The Mets appear to have avoided the worst with their top prospect.
After getting multiple opinions this week, Francisco Alvarez was diagnosed with a loose body in his right ankle, the Mets said on Thursday. The catcher was set to receive an injection at Hospital for Special Surgery, with the “tentative” plan to resume baseball activities in three to four days.
Alvarez, one of the top prospects in all of baseball, has not played for Triple-A Syracuse since Aug. 23. The ankle injury threatened to potentially end his season – especially if surgery had been needed – but instead Alvarez could come back to be an option for the Mets in the final weeks of the regular season if he responds to the injection well.
The 20-year-old Alvarez, after crushing Double-A pitching, was promoted to Triple-A in July, putting him on the doorstep of the majors. In 32 games with Syracuse, he was batting .180 with six home runs and a .719 OPS.
Francisco AlvarezGetty Images The Mets have gotten very little offensive production from their catchers this season, though both James McCann and Tomas Nido have been lauded for their work behind the plate and with the pitching staff. Still, Mets catchers had combined for a 0.1 WAR this season, per FanGraphs, the sixth-worst mark in MLB.
There was some thought that Alvarez could join the Mets after the trade deadline to provide a boost at DH — not asking him to learn and catch a veteran pitching staff on the fly — but that has not yet been the case.
