During the spring training of the major leagues, there will be some injuries to the players, but for the New York Mets, who spent a lot of money in the postseason last year and want to become a championship powerhouse, the injury of the main players will directly affect the performance of the team, and this accident happened to the main catcher Francisco Alvarez.
According to reports, Alvarez accidentally injured the hook bone of his left hand during a combat strike practice on Sunday and developed a bone fracture, and the team immediately scheduled surgery on Tuesday (11th), and it is expected to take six to eight weeks to return to the team.
It is worth mentioning that Alvarez also tore the ligament of his left thumb in the game on April 20 last year, and was out for nearly eight weeks before returning to the court on June 20.
Mets coach Carlos Mendoza said: "It's always painful to have one of the main players in the squad injured, but you just have to keep going, no one will sympathize with us, everybody has to deal with injuries and we'll get him back healthy."
"The absence of the starter is definitely a big blow, but somebody will step up and it will give other people a chance, and we've got somebody on the roster to replace, and I'm sure [President of Baseball] David Stearns will look at options outside of the team, but you still hate to see that sort of thing."
The 28-year-old catcher, who has played four teams in 48 games with the Mets last year, has a 2-for-29 batting average, three strikes and an attack index of 0.665 in 48 games with the Mets last year, and his career best is 2-to-43, 15 hits and 0.730 in 108 games with the Mariners in 2021.
In addition, the catchers who are not invited to participate in spring training on the 40-man roster include Hayden Senger, Jakson Reetz, Chris Williams and others, and because the catcher position is quite important, if the team will bring at least two catchers, at least one of the above three will be on the 26-man roster for the season opener.
"It's an opportunity for one of them to come in and Senger is a good defensive catcher and Reetzy has some major league credentials, so we're optimistic about it," Mendoza said.
In addition to Alvarez, Sean Manaea, a left-handed pitcher who signed back for $75 million three years after the season, will not be able to make the opening game due to a right oblique strain, and will not be able to return to the team until mid or late April. Pitcher Frankie Montas, who also signed a two-year, $34 million contract after the season, suffered a right latsa strain in mid-February and won't return until late May or early June. In addition, tool man Nick Madrigal suffered a dislocation and fracture of his left shoulder in late February, and it is almost certain that he will be reimbursed early in 2025.