"Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez has resumed swinging a bat and is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment this week, writes MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. It'd be a remarkably quick return for the 23-year-old, who suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb earlier this month. Manager Carlos Mendoza expressed shock when he was sent video of Alvarez already swinging a bat this past Sunday. "When I was looking at it, I was like, 'There's no way this guy is swinging the bat,'" said Mendoza."
"Alvarez will require surgery after the season, but he'll gut out the injury to the extent that he's able to tolerate the pain it causes. DiComo notes that the Mets would prefer to use him behind the plate rather than at designated hitter, where Starling Marte has been swinging a blistering hot bat for the past few weeks, but the team won't rule out the possibility of Alvarez mixing in at DH."
"However, given the production he'd turned in prior to suffering that injury on a slide into second base, it's not a surprise that the Mets are looking at an aggressive timetable. Alvarez struggled enough early this season to find himself demoted to Triple-A in late June, but he returned a month later and exploded with a .323/.408/.645 batting line in 71 plate appearances before incurring his ill-timed injury."
Francisco Alvarez has resumed swinging and is expected to begin a minor-league rehab assignment this week despite a torn ligament in his right thumb. He will require surgery after the season but plans to tolerate the pain to continue playing. The Mets prefer using him as catcher but may mix him at DH, where Starling Marte has hit well recently. Alvarez was demoted to Triple-A in late June but returned and slashed .323/.408/.645 in 71 plate appearances before the injury. Catching options have underperformed: Luis Torrens is hitting .221/.282/.324, and rookie Hayden Senger is hitting .172/.210/.190.
Read at MLB Trade Rumors
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