PHILADELPHIA — The Mets catchers have been taking a beating this month. And the team was forced to shut down a recovering depth starter due to aggravation of Tylor Megill’s elbow injury. Luis Torrens went on the injured list Monday afternoon with a right arm contusion. Francisco Alvarez has been playing through a broken finger and sprained thumb UCL.
Megill is likely out for the season after experiencing tightness in his elbow during his Sunday rehab start with Triple-A Syracuse.
Torrens was hit on the forearm while trying to block a ball Saturday night against the Cincinnati Reds. He was hit below the bone, which has the Mets feeling optimistic that he avoided any fractures or breaks. However, he hasn’t undergone any imaging. Still, the Mets don’t see it as a long-term injury. They expect to be able to activate him after the 10 days have passed, and he’ll be able to pick up where he left off after the inflammation subsides.
“It was a really, really tough decision,” Torrens said through a team translator Monday at Citizens Bank Park. “My throwing arm is one of the strengths of my game, so the fact that it was that difficult to throw without pain, it was kind of what made the decision.”
Alvarez was expected to get the bulk of the playing time for the rest of the month already, but Torrens was going to get plenty of time behind the plate as well. Torrens has caught 18-of-25 runners trying to steal for a .581 mark, the second-best in the league. Recently, he’s gotten hot at the plate and the Mets were hoping he would stay hot. He hit .260 with three home runs over his last 19 games, becoming an opposite-field threat.
While the backstop could have played through the injury if he wanted, Torrens and the team felt it best to get a healthy Hayden Senger from Triple-A to give the pitching staff the best chance they have to succeed, especially with the Mets beginning a critical four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night.
“I also dealt with this in the beginning of the season, but just with how the team is currently situated, I think it’s best with Alvy a little bit banged up, and me being in the situation I am,” he said. “I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the team to have two catchers that are banged up in some way.”
Megill has been out since June with an elbow sprain. The big righty appeared to be on the mend after making five minor league starts over the last month, but he felt the same tightness as before when throwing his secondary pitches Sunday. He returned to New York for imaging Monday.
The Mets expect to have his results Tuesday, but they don’t expect him to be able to pitch again this season.
“We’re running out of time, especially now, with him complaining about the same thing that he went down with earlier in the year,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “I don’t want to speculate here, but the fact that he’s getting another MRI, and with where we are at, like I said, it feels like we’re running out of time.”
This is the third year Megill has spent time on the injured list. In 2022, he dealt with biceps tendinitis and a shoulder strain. Last year, he strained his shoulder in his first start of the season. Megill managed to avoid the IL and pitch a career-high 126 1/3 innings in 2023, but he couldn’t avoid a Triple-A demotion. The Mets have always been high on his potential, but so far, his career has been plagued by inconsistency as much as injury.
The 30-year-old will be out of minor league options next season, but he’s still under team control for two more years.
Center fielder Jose Siri is “close” to finally returning after being out most of the season, but the Mets didn’t have a date in mind as of Monday. Siri fractured his tibia fouling a ball off his leg in Sacramento in early April. Tyrone Taylor and Siri could give the Mets two quality defensive center fielders for the home stretch.
