Mets' Luis Torrens goes on IL as injuries begin to mount
The Mets' Luis Torrens tosses his bat after hitting a three-run home run during the fourth inning of a game against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday in Detroit. Credit: AP/Ryan Sun
PHILADELPHIA — The Mets put a catcher on the injured list Monday, just not the one with only eight fully functioning fingers.
Luis Torrens hit the IL with a right forearm contusion — the result of being hit with a blocked ball in Saturday’s game against the Reds.Though Torrens doesn’t believe the issue is serious, it does highlight the Mets’ precarious situation at catcher. Francisco Alvarez, playing with a torn UCL in his right thumb and a broken left pinkie, got the start on Monday against the Phillies and the team hopes he can play through both injuries down the stretch.
Hayden Senger was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to serve as the backup catcher.
That wasn’t the only bit of bad news, either. Manager Carlos Mendoza said Tylor Megill, who was lit up for two innings in his rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday, complained of arm tightness while throwing his secondary pitches. Megill, who is trying to recover from a troubling elbow sprain, was sent for yet another MRI on Monday.
He’ll be shut down and it’s possible his season is over, Mendoza said, “especially now with him complaining about the same thing he went down with earlier in the year . . .
“I don’t want to speculate here, but the fact that he’s getting another MRI and where we’re at [in the season], we’re running out of time,” he added.
Torrens, meanwhile, was able to play through a similar injury earlier this season but routinely has been battered behind the plate this year. On Sunday, he discovered he couldn’t fully extend his throwing arm without pain.
“I tried a little bit yesterday and I tried today as well,” he said via an interpreter. “It was a tough decision, [but] my throwing arm is one of the strengths of my game . . . Just with how the team is currently situated, I think it’s best, with Alvy a little banged up, and me being in the situation that I’m in, I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the team to have two catchers that are banged up.”
The Mets don’t plan to image Torrens’ arm, though that might change if the inflammation doesn’t subside in the next few days, Mendoza said. Torrens has 11 caught-stealings above average, which is tops in the league, according to Baseball Savant. He’s gunned down 45% of attempted steals, also the best in baseball, and has saved the Mets an MLB-high seven runs despite limited playing time.
“Given where we’re at with Alvy and who knows what’s going to happen with him, it’s hard to go into a game with just one catcher,” Mendoza added. “You’ve got to give Luis some credit here, understanding where we’re at as a team and the meaning of every game.”
The one saving grace is that Alvarez hasn’t complained of discomfort after three games behind the plate. The best-case scenario remains Alvarez being able to wait until the offseason to get surgery on his thumb.
“He seems to be in a good place,” Mendoza said. “We check with him after every game [and] the next day when he gets to the ballpark, and we haven’t seen anything that tells us that something is [wrong]. Obviously, we know what he’s dealing with, but so far, it’s been good . . . We’re treating him like a healthy player.”
Notes & quotes: Jose Siri (fractured left tibia) “is getting close” to a return, Mendoza said . . . For now, the Mets intend to keep using a six-man rotation. They’ve yet to discuss how they intend to pare that down if and when they make the playoffs . . . Kodai Senga, who was demoted to Triple-A last week, will throw only bullpen sessions before pitching for Syracuse either Friday or Saturday, Mendoza said. “The reason we sent him down was to work on his mechanics, and in order for him to work on his mechanics, we’ve got to give him a chance to get on the mound without facing competition,” Mendoza said. “That’s what he’s going through right now — he throws a bullpen and then a couple of days down, he throws another one, watching film and getting the feedback from him.” . . . Jim Marshall, the oldest living Met, died Sunday at age 94 after a brief illness, according to Jay Horwitz, the team’s vice president of alumni relations. There are six remaining living players from the 1962 team.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
