Francisco Alvarez won’t travel with Mets to London, could return from IL next week

Francisco Alvarez will not re-join the Mets for the team’s games in London this week, but there is a “good chance” the catcher will be activated off the injured list next week, manager Carlos Mendoza said Monday.

“He’ll stay back and continue to get at-bats here, probably in Triple-A,” Mendoza said from Washington before the Mets opened a three-game series with the Nationals.

Alvarez began a rehab assignment with the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies on May 30, about a week after he began taking batting practice and 37 days after undergoing surgery to repair a UCL injury on his left thumb.

As far as his return to the big league, Mendoza added, “If everything continues to progress the way it’s going right now, there’s a good chance when we get back he’ll be active.”

The Mets have Thursday and Friday off before playing two games in the UK against the Philadelphia Phillies before returning home to open a six-game homestand against Miami and San Diego on June 11.

A return to the 26-man roster when the club returns to Queens would put Alvarez right in line with the club’s initial estimate of a six- to eight-week recovery.

Binghamton has the day off on Monday and the plan is for Alvarez to catch nine innings on Tuesday for the first time since he joined the squad last week.

In three games so far with the Rumble Ponies, Alvarez has two hits in eight at-bats with a three-run home run. He has walked and struck out twice.

Alvarez was slashing .236/.288/.364 for a .652 OPS with one homer and four doubles in 16 games before sustaining the injury.