Francisco Alvarez stayed in the game Thursday night after taking a vicious shot to the head from Phillies outfielder Justin Crawford’s bat follow-through.
The Mets catcher went down hard when Crawford’s bat crushed him right in the front of his mask during the swing. Crawford still managed to make contact on the pitch, and while Alvarez was down, pitcher Christian Scott ran over to make a nice catch on the pop-up.
Justin Crawford got Francisco Álvarez in the mask with his bat pic.twitter.com/FxNlgGjOcQ
— Mets’d Up Podcast (@MetsdUp) July 16, 2026
After getting looked at by the trainer and manager, Alvarez stayed behind the plate. But you’ve got to figure he wasn’t feeling 100% after a blow like that.
It’s something to watch moving forward, especially with how much the Mets need their young catcher healthy.
The weird thing is Alvarez had started his night perfectly against Aaron Nola. He came in 3-for-8 lifetime against the Phillies righty with a homer, and his first at-bat went exactly how you’d draw it up:
Francisco Alvarez puts the @Mets in front with a solo shot pic.twitter.com/GPtYDmzz8n
— MLB (@MLB) July 16, 2026
So it was a homer followed by a whack to the face. Alvarez definitely would’ve preferred just the homer, but that’s baseball – sometimes the game gives you both sides in the same night.
