The Mets announced Wednesday that catcher Francisco Alvarez has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a torn meniscus in his right knee. Fellow catcher Hayden Senger has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse in a corresponding move. He’ll split time behind the dish with Luis Torrens while Alvarez is out.
Alvarez exited yesterday’s game due to knee discomfort and underwent an MRI today, which revealed the tear. The Mets’ announcement indicated only that a “timeline for return to play will be provided when possible.” Given the nature of the injury, Alvarez will be sidelined a good bit longer than 10 days. Meniscus tears almost always require surgery, though the timetable for return depends on the extent of the tearing.
It’s yet another blow for the Mets in a season where virtually nothing has gone their way. New York’s 16-25 record is the fourth-worst mark in Major League Baseball. Alvarez joins Jorge Polanco, Francisco Lindor, Luis Robert Jr., Ronny Mauricio, Jared Young, Kodai Senga and A.J. Minter on the injured list. Lindor, Polanco, Alvarez and Robert were all expected to be key pieces in a reshaped Mets lineup that has looked downright anemic this season — in no small part due to that litany of injuries.
The 24-year-old Alvarez had gotten out to a nice start in what’s already his fifth season with some time logged at the MLB level. He’s hitting .241/.317/.393 — about 5% better than league average, by measure of wRC+ (and about 14% better than the average catcher). During a swing in the sixth inning of yesterday’s game, however, Alvarez grimaced and walked out of the batter’s box, repeatedly flexing his knee (video link). After meeting with a trainer, he departed in the middle of the at-bat.
Once one of the top prospects in baseball, Alvarez has shown flashes of potential to break out as one of the game’s top backstops. He belted 25 homers back in 2023 but did so with a sub-.300 OBP and only a .209 average. In 2025, he slashed .256/.339/.447 but was limited to just 277 plate appearances because of injury. Health has been a frequent issue for the talented young catcher. Beyond this new meniscus tear, he’s also suffered ligament tears in both thumbs and a broken hamate in his his left hand.
Losing Alvarez means turning catching duties over to a pair of light hitters who are better served as backups. The 30-year-old Torrens is a strong defender but just a .226/.287/.351 hitter in his career. He’s batting .208/.255/.292 this season. The Mets somewhat surprisingly inked him to a two-year, $11.5MM extension last month. Senger has only 78 big league plate appearances but has mustered just a .181/.221/.194 slash in that time. His minor league work doesn’t inspire much more confidence. In parts of four Triple-A seasons, he’s a .231/.289/.339 hitter with a 26.9% strikeout rate.
When it rains, it pours in NY
If the Yanks bats ( outside the 3 ) dont wake up soon, the whole city of NY could be in for very long summers
Cursed season
Yes cursed because Lindor and Soto went down early. Alvarez was already an injury risk. But also Stearns adding 3 additional injury risk to starting line up namely Roberts, Polanco and soon to be injured Simien.
Semien? He’s been a very durable player over his career.
Not the last 2 years and his age.
I would love a Mets outfield consisting with Soto, Morabito, and Benge. Move Semien into utility role (1st, 2nd, third), and hope he adjusts. Start Baty, Bichette, Ewing, and Vientos. Torrens since Alvarez hurt.
Semien, to clarify played banged up in 2024 according to Bochy.
Semien could DH when a lefty is on the mound and some righties. Dfa slater for Morabito. Forget Polanco and Robert. They will be out the rest of the year probably.
Simien played 127 games last year.. led the league with 159 games played in in 2024.. and lead the league in games played with 162 in 2023 so he’s definitely durable
Like I said he got injured last year and played banged up in 2024 since May according to his manager Bochy. This and his age and now his mah defense is screaming DH him. Mets need youth movement. Why do you think Texas wanted to trade him?
Álvarez always catching the bad breaks.
Alvarez is getting the rep of being made of glass unfortunately.
He should take the opportunity to cut his body fat percentage and become more lean. A little too much weight on those knees
Somewhat interesting to note is that Jared Young, mentioned in the article here, also had a meniscus tear back in April. His timetable was ‘likely 6-8 weeks’ (quoting Mendoza on April 15th). No idea what the severity of Alvarez’s injury is but I’d be surprised to see him back before July. Perhaps he’ll cut back on his swing, as his violent swinging motion appears to have caused this injury.
alright Mets, what will you give the Pirates for Joey Bart?