New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (thumb) underwent surgery to address the injury to the UCL in his left thumb on Tuesday. A typical return to play takes approximately eight weeks, which lines up with the club's original timetable after Alvarez tore a ligament in his left thumb in Friday's win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 22-year-old former top prospect should be stashed for fantasy managers who can afford the roster spot in the meantime, considering Alvarez's light-tower power, but he was slashing a lukewarm .236/.288/.364 with one home run, four doubles, eight RBI, and eight runs scored in 59 plate appearances (16 games) before going down. Veteran backstops Omar Narvaez and Tomas Nido will form a platoon for at-bats behind the dish while Alvarez is on the shelf, but neither of the two are even viable in deep two-catcher leagues at the moment.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (thumb) will require surgery after being diagnosed with a torn UCL in his left thumb. Alvarez injured his thumb while running the bases in the second inning of Friday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. A cleared timeframe for his return will be determined after he undergoes surgery. Although the Mets haven't given an official timetable, Alvarez told teammates he expects to miss 6-8 weeks. Before the injury, he was slashing .236/.288/.364 with a homer, eight RBI, eight runs, and a stolen base over 59 plate appearances. Tomas Nido and Omar Narvaez will handle catcher duties while Alvarez is sidelined. Narvaez should see the bulk of the starts, and it is a speculative add in two-catcher formats.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (thumb) has been placed on the 15-day injured list after suffering a thumb injury while running the bases in the top of the second inning against the Dodgers on Friday. His thumb was bent back when he attempted to brace for a fall during the club's 9-4 win and he has been diagnosed with a sprain in his thumb. Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza said after the game that he was "pretty concerned" about Alvarez's injury and that the young backstop was in a lot of pain. A year after slugging 25 homers as a rookie, the 22-year-old is hitting .236 with a homer and a .652 OPS across his first 59 trips to the plate this season. Tomas Nido was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to take Alvarez's spot on the active roster while left-hander Kolton Ingram was designated for assignment.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (thumb) is getting an MRI exam on his injured left thumb, according to manager Carlos Mendoza. "I'm pretty concerned. I'm not going to lie," Mendoza said. Alvarez injured his left thumb while returning to second base in Friday night's win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and was pulled from the contest early. The 22-year-old will almost certainly not be in the starting lineup for Saturday's game, and fantasy managers should probably expect him to miss more time, potentially even landing on the injured list, depending on what the MRI exam shows. Omar Narvaez is set for more playing time in the short term, while Tomas Nido will likely be called up from Triple-A Syracuse if Alvarez lands on the IL.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (thumb) departed Friday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second inning with an apparent injury to his left thumb. The injury occurred while Alvarez was hustling to second base on an errant Yoshinobu Yamamoto throw to first base, and he went 0-for-1 with a run scored before veteran Omar Narvaez replaced him and took over behind the plate. The Mets should offer another update on Alvarez's status following Friday's contest, and fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day until more is known about the issue. Expect the 22-year-old former top prospect to at least get the day off in the second matchup of the series on Saturday. Alvarez is off to a slow start at the dish this season, batting .236 (13-for-55) with one home run, four doubles, eight RBI, eight runs scored, and one stolen base over 16 appearances.

New York Mets backstop Francisco Alvarez will be getting the day off on Saturday as the New York Mets continue a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals. Alvarez went 1-4 in last night's victory and has an overall .293/.326/.463 line with one home run to begin the season. Veteran catcher Omar Narvaez will receive the start and bat eighth against Alec Marsh. Narvaez is worth consideration in DFS as he has put together a strong start to the 2024 season with a .385/.429/.462 line with three RBI.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez remains out of the starting lineup ahead of Tuesday's game against the Atlanta Braves. When asked about the situation, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Alvarez is beat up right now. It sounds like the young backstop is dealing with normal bumps and bruises that happen when you're a full-time catcher. Omar Narvaez will handle the duties behind the plate for at least one more game. Fantasy managers should adjust their lineups accordingly.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez went 2-for-5 with two RBI during Game 1 of Thursday's doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers. The 22-year-old has now collected multiple hits in three of his last four games. Alvarez showcased his raw power during his rookie season by belting 25 home runs, but his .209 batting average and .284 on-base percentage left a lot to be desired. Alvarez has looked more composed at the plate to start 2024, slashing .400/.429/.700 with a homer and four RBI through 21 plate appearances. While his ratios are sure to regress, Alvarez looks like he could provide a solid offensive season for fantasy managers.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez is behind the dish and is hitting cleanup on Monday against right-hander Reese Olson and the Detroit Tigers. It's the first time this year that Alvarez has hit higher than sixth in New York's batting order, but he'll be in the cleanup spot for the start of the series against Detroit with Jeff McNeil on the bench. The 22-year-old backstop is off to a good start at the plate in the first three games of the season, recording five hits in his first 10 at-bats with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored in 11 plate appearances. He may not be of much help in the batting average department, but after slugging 25 long balls in his first full season in 2023, Alvarez proved that he has high-end power at the catching position.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez went 2-for-2 on Friday in a 3-1 Grapefruit League win over the Miami Marlins. The backstop also recorded an RBI and two runs scored. It was the second straight game with a home run for Alvarez and third of the spring. He's off to a nice start, going 5-for-14 (.357) with a double, three home runs, five RBI, and five runs scored. He's also walked more than he's struck out, with four and two respectively. He always had strong walk rates in the minors prior to the 8.0% he posted in 2023, so expect a bounce in OBP this season and his power should once again be one of the best at the position.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez showed more of his prodigious power on Thursday as he clubbed a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning of his team's 3-1 win over the Washington Nationals. The long ball was the sophomore's second of the spring after he flashed some notable power as a rookie in 2023. Alvarez hit 25 homers a season ago, second-best among all big league catchers behind the Mariners' Cal Raleigh (30). At the same time, he hit just .209 and struck out in 26% of his plate appearances but the power display continued a trend from his minor-league career. ATC projects 24 more homers from the 22-year-old in the 2024 season with an increased .228 average, making him one of the top-rated backstops in fantasy drafts this spring.

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Alvarez when 1-for-2 with a two-run blast in Thursdays Grapefruit League contest versus the Washington Nationals. The home run would be the second of the spring for the Mets backstop. The 22-year-old entered last season as one of the top prospects in the game and didn't disappoint. After a slow adjustment to the big leagues, Alvarez finished with 25 homers, 63 RBI and a .209 batting average. It would be nice to see the average progress in 2024, but the power is totally there. Due to that, Alvarez should be selected in all formats and has Top-5 potential behind the dish.

Catcher Francisco Alvarez is close to signing a long-term contract extension with the New York Mets on Tuesday, according to a source. Alvarez is the team's catcher of the future. The 22-year-old Venezuelan backstop played in five games in 2022 and was called up in early April last year and stayed with the team the rest of the season. He hit .209/.284/.437 with 25 home runs, 12 doubles, 63 RBI and 51 runs scored in 423 plate appearances over 123 games played. Alvarez strikes out a lot and doesn't walk much, but his power abilities alone at the weak catching position make him very attractive in fantasy. The 22-year-old should also be an asset in the RBI category in a Mets lineup that should be stronger in 2024. Any extension with Alvarez will likely buy out the five years before he becomes a free agent.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez is open to signing a long-term deal with the club in the near future. The 22-year-old debuted with the club in the 2022 season but appeared in just five games before enjoying a solid rookie season. Alvarez hit just .209 but launched a healthy 25 home runs and knocked in 63 runs as part of a .721 OPS across 423 plate appearances at just 21 years of age in the 2023 campaign. One area where he slipped was in his walk rate as he walked in just 8% of his plate appearances despite far superior rates in the minors, including a 17.1% clip across 45 games at Triple-A in 2022. Nonetheless, the Mets would be wise to lock down their young backstop for the long-term considering his impressive production, and fantastic defense, as a young rookie a season ago.

New York Mets rookie catcher Francisco Alvarez (finger) appears to have avoided serious damage after getting hit on the fingers by foul balls in the game on Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies. "Just a finger contusion," manager Buck Showalter said. "He's been getting hit a lot lately." With the Mets having nothing to play for in the final week of the regular season, Alvarez could take at least a couple of days off before returning to catching duties, so expect Omar Narvaez to be behind the dish for the Mets on Tuesday for the start of a series against the Miami Marlins. The 21-year-old Venezuelan backstop has been a strong source of power at a weak position for fantasy managers in his first full big-league season with 23 homers and 57 RBI, but he's hit only .175 (28-for-160) with six homers, 22 RBI and 47 strikeouts in 52 games (41 starts) in the second half.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (hand) was forced to exit early during Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies. The young catcher was taken out of the game after taking a couple of foul balls off his left hand. The team removed him as a precaution and will likely have him undergo additional testing. The Mets aren't playing for anything at this point, so they don't want to risk the health of their possible franchise catcher. In the meantime, Omar Narvaez will likely see more playing time if Alvarez misses time.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez is back in the starting lineup Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks and right-hander Merrill Kelly. Alvarez gave way to veteran Omar Narvaez behind the dish on Wednesday but will take over Thursday and hit sixth while catching Kodai Senga. The rookie backstop has had a nice rookie season, especially from a power perspective. Alvarez is hitting just .216 but he has slugged 23 home runs along with nine doubles, numbers that have helped generate a 103 wRC+ that sits a few ticks above the league average. At just 21 years of age, Alvarez is a major dynasty league asset moving forward.

New York Mets rookie catcher Francisco Alvarez (hand) is back behind the plate and is hitting in the nine-hole on Tuesday against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks and right-hander Ryne Nelson. Alvarez took a pitch off his right hand in Sunday's series finale against the Minnesota Twins and was held out on Monday, but he'll be back in there for the second game of the series against Arizona after X-rays came back negative. Alvarez's fantasy stock has been down of late, and hitting in the nine-hole won't help his cause. The 21-year-old backstop has gone just 6-for-37 (.162) with a home run, one double, five RBI, 12 strikeouts, a stolen base and four runs scored in 14 games (10 starts) since Aug. 22. Alvarez has shown impressive power (22 home runs) at the weak catcher position, though, in his first full MLB campaign.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez is not in the starting lineup Saturday versus the Minnesota Twins and right-hander Kenta Maeda on Saturday afternoon. The young backstop went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored as part of his club's 5-2 defeat on Friday night but will give way to veteran Omar Narvaez on Saturday afternoon. While the young backstop is hitting just .214 on the season, he has provided some pop with 22 home runs on the campaign while his .223 isolated power fits in line with his work from the minors prior to his debut in the 2022 season. Alvarez should remain a reliable source of power with plenty of upside ahead of fantasy drafts next season.