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• Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Out with hand fracture

  12D ago • By RotoWire

  Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that Alvarez has been diagnosed with a fractured hamate bone in his left hand and will be sidelined 6-to-8 weeks after he undergoes surgery Monday, Tim Healey of Newsday reports. Alvarez last saw Grapefruit League action Friday against the Nationals, but it's unclear exactly how he suffered the injury. The 23-year-old missed over seven weeks in 2024 due to a torn UCL in his left thumb, and he struggled to find much consistency when healthy with 11 home runs and a .237/.307/.403 slash line over 100 regular-season games. Making his 2025 debut in late April is likely the best-case scenario while coming back from a fracture in his glove hand, but there's a real chance Alvarez doesn't return from the injured list until May. Luis Torrens is poised to take over as the No. 1 catcher in the interim, though the Mets could look outside the organization to bolster their depth behind the plate.

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• Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Revamped swing in offseason

  02/14/2025 • By RotoWire

  Alvarez retooled his swing mechanics at Maven Baseball Lab this offseason on the recommendation of J.D. Martinez, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports. "I think I can put the ball in the air more, hit the ball to the opposite way more," Alvarez said this week. "I'm very powerful; I don't have to pull every pitch." The 23-year-old catcher is coming off a disappointing 2024 campaign at the plate, managing just 11 homers and a .710 OPS in 100 big-league games after slugging 25 long balls over 123 games for the Mets in 2023. Alvarez's decline was fueled by an increase in his groundball rate (career-high 52.2 percent) and decrease in his hard-hit rate (30.8 percent, nearly a five percent drop from the year before). While at the lab, Alvarez focused on tweaking his stance and lower-body movement to eliminate a tendency to pull off the ball rather than staying square and driving pitches back up the middle. "He wants to be a complete hitter, not just a power hitter," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "In order for anyone to be a complete hitter, you need to use the whole field." Alvarez's career .221 batting average in the majors doesn't suggest he'll suddenly be challenging for batting titles, but there is plenty of room for improvement in his 2024 performance.

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• Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Breather in second game

  09/30/2024 • By RotoWire

  Alvarez is out of the lineup for the second game of Monday's doubleheader in Atlanta, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports. Perhaps Alvarez would have gotten the start had the Mets failed to capture the first game, but since they did win that contest it makes it an easy decision to rest him for this one. Luis Torrens will catch and bat eighth.

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• Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Back in lineup

  09/29/2024 • By RotoWire

  Alvarez (back) is starting at catcher and batting eighth for Sunday's game against the Brewers, Tim Healey of Newsday reports. Alvarez left Friday's game against Milwaukee due to back spasms. That kept him out of Saturday's lineup, though he did manage to pinch hit for Luis Torrens in the top of the eighth inning. Since Sept. 1, Alvarez has slashed .231/.355/.538 with five home runs and 14 RBI over 62 plate appearances.

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• Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Exits early Friday

  09/28/2024 • By RotoWire

  Alvarez was removed from Friday's game against the Brewers with back spasms, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports. Alvarez was grabbing at his back immediately after sliding into third base during the seventh inning and stayed on the ground for some time before being helped into the dugout by the Mets' trainers. The severity of his injury remains unknown, but Luis Torrens would be the next man up behind the dish if Alvarez needs to miss some time.

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