Francisco Alvarez back in Mets' lineup after foul tip struck his hand
Daniel Vogelbach #32 of the New York Mets celebrates with Francisco Alvarez #4 after hitting a home run during the third inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on June 19, 2023 in Houston, Texas. Credit: Getty Images/Carmen Mandato
HOUSTON — Francisco Alvarez, noted tolerator of pain, was in the Mets’ lineup again Tuesday against the Astros, a day after a foul tip to his bare right hand made that questionable.
Not only was the rookie catcher good to go for Justin Verlander’s start against his former team, but manager Buck Showalter couldn’t even tell how swollen Alvarez was.
“I had him show me his hands. I was looking at him between innings,” Showalter said. “It’s hard to tell what’s swollen on him. His hands are very meaty, to say the least. Looks like we dodged one there, even though he didn’t.”
Alvarez’s scare came in the eighth inning of the Mets’ blowout win Monday. When Martin Maldonado tried to get out of the way of Max Scherzer’s up-and-in changeup, the ball deflected off his bat and caught Alvarez’s throwing hand flush.
When Alvarez didn’t immediately shake off the pain, Showalter and an athletic trainer checked him out. He stayed in the game but departed for the ninth inning. Immediate X-rays were negative.
Unlike in the case of Pete Alonso, whose negative X-rays this month were followed up by a CT scan and MRI and eventually a trip to the injured list, Alvarez did not receive additional testing, according to Showalter.
“[The medical staff] felt pretty confident about what they saw there,” Showalter said. “There wasn’t a need for it.”
Alvarez’s close call came because he had his right hand out and vulnerable instead of tucked behind his back, as some catchers do.
“I had my hand right there because a runner was on first, so if he took off I was able to make a quicker transfer,” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “I thought it would be a little harder to transfer if I had it tucked.
“Also, I think I’m going to keep it there because 99% of the time it’s not going to hit you. This just happened to be that 1% that got me.”
Vogel-back?
Daniel Vogelbach hit his second home run in four games Monday — after totaling two over the entire season to date before that — but he was perhaps more satisfied with a later, less successful at-bat: an eighth-inning flyout to leftfield.
“That’s when I know that I’m closer than hitting a home run,” he said Tuesday. “Taking a good fastball up and away and being able to shoot it the other way. If I don’t get [under] it, it’s a double down the leftfield line. Those, to me, are more hints and signs that I’m getting closer to where I want to be.”
Vogelbach was out of the lineup Tuesday because the Mets faced a lefthanded starter, Framber Valdez.
All-Star voting update
Only a couple of Mets were relevant in the first phase of All-Star voting, which ends at noon Thursday, in a balloting update released by MLB on Tuesday.
Francisco Lindor is second among shortstops, trailing Atlanta’s Orlando Arcia by more than twice as many votes. And Pete Alonso is third among first baseman but only 5,000 votes behind Atlanta’s Matt Olson for second.
The top two at each position (and top six among outfielders) become finalists for a second round of fan voting that will determine All-Star starters.
Starters will be unveiled June 29, with full rosters to come July 2.
Extra bases
Brett Baty — who grew up outside Austin, Texas, meaning games in Houston register as the closest he’ll get to a major-league homecoming — has had a steady stream of family and friends to say hello to before and after games against the Astros . . . Asked about Tommy Pham’s hot hitting (.329 average and 1.019 OPS over the past month-plus), Showalter mentioned his strong fielding, too. “When you’ve done something for a long time and you’ve got confidence that you can do it, I think he was more, not upset, but disappointed that guys hadn’t seen how good he was offensively and defensively,” Showalter said. “As the years creep up, there’s some other thoughts that creep into player’s minds and everybody’s minds. Tommy has obviously dispelled any of that that might come up.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
