At this point, it might take a nuclear explosion to get Francisco Alvarez out of the lineup.
One night after getting hit by a 100 MPH pitch just above his left elbow, the Mets backstop is back in the lineup against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, refusing to take time off to heal the nagging injuries he’s been playing through this month. Alvarez is currently playing with a sprained right thumb UCL that will require surgery after the season, and a broken left pinky.
“As soon as it happened last night, when I went out to the field, I thought he was going to be done,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “It didn’t sound good from the dugout. You look up and it’s 100 that got him on the elbow, and he was in pain big time. I knew he was coming out of the ball game, right? But before the game’s over, he’s in the dugout with ice on it and with a smile on his face.”
Alvarez practically skipped out of the dugout to celebrate the Mets’ 8-3 win over the Padres with the rest of the team. Immediately, he told Mendoza he would be good to go Wednesday for the second game of a three-game set.
The pitch from right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez got him around his tricep area. He was lucky to avoid a direct hit on his elbow or on a bone, but Mendoza said he’s still sore Wednesday.
A bruise is nothing for Alvarez.
The Mets’ catching battery is back at full strength with Luis Torrens activated off the injured list Wednesday. Hayden Senger was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, but will likely travel with the Mets in the postseason on the taxi squad, should they clinch a playoff berth. Senger traveled with the Mets during the 2024 playoffs.
Center fielder Tyrone Taylor will start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse on Friday. The hamstring strain that has sidelined him for the last few weeks is healed and he’s been running and doing baseball activities. Taylor returned to New York on Wednesday after his partner, Alyssa Banda, gave birth to the couple’s second child and first son in Arizona over the weekend.
PLAYER DEVELOPMENT AWARDS ANNOUNCED
One night after the Mets’ High-A affiliate in Brooklyn clinched a spot in the South Atlantic League Championship Series, the club had the winners of their player development awards at Citi Field. Right-hander Jonah Tong was named the minor league Pitcher of the Year after flying through the system, starting the year in Double-A before making only two starts in Triple-A before joining the big league team last month. Tong joined the other award winners on field for a pre-game ceremony.
“I think we’re excited that many of our guys get an opportunity at the big league level,” said director of player development Andy Greene. “It was a pretty meteoric rise for him from where he started the season, and if you can look back two years ago, it’s been really fast for him, but he earned the opportunity. Being better than virtually every pitcher in minor league baseball gets you on the radar pretty fast.”
The rest of the award winners are as follows:
Player of the Year: outfielder Carson Benge
Dominican Republic Academy Player of the Year: Shortstop Elian Peña
Dominican Republic Academy Player of the Year: left-hander Osiris Calvo
EVERYONE WATCHES WOMEN’S SPORTS
The Mets hosted Yedlimar De Jesus on Wednesday, a 17-year-old Puerto Rican right-hander who is set to become the first woman to play for the Monroe University baseball team in New Rochelle. De Jesus, who has played since she was 5 years old, will be the first Puerto Rican woman to play college baseball with men.