Mets activate Alvarez just 4 weeks after meniscus tear

NEW YORK -- The Mets received a much-needed reinforcement on Tuesday, when Francisco Alvarez was activated from the 10-day injured list ahead of the series opener against the Cardinals at Citi Field. The catcher was sidelined after tearing the meniscus in his right knee after fouling off a ball on May 12, originally given a recovery timeline of six to eight weeks.

Instead, Alvarez will bat ninth in his return and assume the Mets' starting catcher role in just over four weeks. Catcher Hayden Senger was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday in a corresponding move.

Even for a player who has continually faced injuries and healed quickly throughout his Major League career, Alvarez’s latest feat of superhuman healing has even left his manager in awe.

“It’s hard to describe, it’s unbelievable,” manager Carlos Mendoza said pregame. “Two days after he had the surgery, I walked in the training room, and he was holding a bat; he was practicing his stance. I was like, ‘Dude, what are you doing? It’s been 48 hours, you already look normal.’ And he’s like, ‘I’m gonna be back soon.’ …

“Before you know, it’s four weeks later, and not only is he playing, he’s playing at the big league level. He checked all the boxes.”

On Alvarez’s end, the “rushed” timeline was all according to plan.

“I don’t have any pain,” Alvarez said through interpreter Alan Suriel. “About the second or third day, I felt fine. … The trainers deserve all the credit. Right when I had my surgery, they told me just to get a bunch of recovery work in, and I think that was able to expedite the process.”

Alvarez was hitting .241 with a .710 OPS and four home runs in 37 games prior to his injury. In his absence, Luis Torrens -- who signed a two-year extension with the club on May 2 -- had manned the backstop position with Senger operating as the backup catcher. Through the Mets’ first 65 games, whoever has been catching in the lineup has been underwhelming offensively, with the position group batting .213 with a .623 OPS and a combined six home runs.

Alvarez’s rapid return to the Majors and back to full health was miraculous in a sense: He started his Minor League rehab assignment on June 2, less than a month after meniscus surgery, and then caught a full game five days later on Sunday. Alvarez, who hasn’t had a fully healthy MLB campaign since his rookie year in 2023, is likely raring to come back and contribute to a Mets team trending in the right direction, having won seven of its past 10 games.

Before Tuesday’s game, Alvarez took a full round of batting practice on the field, spraying home runs and live drives to all sides of the field as though it was business as usual. By his own assessment, the 24-year-old feels strong enough to handle full responsibilities on both sides of the ball. Mendoza predicts a more gradual easing in process, with Torrens still filling in as the starting catcher a decent amount of the time and Alvarez serving as designated hitter.

“We’ll continue to treat it [with care],” Mendoza said. “He’ll catch, he’ll DH, he’ll have days off; we’re going to try to keep Luis [Torrens] in there as much as possible. But yeah, keeping in mind the health of the player, especially in Alvy’s case, which he’s dealt with so much in his career. But this guy wants to play.”

No matter how the playing time shakes out, Alvarez promises to be ready -- which a month ago seemed like a pipe dream.

“I feel good,” Alvarez said. “I feel 100% ready to go out there. At the end of the day, that’s a decision that Carlos and the trainers will end up deciding. But I feel good, I feel 100% and I feel like I can do my job.”