QUEENS, NY — New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza is hopeful that Luis Torrens will only miss “a couple of days,” after suffering a forearm contusion during the team’s home opener on Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
After being a late scratch for Saturday’s 3-2 win — he came on as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning and singled in the ninth — he was only available off the bench for Sunday’s series finale against the Jays.
“[Saturday night] before we left the ballpark, he was like, ‘I think I could play tomorrow,'” Mendoza said on Sunday. “I said ‘Let’s see how you feel tomorrow morning.’ And he is still sore. He’s available, obviously, but I just wanted to give him an extra half-game, if you want to call it. And hopefully, it’s something that continues to get better as we move forward here, and that’s what we got so far.”
Torrens had been thrust into the starting role after Francisco Alvarez underwent hand surgery late in spring training after suffering a fracture in his hamate bone, where he was expected to miss between six and eight weeks.
Alvarez caught a bullpen and took swings in batting practice, according to Mendoza on Friday.
In the meantime, Torrens had done well to hold down the Mets’ catcher spot without their starter. Across eight games to start the season, he was batting .300 with one home run, two RBI, and an .883 OPS. Behind the plate, he threw out 75% of would-be base stealers (3-for-4).
He suffered the injury during the home opener on Friday when a spiked pitch from Tylor Megill bounced up and hit the catcher in his right forearm. While he was momentarily stunned, he finished the game.
