Mets catcherFrancisco Alvarezremains determined to return to the lineup — perhaps sooner rather than later — despite having a torn UCL in his right thumb and small fracture in his left pinky.
Alvarez was out taking batting practice at Citi Field on Friday, a day after news about his broken pinky was revealed.
Manager Carlos Mendoza said Friday it's "impressive" Alvarez is already taking swings and looking to get back on the field, but would not put a date on when the catcher would be ready to return.
"I don't want to put a specific date [on his return], but the fact that he's already [hitting]," Mendoza said. "I mean he swung the bat yesterday in the cages after the doctors gave him the clearance. Soon as the doctor gave him the OK, the first thing he said was like, 'Alright, can I go hit now?' Sure enough, ten minutes later, he was in the cages taking hacks. And then today he's taking full BP and all that.
"Look man, this guy's not only strong, he's a quick healer, too. We got to see how he comes out of the BP today. Now we got to see when's the next step, which is receiving, playing catch and all that because we're talking about the receiving hand now. I'm not surprised by anything at this time. Not going to put a date, but the fact he's moving that quick is pretty impressive."
Mendoza said previously on Thursday that the plan was for Alvarez to let the swelling go down before resuming baseball activities.
In his first game of a rehab assignment on Wednesday with Triple-A Syracuse, Alvarez suffered the broken pinky when he was hit by a pitch.
"As tough as he is, he's human," Mendoza said on Thursday about Alvarez playing through pain. "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.
Alvarez will eventually need surgery for the thumb injury, but is hoping to play through it for the remainder of the season.
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.”
Alvarez 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.
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