Omar Narváez Lands on IL, Francisco Álvarez Joining Mets

After abruptly departing Wednesday’s game against the Brewers due to speculation of an injury, it has been confirmed by the New York Mets that catcher Omar Narvaez underwent imaging that revealed a medium to high-grade calf strain. As a result, he will be placed on the 10-day injured list and is expected to return in eight to nine weeks.

Narváez, 31, is in the initial year of his two-year, $15 million contract that he signed with the Mets this past offseason. This injury is a tough break for Narváez and the Mets as he was one of the few batters in the lineup that was producing early in the season. In only five games with the club, he batted .286 while collecting two RBIs.

Due to the implications of this injury, it’s expected that MMO’s number one Mets prospect Francisco Alvarez will join the team ahead of their home opener at Citi Field as we first reported. While the catcher mightily struggled in spring training, he has excelled in his brief stint in Triple-A batting .250/.368/.688 in 19 plate appearances while collecting two home runs and four RBIs. Although he has struggled in his small MLB sample size, it will be interesting to see if his minor league success can translate to this more extended stint with the team.

One important thing to note about Álvarez is that if he remains with the MLB club for the whole season while winning Rookie of the Year, the Mets will receive a first round pick in the 2024 draft along with extra IFA bonus money. This is one of the measures implemented by the MLB to incentivize teams to call up their top prospects as opposed to holding them back to manipulate their service time.

Álvarez, 21, is expected to share the catching duties with Tomas Nido. Nido’s production has been largely disappointing to begin this season as he has yet to record a hit in nine plate appearances with five strikeouts. Despite the small sample size of poor offensive production, Nido earns his playing time due to his strong defensive prowess and solid rapport with the pitching staff. That said, the severity of Narváez injury provides the Mets with a chance to see what they have with Álvarez as he could be slated for an extended period of playing time going forward.

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