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.
"He needs surgery, obviously, but right now, talking to multiple doctors, the plan is to give him 10-14 days to calm down the inflammation and see where he’s at after that as far as gripping the bat, if he’s going to be able to swing," manager Carlos Mendoza said last week. "There are players in the past who played through this, and that’s why we’re giving it a chance. If he goes and has surgery right now, he’s going to be done for the season anyway.
"So, he wants to give it a try. We’re hopeful that he can play through this, but we’ll just have to wait and see."
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.
