Mets' Francisco Alvarez not worried after negative X-rays on hand
The Mets' Francisco Alvarez reacts after he was hit by a pitch as he struck out against the Yankees during the ninth inning of an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
In about half an hour Tuesday night, Francisco Alvarez went from not being able to feel his hand to not feeling any concern about his hand.
X-rays on his right middle finger were negative, Alvarez said, after a pitch from the Yankees’ Albert Abreu forced him out of the game, seemingly in significant pain.
But he said after the Mets’ 9-3 win that “I feel good,” so he doesn’t expect to need any further testing Wednesday.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t feel my hand at that point,” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “Once I came back in, that’s when I started to get the sensation back in my hand.
“From 1-100%, honestly I don’t really feel too much [pain] right now. I’d say maybe 5%.”
First base umpire Doug Eddings ruled that Alvarez swung at the pitch for strike three, his fourth strikeout on an 0-for-5 night. But those results mattered less than Alvarez’s health, which apparently is fine.
Alvarez’s concern level?
“None,” he said.
Speaking minutes earlier, manager Buck Showalter said there was “some concern,” seemingly before the results of the X-rays — taken at Yankee Stadium — came back.
In cases like these, additional imaging, such as an MRI or CT scan, often follows based on “the discomfort they feel down the road,” Showalter said.
He said, “When you know your players and some body language — that one I’m a little concerned about, the way he reacted."
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
