Francisco Álvarez Esquiva Another Injury, But Concern Persists for the Mets
Mets catcher Francisco Álvarez, who was already playing with a broken left pinky finger and a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right thumb, avoided another injury on Tuesday night. Álvarez was hit on the upper part of his left arm by a pitch. The 23-year-old showed signs of pain after being hit by a 100 mph fastball from San Diego Padres pitcher Bradgley Rodríguez in the eighth inning. Álvarez doubled over behind the plate and grabbed his left arm as he slowly walked towards first base with manager Carlos Mendoza and a trainer. He was replaced by emerging runner Hayden Senger, but minutes later he appeared in the Mets’ dugout, smiling and with a large bandage on his left arm. Later, he joined the greeting line after New York’s victory.Mendoza commented that the blow did not seem to impact the elbow, but rather the triceps muscle area. He added that they will wait to see how Álvarez feels the next day, but that for the moment they do not plan to perform X-rays or anything similar. This was the third time in three weeks that Álvarez was hit on the left arm or hand. His rehabilitation from the right thumb injury was halted on August 27 after he broke his pinky finger being hit by a pitch while batting for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets. Álvarez was also hit by a pitch from Cole Winn of the Texas Rangers on Saturday. As night began, New York was 1.5 games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final National League wild card.Mendoza indicated that Álvarez was in pain, but it was not expected that he would undergo imaging tests.
Carlos Mendoza
