Mets dodge another injury scare after Francisco Alvarez hit in head

New York's starting catcher was shaken up in Wednesday's game at San Diego.

Jul 30, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (4) holds his head after taking a ball to the head during the fifth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images | David Frerker-Imagn Images

Although the New York Mets were swept by the San Diego Padres, they seemingly avoided something much worse.

In the bottom of the fifth inning of Wednesday's eventual 5-0 defeat, catcher Francisco Alvarez took a foul ball directly to the side of his catcher's mask. The 23-year-old finished the inning, but was replaced behind the plate next inning by Luis Torrens, who finished the game for New York.

Francisco Alvarez has left the game after this foul ball hit him in the head pic.twitter.com/h6iSCBhUeZ

— Shea Station (@shea_station) July 30, 2025

Fortunately, it didn't take long for Mets manager Carlos Mendoza to provide a relieving update after the contest. According to Mendoza, Alvarez passed concussion testing and will be flying back to New York with the rest of the team.

"Right now it's a head contusion," Mendoza said to reporters. "He went through all the tests and all that, and he passed those. We're gonna treat it day-by-day."

Carlos Mendoza says that Francisco Alvarez passed concussion testing and is dealing with a head contusion.

Alvarez will fly back to New York with the Mets. pic.twitter.com/qMsSujcx2w

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 30, 2025

This was the second time in as many games that a Met exited early with an apparent injury. On Tuesday, outfielder Juan Soto left after fouling a ball off the top of his foot; like Alvarez, Soto is day-to-day with a foot contusion after X-rays came back clean.

Read More: New York Mets star Juan Soto leaves game in injury scare

Alvarez, who returned to the Mets on July 21 after a successful stint at Triple-A Syracuse, continued his red-hot hitting as of late. In the six games prior to Wednesday, the backstop tallied six hits in 24 at-bats for a .316/.458/.684 slash line; half of those hits went for extra bases (two doubles, a triple, and a home run). He struck out in his two plate appearances prior to the injury, but overall was still producing at the level the Mets expect of him since returning.

On the season, Alvarez is hitting .243/.335/.375 with four home runs, 13 RBI, a 107 wRC+, and 1.0 fWAR.

With Alvarez seemingly fine, a stint on the injured list should not be necessary for the 23-year-old catcher. Had he landed on the IL, Torrens would likely have taken starting catcher duties once again, while Hayden Senger would presumably be called up from Triple-A to serve as the backup.