Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez took batting practice on Monday at Citi Field as he works toward a potential return from a UCL sprain in his right thumb.
Alvarez was placed on the 10-day IL last Tuesday, with the plan at the time being for him to be reevaluated in 10-to-14 days.
The catch, then and now, is that Alvarez will eventually need surgery to repair his injury. But the hope is that he'll be able to play through it upon his hopeful return and through the remainder of the season.
Carlos Mendoza said ahead of Monday's game against the Phillies that Alvarez also took batting practice at Citi Field on Sunday.
Mendoza added that if all goes well with Alvarez over the next few days, he'll begin a rehab assignment on either Wednesday or Thursday.
If Alvarez is able to begin his rehab assignment as planned and can play through the pain at a satisfactory level, it's fair to believe his rehab assignment will not be long.
Alvarez's injury occurred eight days ago against the Mariners on a head-first slide into second base.
The 23-year-old, who missed the start of the season with a hamate fracture in his left hand and spent a chunk of the year working on things at Triple-A, appeared to have found his stroke at the plate before the injury.
Since returning from the demotion in late July, Alvarez is slashing .323/.408/.645 with four homers, six doubles, one triple, 13 RBI, and 14 runs scored in 71 plate appearances over 21 games.
In Alvarez's absence, Luis Torrens has been getting most of the starts behind the plate while Hayden Senger serves as his backup.
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