Mets place Francisco Alvarez on IL with thumb injury. Who will step up for Mets at catcher?
The Mets will be without their starting catcher for at least the next two weeks.
The team announced on Saturday afternoon that Francisco Alvarez had been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb sprain. They selected the contract of Tomas Nido from Triple-A Syracuse to fill in the void. Manager Carlos Mendoza said after the afternoon's contest that Alvarez would require surgery to repair a torn ligament.
Alvarez was in clear pain after putting his left hand down awkwardly after stumbling around first base in the second inning of the Mets' 9-4 series-opening victory over the Dodgers on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
A timetable has not been revealed for Alvarez's return despite Starling Marte telling reporters that the team was told between six and eight weeks.
The Mets second-year catcher was replaced by Omar Narvaez, and after the game, Mendoza said he was "pretty concerned" about the health of Alvarez.
Left-handed pitcher Colton Ingram was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Nido.
In 16 games this season, Alvarez is slashing .236/.288/.364 with one home run, four doubles, eight RBI and eight runs. He is coming of his first full season in which he became the second rookie catcher to finish with 25 home runs, adding 63 RBI and 51 runs.
Before the injury, Alvarez started 14 of the team's 19 games behind the plate.
In eight games this season, Narvaez is slashing .217/.280/.261 with three RBI and three runs. In nine games with Triple-A Syracuse, Nido is hitting .345/.345/.517 with 10 hits, one home run, two RBI and three runs.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets: Francisco Alvarez placed on IL. Who will step up at catcher?
