The New York Mets’ 24-year-old Francisco Alvarez was on a hot streak heading into Sunday’s game, having gone 6-for-16 with four extra-base hits, including three home runs. He continued his strong performance by adding two doubles and a single during the Little League Classic against the Mariners. However, his productive night came to a premature end.

Alvarez was forced to exit the game after injuring his right thumb on a head-first slide into second base during the bottom of the seventh inning. Although he was initially checked by trainers and remained in the game, he was ultimately replaced by Luis Torrens to start the eighth.

According to manager Carlos Mendoza, Alvarez will now return to New York to undergo an MRI on his thumb on Monday. “Nothing as of right now, he has a thumb injury. He’s going to go back to New York, and he’s going to get an MRI tomorrow. So right now, we don’t know what we are dealing with, but we just got to wait now,” said Mendoza in a press conference following Mets’ 7-3 win.

Alvarez even wanted to play catch between innings to test if he could stay in. But Mendoza didn’t feel like risking it. “I didn’t want to let him even play catch,” he added. Why?

As he himself described the situation as “concerning. I’m not gonna lie. It’s the third time, but I’m not gonna sit here and speculate.” Makes complete sense given Alvarez’s history with injuries.

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In April 2024, Alvarez tore a ligament in his left thumb while playing against the Dodgers and required surgery. He was placed on the IL for 10 days, with an expected recovery time of six to eight weeks. Then, in spring training of 2025, Alvarez broke the hamate bone in his left hand during live batting practice. This injury required surgery and sidelined him for six to eight weeks.

Keeping these injuries in mind, Mendoza didn’t take the matter lightly and asked Alvarez to exit the game. Later, Luis Torrens replaced him, and they won the game, 7-3, and series, 2-1. With this, “The Mets improved to 2-0 in Little League Classic history, following their 2018 win over the Phillies,” MLB reported.

Now, if that MRI puts him on the IL, it will create a worrisome situation in the Mets’ dugout with the playoffs just around the corner. And the timing couldn’t be worse as they are finally finding their way back with a stable pitching debut.

McLean jolts the New York Mets awake

On Saturday, Nolan McLean sparked the team with 5 1/3 scoreless innings, eight strikeouts, and allowed only two hits and four walks. “Once I got out of the game and then when it was over, the Gatorade bath caught me off guard,” McLean said. “Hearing the crowd was surreal for me. It was the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of, so that was special.”

Carlos Mendoza didn’t hold back on how McLean impacted the club: “We definitely felt the energy from the minute he took the mound…Pretty much everything that we’ve heard about him… mound presence, demeanor, attack, the way he uses all of his pitches.”

The Mets put it all together with timely hits, clean closing innings, and McLean displaying what hope looks like on the mound again. But if Alvarez’s thumb injury goes into anything serious, the regained momentum they just got might get compromised.