Yet another Met is set for an extended period on the sidelines.
Starting catcher Francisco Alvarez will undergo surgery for a right meniscus tear, Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday, and the manager hopes for his return in six to eight weeks.
The 24-year-old has become the latest Mets starter on the shelf — joining Francisco Lindor, Luis Robert Jr. and Jorge Polanco.
Mendoza added that a firmer timeline for Alvarez, who was initially placed on the 10-day IL, will be known after his procedure. The manager tipped Luis Torrens to get the bulk of the starts in the meantime, with call-up Hayden Senger filling in behind him.
“I don’t want to sit here and speculate,” the manager said. “All we know is we have to wait until they go in there and find what we got.”
Alvarez, who has played in all but four games this season, injured his knee during an awkward sixth-inning swing Tuesday against the Tigers. The Venezuela native lost his balance as he fouled a ball away and then limped off the field without facing another pitch.
He’ll be replaced behind the plate by Torrens, who has elite defensive instincts but just a .208 batting average.
Alvarez is the third Met to encounter a meniscus issue this year, following injuries to Mike Tauchman and Jared Young.
“We’re always looking, especially if guys continue to get hurt with the same injury,” Mendoza said of his team’s injury trend. “But it’s hard to pinpoint. There’s years where you’re dealing with hamstrings. … It seems like this is the year of the knee.”
For Alvarez, it’s the latest in a spate of injuries in his Mets career, after he missed significant time with hand and wrist injuries the past two seasons.
“You feel for him. You feel for the person, for the human,” Mendoza said. “When you feel like he’s getting time to develop, to continue to learn, play — he hasn’t had that run, playing every day, go through struggles, find a way to get through it and keep going.”
Robert (back) and Polanco (left Achilles and right wrist) seem a ways away from a return. Mendoza said Lindor, who strained his left calf April 22, underwent an MRI exam Wednesday.
Alvarez’s injury quickly quashed some of the excitement around A.J. Ewing’s tremendous debut start Tuesday.
“Guys got to step up. I’ll continue to sit here and say the same thing,” Mendoza said. “A lot of teams are going through adversity. A lot of teams are dealing with injuries, we’re one of them, but we got to keep going.”
