Mets' Young Star Set to Begin Rehab Assignment

One of the Mets' most important players will begin a rehab assignment on Thursday.

Apr 15, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez reacts after drawing a bases loaded walk to force home a run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the sixth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports | John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

One of the New York Mets' most important players may be back sooner than expected.

Catcher Francisco Alvarez, who has been out since April 20 with a torn ligament in his left thumb, has already progressed towards a rehab assignment. Beat writer Anthony DiComo reported that the 22-year-old will begin the assignment on Thursday with the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

Francisco Alvarez is going to begin a minor league rehab assignment on Thursday. That's a good bit ahead of schedule for the Mets catcher.

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) May 28, 2024

"He'll probably catch five to seven innings, and then we'll go from there," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "But everything's moving in the right direction. The fact that he's now ready to go in games is a good sign for us."

Francisco Alvarez will begin a rehab assignment on Thursday with Double-A Binghamton pic.twitter.com/zY3XePtcrd

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 28, 2024

With Alvarez previously on pace to return in mid-to-late June, he could be back as soon as the beginning of the month if all goes well. Regardless of when his actual return date is, he was initially expected to return to the Mets eight weeks after his thumb surgery, and he is well ahead of schedule in that regard.

The fact that Alvarez is already set for a rehab assignment is a display of how rapid his progress was. On Saturday, he took batting practice for the first time since his injury, but this was already after many other activities that helped build him up; this included catching off a velo machine (albeit with a splint on the thumb of his catching hand), and hitting both off a tee and soft toss.

Alvarez was in a 1-for-14 slump in the five games before his injury; on the season, he was only hitting .236 with one home run and a .652 OPS in 55 at-bats. His pitch framing and game-calling were still highly valuable to the team, though, and the catching tandem of Tomas Nido and Omar Narvaez have been unable to replicate that.

If everything goes well for Alvarez in his ensuing rehab assignments, he will have a better opportunity to build off his rookie season, when he blasted 25 home runs and tantalized the Mets and their fans with his potential. Even better, it would provide a spark that the Mets, who are eight games below .500, are desperately looking for.