Paul Blackburn’s “weird” season took another strange turn late Tuesday night when he was awoken by a messenger banging on his hotel room door after missing a phone call informing him the Mets were planning to activate him the next day from the injured list.

With Alvarez sidelined, the Mets will have no choice but to turn over their catching duties to veteran Luis Torrens and Senger. Torrens has hit for a 68 OPS+ in 75 games to date; Senger, meanwhile, has hit for a 17 OPS+, albeit in a small sample size of 21 games.

Soon after the Mets’ 11-9 loss to the Seattle Mariners, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com first reported that Blackburn was going to be designated for assignment. The move will serve to make room for Saturday’s probable starter, Mets No. 1 pitching prospect Nolan McLean.

The Mets hadn’t announced the results of Francisco Alvarez’s MRI exam as of Monday, a day after the catcher suffered an injury to his right thumb while diving into second base during Sunday’s win over Seattle, but they know how much they can’t afford to lose him for an extended period of time.