NEW YORK -- In another blow for the last-place New York Mets, catcher Francisco Alvarez was placed on the injured list Wednesday and will undergo surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said he hopes Alvarez can return in six to eight weeks -- the typical time frame for the procedure -- but the team expects to have a clearer timetable following the surgery. Mendoza acknowledged the physical toll required to play catcher could affect Alvarez's timeline.
"I don't want to speculate," Mendoza said. "All we know is we know we have to wait until they go in there and find what we got."
Alvarez suffered the injury while taking a swing in the sixth inning of the Mets' 10-2 victory against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. He limped off the field after testing the knee with a team trainer.
It is the fourth major injury for the 24-year-old Alvarez in the past three seasons. The previous three setbacks were for thumb or hamate injuries that forced Alvarez to miss from three weeks to nearly two months. After playing a career-high 123 games as a rookie in 2023, when he posted a .721 OPS with 25 home runs, Alvarez played just 176 games over the next two seasons combined.
The setbacks, which include an unexpected demotion to Triple A last June to work through struggles on both offense and defense, have impeded the former top prospect's development.
"Of course it's hard," Mendoza said. "You feel for him. You feel for the person, for the human. ... He hasn't had that run to play every day, go through struggles and find a way to get through it and keep going."
Alvarez joins shortstop Francisco Lindor, first baseman Jorge Polanco and center field Luis Robert Jr. as starting position players on the injured list. The Mets are not sure when any of them will return.
Mendoza said Lindor underwent an MRI on his strained left calf Wednesday morning. The results will dictate a timetable for his return.
Jared Young, a reserve on the Mets' Opening Day roster, has been on the injured list since April 13 with a meniscus tear in his left knee. Young, like Alvarez, underwent surgery and was projected to miss six to eight weeks for return. Mendoza said the first baseman/corner outfielder is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment by the end of the week.
Without Alvarez, veteran Luis Torrens will assume the bulk of the starts behind the plate. Hayden Senger, who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse to replace Alvarez on the roster, will serve as the backup catcher in his second stint with the big league club this season.
Alvarez has not yet fulfilled the expectations that were created for him. He's hitting .231 with a 104 OPS+ in his career. This season, he's batting .241 with four home runs and a .710 OPS in 37 games. But he has shown flashes of that high ceiling, and the Mets are now down another important contributor in what has been a nightmare season.
"That's what we're dealing with, right?" Mendoza said. "We got to keep going. Guys got to step up. I'll continue to sit here and say the same thing. A lot of teams are going through adversity. A lot of teams are going through dealing with injuries. We're one of them. But we got to keep going. The guys have to step up. They will. They'll continue to find ways to get the job done."