Francisco Alvarez suffered a setback in his rehab assignment in what is yet another dose of bad injury luck.
According to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, the Mets catcher suffered a broken left pinky finger on Wednesday night after he was hit by a pitch while playing with Triple-A Syracuse. Per DiComo, Alvarez hopes to return this season, and even hopes to continue his rehab from his previous thumb injury in 2-3 days.
Still, a broken pinky while recovering from a thumb injury could become a pain threshold that impacts his play whenever he does return, if he indeed can play again this season. Alvarez was in enough discomfort on Thursday that he had a Mets staffer catching for him at Citi Field while he was throwing in the outfield.
Alvarez has dealt with several injuries across his young career, but he had seemingly returned to form after returning from a demotion to the minor leagues earlier this season. After his promotion back to the majors on July 21, the former hyped prospect hit .324 with a 1.054 OPS in 71 plate appearances.
His hot streak was cut short when he injured his thumb sliding into second base during the Little League Classic, a game in which he went 3-for-4 with two doubles.
The Mets have Luis Torrens and Hayden Senger as options behind the plate while Alvarez heals.