Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez will bear surgical procedure to repair a fractured left hamate bone, supervisor Carlos Mendoza instructed reporters (together with Newsday’s Tim Healey). Alvarez will miss the subsequent 6-8 weeks recovering from the process.
It’s an unwelcome growth for each Alvarez and the Mets, and it marks the second straight season that Alvarez has suffered an early-season damage to his left hand. Final April, Alvarez suffered a torn thumb ligament that required surgical procedure, and he ended up lacking slightly over seven weeks’ time. He returned in mid-June and hit .237/.311/.411 with 10 residence runs in 283 plate appearances over the remainder of the common season, however Alvarez struggled to a .577 OPS over 47 PA within the playoffs.
Thought-about one of many recreation’s high prospects throughout his time in New York’s farm system, Alvarez has posted virtually precisely league-average manufacturing with a 99 wRC+ over his 779 profession PA on the Main League degree. These numbers are nonetheless fairly respectable for a catcher that simply turned 23 final November, plus Statcast has given his protection (significantly his framing) above-average grades, regardless that his blocking left so much to be desired in 2024.
If Alvarez goes to make the leap from stable common to star in 2025, it’ll now have to attend till a minimum of the latter half of April. Hamate fractures or breaks are frequent sufficient that the 6-8 week timeline is kind of set in stone for many gamers, although naturally problems can come up when coping with any hand-related damage. Such regular actions as gripping a bat may take a little bit of re-familiarization, and Alvarez’s left hand will even be examined by frequently catching pitches.
With Alvarez sidelined, Luis Torrens now turns into the highest catcher on the Mets’ depth chart. Acquired in a commerce with the Yankees final Could, Torrens hit .229/.292/.373 in 130 PA with the Mets final season, which roughly matches his profession slash line over 937 PA and elements of seven huge league seasons. Torrens did a terrific job of throwing out baserunners (would-be stealers have been solely 12-for-23 towards him) final yr however isn’t thought of a terrific defensive catcher total.
Torrens and Alvarez are the one catchers on New York’s 40-man roster, and Jakson Reetz’s eight profession MLB video games make him the one different backstop within the group with any huge league expertise in any respect. It appears exceedingly seemingly that the Mets will now look to accumulate one other skilled catcher or two to compete for enjoying time over the rest of Spring Coaching.
These new faces may come within the type of gamers reduce from different groups’ spring camps, or maybe a membership might be already be seeking to commerce a non-roster invitee catcher if the membership is aware of this participant gained’t be a part of their Opening Day plans. Seeking to the free agent market, former Mets catcher James McCann is unsigned and might be introduced again as a well-recognized face. Yasmani Grandal can be a identified amount to David Stearns, as Grandal performed for the Brewers in 2019 when Stearns was Milwaukee’s president of baseball operations.
Alvarez’s hamate fracture is the most recent in a collection of accidents to have already hit the Mets this spring. The rotation has been thinned out since Sean Manaea (indirect pressure) and Frankie Montas (lat pressure) will each begin the season on the injured checklist, and backup infielder Nick Madrigal is predicted to overlook all the season after present process shoulder surgical procedure. Whereas Alvarez’s damage is relatively much less severe, the dearth of catching depth makes his absence a trickier roster gap to deal with.
