The Mets positioned catcher Francisco Alvarez on the 10-day injured checklist attributable to a left thumb sprain, and chosen the contract of catcher Tomas Nido from Triple-A. In one other corresponding transfer, left-hander Kolton Ingram was designated for project to open up a 40-man roster spot for Nido. Earlier right now, Mike Puma of the New York Submit (X link) wrote that Nido was on his strategy to Los Angeles, as Alvarez was anticipated to require an IL stint after leaving final evening’s 9-4 Mets win over the Dodgers.
Within the high of the second inning, Alvarez hit an infield grounder, and Dodgers catcher Will Smith lobbed his throw over the pinnacle of first baseman Freddie Freeman. Alvarez made it to second base on the error, however put his left hand on the bottom to brace himself after stumbling on the flip round first base. Mets supervisor Carlos Mendoza told SNY and different media that the thumb downside occurred on this play, and Alvarez was changed behind the plate by Omar Narvaez for the underside of the second inning. Alvarez underwent an MRI after the sport, and Mendoza mentioned the group was “fairly involved” in regards to the state of affairs.
After hitting .209/.284/.437 with 25 house runs over 423 plate appearances in 2023, Alvarez was seeking to comply with up his first full MLB season with one other step ahead this yr. The previous star prospect has hit solely .236/.288/.364 with one homer in 59 PA up to now, and it now could be some time earlier than he can enhance on that small pattern dimension.
Narvaez and Nido will deal with catching duties within the meantime, and in Nido’s case, the collection of his minor league contract will enable the veteran backstop to participate in his eighth Main League season. Nido’s complete profession has been spent within the Mets group, and he signed a two-year, $3.7MM extension previous to the 2023 marketing campaign.
The catcher continues to be owed $2.1MM on that deal for this season, and Nido may even attain 5 full seasons of MLB service time after he amasses 11 extra days on an lively roster. As soon as he hits the five-season threshold, Nido will be capable of reject an outright project in favor of free company, whereas nonetheless retaining no matter is continues to be owed on that assured wage. When New York designated Nido for project and outrighted him final June, he would’ve needed to stroll away from his wage if he had opted to show down the outright project and turn into a free agent, which undoubtedly impacted his choice to stay within the group.
Extra to come back…
