Francisco Álvarez out 6-8 weeks with a fractured hamate bone
The Mets primary catcher will undergo surgery
The Mets took another gut punch on the injury front on Sunday when it was announced Francisco Álvarez fractured the hamate bone in his left hand, and will miss 6-8 weeks.
Álvarez will undergo surgery on his hand.
Álvarez missed a similar amount of time in 2024 after he tore a ligament in his thumb early in the season. He was never really able to get on track upon returning as he struggled through year-long discomfort, finishing with a .237/.307/.403 line with just 11 home runs in 342 plate appearances.
On the advice of JD Martínez, Álvarez spent the bulk of the off-season in Atlanta at Maven Baseball Lab in an effort to revamp his swing mechanics. However, he tallied 11 strikeouts in 27 spring plate appearances before fracturing his hand.
Currently, the Mets only have Álvarez and Luis Torrens listed as catchers on their 40-man roster. That means the Mets will have to consider options within their minor league depth, such as Jackson Reetz or Chris Williams, or an external acquisition to replace Álvarez while he recovers from surgery.
Ugh
Tough break for Alvy, but it's fixable. Just sucks to have to take a step back after all the offseason work. I was really liking the new stance. Just exactly where I wanted to see him be.
He may need to rethink the violence in his swing now, though. Maybe watch some old Thurman Munson footage and mimic that approach and take the jerkiness out of it. It would be easier on the hands, and who knows, maybe he'd cut down on the chase rate and make more contact while he was at it.
This spring, he's been flailing a lot less, so maybe he's heading in that direction anyway.