NEW YORK -- Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, who is already playing through a sprained UCL in his right thumb and a broken left pinky, exited Tuesday’s 8-3 win over the Padres in the eighth inning after being hit by yet another pitch -- this one on his left arm.
But Alvarez appears to have avoided the worst. By the end of the game, he was already back in the dugout, icing his arm while smiling and laughing with teammates. The Mets do not plan to send Alvarez for X-rays because they don’t consider the injury serious.
“It got him pretty good, but it didn’t look like it got him in the elbow,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It was more like the triceps muscle area.”
Alvarez crouched to the ground after a 99.8 mph Bradgley Rodriguez sinker struck him near the left elbow. He immediately exited the game, giving way to pinch-runner Hayden Senger.
Alvarez’s backup, Luis Torrens, began a Minor League rehab assignment Tuesday, playing seven innings at catcher, and could be an option to return as soon as Wednesday if Alvarez needs a day to recover. Senger is the only other backstop on the Mets’ 40-man roster.
But Alvarez is the Mets’ best offensive option at the position, with a .255/.340/.426 slash line and eight home runs in 66 games. He’s been hit by four pitches in the Majors this season, plus another at Triple-A that fractured his pinky. Over the past two seasons, Alvarez has torn ligaments in both thumbs and broken multiple bones in his hands and wrist.