CLEVELAND — While two of the Mets injured pitchers continued to encounter obstacles while rehabbing their shoulder injuries, catcher Francisco Alvarez is moving along after thumb surgery without incident.
“He’s doing a lot more nowadays,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday before the Mets fell 6-3 to the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. “He’s already catching, swinging the bat, getting off the tee, throwing soft toss and he’s scheduled to take BP when we get back home over the weekend. So, [he’s] progressing well.”
Alvarez tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb in April after tripping while rounding first base at Dodger Stadium and had surgery shortly thereafter. The Mets were given a timeline of 6-8 weeks with the team planning on being without him for eight.
Alvarez is able to put his hand in his mitt and close it, something he was unable to do after the injury initially occurred, with the help of a splint. He will likely wear the splint even after he returns to action, but it’s allowed him to start receiving balls from a pitching machine and to start swinging a bat.
Not much has gone right for the Mets since the calendar turned to May. They lost left-handed reliever Brooks Raley for the year to elbow surgery, right-hander Kodai Senga has been out since early in spring training and won’t be returning anytime soon, and right-hander Drew Smith will have to go on a second rehab assignment next week after more shoulder pain prevented him from being activated after the first one.
If the Mets can get their star catcher back in June, it would be a boon to the lineup and the pitching staff.
HOW SWEEP IT ISN’T
The Mets were swept for the third time this season and the first time by the Guardians in team history. They clubbed three homers in back-to-back games and still lost, marking the first time since 2002 they hit three or more home runs in two straight games and didn’t come out on the losing end. It’s happened five times in team history.
ALONSO IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Pete Alonso extended his hitting streak to eight games Wednesday, with his first-inning home run upped his career RBI total to 522, passing Cleon Jones and Jose Reyes for eighth on the Mets’ all-time list.
