In his first game of a rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse after suffering a right thumb sprain, Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez sustained a broken left pinky finger when he was hit by a pitch on the left hand on Wednesday.
Manager Carlos Mendoza said it is a "small fracture" to the pinky finger and that Alvarez, who was with the club at Citi Field, would see doctors on Thursday. But the early reports were positive about a quick return.
"Just gonna wait for the inflammation to come down, probably two, three days, and then we'll get him going again," Mendoza said ahead of Thursday's series opener against the Miami Marlins. "This should be relatively short. But, again, obviously, it's a little bit of a setback to what the original plan was."
While the catcher appears to have avoided the worst-case scenario, the manager said they aren't going to put Alvarez in a position where he is uncomfortable as he plays through some pain with injuries to both hands.
"As tough as he is, he's human," Mendoza said. "We gotta get him to a point where it's manageable because now we're talking about the receiving hand, too."
When it came to the original injury — a right thumb sprain he suffered sliding into second base during the MLB Little League Classic on Aug. 17, the manager said the early reports on his throwing were good, but "we gotta wait and see when it happens in real action."
"When he's gotta do the transfer and put the ball in the air as quick as possible and put something on the throw," Mendoza said, adding there was no issue with him throwing the ball back to the pitcher during his five innings behind the plate.
Batting for the third time in his first rehab start, Alvarez was plunked by an 89 mph sinker. Clearly in pain after getting hit, Alvarez took his time getting to first base and was met by trainers who took a look at him before he was removed from the game for a pinch-runner.
The 23-year-old's hands have taken quite the beating recently. He started the season on the IL with a wrist injury and lost time to a thumb injury that required surgery last season.
Mendoza said the three hand injuries have been tough on the young catcher, who is frustrated by his bad luck.
“Also, understanding there’s still hope and feel like you can get back this year and help us win baseball games, but definitely you don’t want to be on the IL, you don’t want to be missing time,” he said. “In Alvy’s case, it’s been hard for him. Our job is to continue to support him and continue to stay positive with him.
“He’s very strong mentally, physically, and he’ll get through this.”
This is another tough setback for the backstop, who came back from a demotion to Triple-A swinging a hot bat, slashing .323/.408/.645 with four homers, six doubles, one triple, 13 RBI, and 14 runs scored in 71 plate appearances over 21 games. He continued that with a double in his first at-bat with Syracuse on Wednesday.
Francisco Alvarez has left the game for Triple-A Syracuse after being hit on the hand pic.twitter.com/Y53td17K2t
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 28, 2025
