tuesday, Alvarez homered for the first time in his rehab assignment for Double-A Binghamton, his fourth game since beginning his assignment on April 9.

In his fourth plate appearance Tuesday, after homering and singling, the 23-year-old Alvarez was hit by a pitch near where he broke the bone in his left wrist. While he remained in to catch the bottom of the sixth, Alvarez was replaced behind the plate by Matt O'Neill for the seventh with Binghamton trailing, 10-2.

Alvarez suffered a fractured hamate bone in his left hand that required surgery in early March. The injury took place while Alvarez was taking live at-bats at the Mets’ complex. The team expected the young catcher to miss 6-8 weeks, roughly putting him on track to return in mid-to-late April.

This marked the second straight season that a left hand injury sidelined Alvarez early on. He tore the ligament in this thumb last April, causing him to miss nearly two months, which limited Alvarez to 100 games.

Alvarez is a career .221/.294/.423 hitter and has hit 37 home runs in his first 228 games.