Mets Reveal Francisco Álvarez Injury Timetable

The 24-year-old suffered his injury during Tuesday night's game against the Tigers when he fouled a pitch off his right knee during his at-bat and was forced to exit. Álvarez was initially able to walk off the field on his own, which led to some optimism that his injury wasn't too serious. But that was not the case after he underwent further imaging on his right knee as the Mets may not see Álvarez back in action until after the All-Star break.

Injuries have been a common theme for the Mets' starting backstop over the last couple of seasons. Álvarez was limited to just 76 games in 2025 after fracturing his left hamate bone during practice at the cusp of spring training. He also missed a couple of weeks towards the latter end of the season when he tore a ligament in his right thumb. Despite attempting to play through it, Álvarez ultimately underwent surgery on his right thumb after the season.

Since making his major league debut towards the end of the 2022 season, Álvarez had played in 100 games or more just twice (2023, 2024). And aside from hitting a career-best 25 home runs in his 2023 rookie campaign, Álvarez has lacked consistency at the plate, which has led to questions of whether or not the Mets can rely on him as their starting catcher.

With Álvarez now out, New York is turning to Luis Torrens as their starting catcher, which is something he is very familiar with. The Mets also called up Hayden Senger this week, who will make his season debut today against the Tigers and bat ninth.