NEW YORK — Francisco Álvarez checked off another box Saturday in his return from tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb last month.

The New York Mets catcher took batting practice on the field Saturday for the first time since injuring the thumb sliding into second base against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 19. He took more than 20 swings before the Mets hosted the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field.

Asked if he took the swings at full strength, Álvarez pointed out that he hit a ball 115 mph. That, he joked, said it all.

“I’m very happy and excited to be back on the field,” Álvarez, 22, said. “I’m very happy with how everything is going.”

Álvarez, who underwent surgery on the thumb April 23, explained he is still a few steps away from going on a rehab assignment. The next checkpoints include hitting off a pitching machine to face velocity before facing live pitching and catching bullpens.

The Mets announced a six-to-eight-week timeline for Álvarez following the surgery. Tuesday marks five weeks.

“I don’t know if it’s a few more weeks or days,” Álvarez said. “It’s really how is everything going? If I keep feeling good, if I keep doing good, if I don’t feel nothing in my thumb, my batting cage is feeling good, maybe it’s a couple of weeks, a couple of days.”

Álvarez said he sought out advice from Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Pérez, a fellow Venezuelan who sustained the same UCL thumb injury in 2022. Two years later, Pérez, one of the most productive hitters in the majors this season, told Álvarez about the recovery process and the need to take his time.

The Mets, meanwhile, have had some of the worst production in the majors from the catcher position without Álvarez. Mets catchers Tomas Nido and Omar Narvaez have combined to for a .194 batting average since April 20, the fourth-worst mark in the majors. Their collective 38 wRC+ ranks 28th, ahead of only the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs.

It didn’t take Yankees slugger Juan Soto long to show Padres fans what they are missing.

In his first game back to face San Diego since being traded to the Yankees this offseason, he drove a third-inning high fastball from Yu Darvish over the right-center-field fence for his 14th homer of the year. It was the first of three no-doubt shots for the Yankees that inning off Darvish. Aaron Judge followed with a homer and Giancarlo Stanton also had a two-run shot.

Soto’s 423-foot homer gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead as they went on to win the game 8-0. He also walked in the fourth, flied out to the wall in right in the seventh and doubled in the ninth.

He described the third inning as “electric, fun. Definitely fun. It was pretty cool to see the guys coming through against a guy like that. It’s huge.”

The 25-year-old from the Dominican Republic was greeted with a mixture of boos from Padres fans and cheers from the many Yankees fans at Petco Park when the starting lineup was announced and each time he came to the plate.

“I wasn’t expecting cheers or boos but they did both,” Soto said. “I was right in the middle. That was pretty cool. That’s fine. I don’t mind at all.”

The Yankees are 37-4, including the playoffs, when Stanton and Judge homer in the same game and are 2-0 when Soto, Judge and Stanton all homer in the same game.

“It was pretty awesome, actually,” manager Aaron Boone said of the third inning. “You get those moments every now and then in the regular season that are, ‘Man, that was pretty cool.’ When Juan kind of took the air out of it right there and Judgey follows it right up, and then here we go (Alex) Verdugo and then here we go Stanton, one of those cool ones during the season that you get to be a part of.”

Soto left a note on the grass in right field after the eighth inning that his former teammate Fernando Tatis Jr. picked up and read when he took the field in the ninth.

Soto wouldn’t say what the note said, but added: “It was something cool. He enjoyed it because when I hit the double he looked at me, he was laughing about it.”

In preparing for his first game at Petco since being traded to New York on Dec. 7, Soto said he thought San Diego is a great city for any big leaguer to play in for a long time.

“My time in San Diego was great. It was unbelievable,” said Soto, who was involved in two blockbuster trades in just 16 months.

The Padres obtained Soto from Washington in an eight-player trade Aug. 2, 2022, after he turned down a $440 million, 15-year offer from the Nationals. The Padres envisioned having him for three playoff runs. Though they made a stirring run to the NL Championship Series in 2022, they were a major disappointment in 2023, when they missed the playoffs despite having baseball’s third-highest payroll.

Soto said he was prepared to return to San Diego for this season.

But the death of free-spending owner Peter Seidler on Nov. 14 plunged the Padres into financial uncertainty. Looking to reset their luxury tax and needing to add pitching, they sent Soto to the Yankees in a seven-player trade.

“We never get the chance to keep talking a little bit farther with the Padres, but it was a great team, great fan base,” Soto said. “But at the end of the day, we just couldn’t get it done and just keep moving forward.

“Where I’m at, I’m more than happy where I’m at. I’m really excited,” he said.

The Yankees and Soto agreed Jan. 11 to a $31 million, one-year contract, breaking Shohei Ohtani’s record for an arbitration-eligible player. Soto had a $23 million salary last year in his only full season with the Padres and the outfielder can become a free agent after this season, when he will be 26.

Boone, part of the first family in baseball history to produce three generations of major league players, said the series should offer “a little added buzz with Juan being back here and the Yankees being in town.

“Obviously, this is a pretty wild fan base,” said Boone, who was born in suburban La Mesa. “It’s been such a popular scene here these last couple of years with the big-name people they’ve brought in. And I’m sure with us being here it’s going to be a pretty cool environment, especially being on a weekend.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

DENVER — Philadelphia star Bryce Harper was ejected after striking out in the first inning of the Phillies’ game at the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.

Harper struck out on a 0-2 curveball from Ty Blach, dropped his bat and threw his helmet. The two-time NL MVP said something to plate umpire Brian Walsh and immediately was ejected.

Harper and Phillies manager Rob Thomson argued to no avail following Harper’s 21st big league ejection. Harper had called a timeout after taking a borderline 0-1 sinker that appeared to be low and inside.

Harper is hitting .279 with 12 homers, 37 RBIs and a .929 OPS.

Third baseman Alec Bohm moved to first in place of Harper, left fielder Whit Merrifield switched to third and Johan Rojas entered in center and Cristian Pache moved from center to left.