Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, who has been taking batting practice and throwing while on the IL, will begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday with Triple-A Syracuse.
Alvarez, who is working toward a return from a UCL sprain in his right thumb, said through a translator that his thumb is "pain-free" when he's swinging and that he has "all the confidence in the world" that he'll be able to come back this season.
Alvarez was placed on the 10-day IL last Tuesday, and will eventually need surgery to repair his injury. But the hope is that he'll be able to play through it upon his return and through the remainder of the season.
He has been wearing a splint on his thumb when he hits and throws, and says he's getting used to it when it comes to gripping the ball.
If Alvarez is able to begin his rehab assignment as planned and can play through the pain at a satisfactory level, it's fair to believe his rehab assignment will not be long.
"How long? Maybe a couple of days, three days, a week?" manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday. "Now we just gotta see [how the thumb responds] when he gets fooled on a breaking ball, check swing, defensively, catching. There's a lot that we don't know. But the fact that he's already on his way to play games, that's pretty impressive."
Alvarez's injury occurred nine days ago against the Mariners on a head-first slide into second base.
The 23-year-old, who missed the start of the season with a hamate fracture in his left hand and spent a chunk of the year working on things at Triple-A, appeared to have found his stroke at the plate before the injury.
Since returning from the demotion in late July, Alvarez is slashing .323/.408/.645 with four homers, six doubles, one triple, 13 RBI, and 14 runs scored in 71 plate appearances over 21 games.
In Alvarez's absence, Luis Torrens has been getting most of the starts behind the plate while Hayden Senger serves as his backup.
