The Mets grabbed a big series win over the Mariners by running away with a win in Sunday’s Little League Classic, but it came with an injury scare.
Francisco Alvarez appeared to injure his thumb when sliding into second base after banging a double off the right field wall in the bottom of the seventh, and while he remained in the game after being looked at by Carlos Mendoza and the training staff, he was eventually pulled in place of Luis Torrens.
The Mets were up 7-3 at the time of Alvarez’s double, and some hoped the substitution was a precautionary measure, but Mendoza told reporters after the game that his young catcher was heading for an MRI.
“It’s a thumb injury,” Mendoza said. “He’s gonna go back to New York and he’s gonna get an MRI [Monday]. So right now, we don’t know what we’re dealing with.”
The injury comes at the worst time for Alvarez, who was 3-for-4 on the night before leaving the game, raising his OPS to 1.054 since returning from Triple-A. The former hyped prospect has battled injuries for much of his young career, but he had been thriving at the plate since coming back from being sent down due to struggles at the plate.
Those struggles seemed to be behind him, and now the Mets will have to hope that Alvarez’s hot streak won’t be interrupted by an IL stint.