Alvarez to the IL

[Frayed Knot]

But the story is still short on specifics, with reports saying only an "injured thumb".

No mention is made of ligaments, tendons, bones, termites, or anything else, nor is any time frame mentioned.

https://nypost.com/2025/08/19/sports/francisco-alvarez-going-on-il-in-brutal-mets-injury-blow/

[Centerfield]

Not good.

Hoping it's a 1-2 week thing.

[MFS62]

Joe Schultz

Later

[Centerfield]

Again, it's curious that there's so little info.

What's the injury. How long. etc.

Makes me think it's bad. I wonder if they're holding the info while trying to figure out a better plan than Torrens/Senger.

[kcmets]

Seems pretty clear to me...

 

"Concerning, I'm not gonna lie."

"I'm not gonna sit here and speculate," he added, "because we don't

know what we're dealing with." - Mendoza

[Edgy MD]

The momentum behind the Senger > Álvarez movement seems to have died out.

[Gwreck]

The momentum behind the Senger > Álvarez movement seems to have died out.

 

I can’t remember that. When Alvarez wasn’t hitting at all, I do remember a Torrens > Alvarez consideration, particularly given how good Torrens’ defense has been.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Jackson Reetz has been doing about as much of the catching at Syracuse as Senger has, but he hasn't really made much of a case for being promoted.

At Binghamton, it's been Kevin Parada. (.251/.321/.429 with 9 homers and 20 doubles in 81 games.)

[Edgy MD]

The momentum behind the Senger > Álvarez movement seems to have died out.

 

I can’t remember that. When Alvarez wasn’t hitting at all, I do remember a Torrens > Alvarez consideration, particularly given how good Torrens’ defense has been.

 

It was a highly localized movement.

[Edgy MD]

Jackson Reetz has been doing about as much of the catching at Syracuse as Senger has, but he hasn't really made much of a case for being promoted.

At Binghamton, it's been Kevin Parada. (.251/.321/.429 with 9 homers and 20 doubles in 81 games.)

 

Available veterans floating about include Austin Barnes (released by The Giants 8/1).

A consequence of ending waiver trades is teams unable to go outside the organization to replace August injured.

[MFS62]

Barnes is essentially another Torrens (career OPS+ of 80 vs Torrens' 79).

But he is better than Senger's under 20.(limited sample size).

Depending on how long Alvarez will be out, why not bring up Parada? He was a #1 pick in 2022, and at least has some power (9 HR this year, 13 last year at AA). Let's see what he can do.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

Promoting Parada would probably have implications for the 40-man roster. (I'm guessing here.)

[MFS62]

From SNY

Following an MRI, the Mets announced on Tuesday that Alvarez has been placed on the 10-day IL with a right thumb UCL sprain.

According to the Mets, Alvarez will be re-evaluated in 10-14 days for return to play.

The Mets have called up catcher Hayden Senger to take Alvarez's spot on the roster.

 

Later

[Frayed Knot]

So at least three weeks.

Lesson: Stop sliding head first.

[MFS62]

Now they're saying that if he can't play through it when he returns, he would have to have season ending surgery.

Don't slide head first should be above the door in every locker room, right under No Gambling.

Later

[Centerfield]

He needs surgery. His season is over.

It's hard enough to ask a regular position player to play through such an injury. A catcher? Forget about it.

As long as you're not risking anything for next year, I guess there's no harm in seeing if he can play through it. But coming back seems highly unlikely.

[Fman99]

The one guy not wearing big stupid oven mitts on the bases

[Cowtipper]

Probably worth calling up someone not named Senger this time.

Can he hit still? Good excuse to get rid of Taylor. Put Alvarez at DH, release Taylor, call up a Triple A catcher.

[ashie62]

The Mets got by when Alvarez went to the minors for a stretch and they will here also

Vientos and Baty are stepping up with the bats to kinda cover for the offense that will be missing with Alvarez on the shelf

[Centerfield]

They say hitting will be the actual challenge.

Apparently there is some history of this. Dustin Pedroia played through a similar injury, and though it affected his power, he had a decent season. I don't know if there are any other examples other than Pedroia.

[MFS62]

Senger has been called up.

Later

[Edgy MD]

It is so curious how often a guy suffers some sort of hand trauma from a hit-by-pitch or sliding incident. The manager and trainer or trainers go out there and give him a thorough examination, but he is allowed to stay in the game, only to be removed the next half inning and hit the IL by the next day. It makes me wonder why they bother examining him at all if they leave him in the game while he's still hurt.

MANAGER: "How do you feel?"

PLAYER: "Aaah! I don't know. I'm just trying to shake off the throbbing and see."

MANAGER: "Well, we're going to let Felix examine you and see how you're doing."

TRAINER: "Can you grip my hand?"

PLAYER: "Yeah, I think so."

TRAINER: "Tighter."

PLAYER: "How's that?"

TRAINER: "Do you remember when we first met?

PLAYER: "I thought you were such a snob!"

TRAINER: "And I thought you were a daddy's girl."

PLAYER: "You barely said anything to me!"

TRAINER: "How could I? I was scared of you?"

PLAYER: "Of me?!"

MANAGER: "So what's your read, Felix?"

TRAINER: "Just got a run through a few more things. Diego, let's have thumb war."

PLAYER: "One-two-three-GO! Oh! AAAAH!! I jus ... Ah, you win!"

TRAINER: "Want to do two out of three?"

MANAGER: "Can we get ON with this?"

TRAINER: "OK, Diego, show me the church."

PLAYER: "Uhn."

TRAINER: "That's good. Now show me the steeple."

PLAYER: "AHHH!"

TRAINER: "Great, now show me the people!"

PLAYER: "Here they are!"

TRAINER: "You're hi-LAR-ious!!"

MANAGER: "Look, can he stay in the game or not?!"

TRAINER: "Yeah, he is good to go."

　　Trainer and manager jog back to dugout. Play resumes.

MANAGER: "That was close."

TRAINER: "What was close?"

MANAGER: "His hand. I thought he was really hurt."

TRAINER: "Oh, his hand? His hand all sorts of ****ed up. If we x-rayed it now, it would look like a maraca. He'll be out six to eight weeks minimum. Probably more."

MANAGER: "Then what the **** is he in the game for?!"

TRAINER: "Well, why waste a player? It's just his hand. You can take him out next inning. He doesn't need his hand to run the bases."

MANAGER: "THAT'S HOW HE GOT HURT IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

TRAINER: "And maybe he'll magically get better while he's out there. I'll examine him again when he gets back to the dugout."

MANAGER: "PLEASE DON'T!!"

[MFS62]

The Mets just signed old friend Ali Sanchez to a minor league contract.

I'm not sure whether that signals good news or bad news about Alvarez.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

Probably neither. They just want to be prepared for the worst case in case they eventually find out that it's the actual case.

[Centerfield]

I think the worst case scenario is already here. Alvarez is a big part of the Mets future. I don't see any sense in trying to let him play hurt and potentially hurting him long term.

Dustin Pedroia is the case that is cited as an example of him playing through this. Pedroia just said in a recent article that (a) his thumb still hurts him, and ( it's going to rob Alvarez of any power. In Dustin's case, power was just part of his game. If you take away Alvy's power, what do you have left?

Of course, Pedroia played an entire season with a torn UCL, where Alvarez will be playing maybe a month to 6 weeks. I don't know. Doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

I'd rather they call up Parada and see if the kid can go Benny Agbayani for a month. It can't be worse offensively than Senger.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'd also like to see them give Parada a chance.

[roger_that]

It can't be worse offensively than Senger.

 

Do we have a category called "Famous Last Words"? You know, like that Civil War General who died saying "They can't hit an elephant at this dis--"?

[metirish]

Francisco Alvarez has left the game for Triple-A Syracuse after being hit on the hand

SNY

 

[TWEET]

[/TWEET]

[Edgy MD]

That is kinda stunning.

How does trauma always find his hands?

[Lefty Specialist]

Shoulda worn oven mitts when batting.