Prior to the start of the team’s series against the Padres, Carlos Mendoza announced that Francisco Alvarez Will be catching back-to-back games tonight and tomorrow for the Syracuse Mets. If all goes well, he will likely return at some point during the team’s next homestand next week.
This is, quite frankly, a freakish recovery for Alvarez, who has made a habit of beating the projected return date on injuries by several days, if not weeks. This represents the latter, as he was expected to miss six-to-eight weeks with his meniscus tear in his right knee and could be back in just under four. Alvarez recently attributed his quick recovery from injuries to being a normal human “with a different mindset” and really, who could argue with that?
Alvarez has already had a noteworthy rehab stint, doubling in his first two at-bats and finishing his first game on June 2 by going 2-for-3 with a run batted in. He went hitless in his second game on June 4, which included three strikeouts, but he caught seven innings and threw out a runner trying to steal second. The last hurdle appears to be catching back-to-back games, at which point the team will re-evaluate and determine whether he’s cleared to return to the majors.
Prior to his injury, Alvarez was slashing .241/.317/.393 with four homers, a 104 wRC+, and a 0.5 fWAR in 37 games played. He has been struggling as of late, however, hitting just .214/.250/.286 while being held without a homer and posting a 51 wRC+ in 17 games since April 21. In his absence, Luis Torrens has assumed the bulk of the team’s catching duties, hitting .231/.298/.308 with a 78 wRC+ in 18 games while continuing to excel behind the plate, especially with respect to throwing out would-be base stealers.