Francisco Alvarez going on IL in brutal Mets injury blow

WASHINGTON — At a poor time in the season, Francisco Alvarez will miss more time.

Amid a playoff race with about six weeks of the season remaining, the Mets are placing the hot-hitting catcher on the injured list with a right thumb injury on Tuesday, The Post’s Joel Sherman reports.

This will mark the second time Alvarez hits the IL this year, his third extended absence of his season and the third time an injury around the hand has sidelined him during his short career.

The timing is especially painful for Alvarez, who has looked like a different player since returning from a demotion, and the Mets, who enter a series at Nationals Park on Tuesday clinging to a wild-card spot.

Alvarez suffered the injury diving into second base head-first during Sunday’s win over the Mariners. He initially remained in the game, but Luis Torrens replaced him behind the plate in the following inning.

The 23-year-old seemed to have turned a corner after his poor play on both sides of the game prompted the club to send him to Syracuse in June. He returned in July and had not stopped hitting, posting a 1.054 OPS with four home runs in 21 games.

Alvarez has missed extended time because of injuries to his other hand. He sat for nearly two months last year with a left thumb sprain that required surgery and fractured his left hamate bone in this year’s spring training, which delayed his debut until late April.