The Astros announced Wednesday that outfielder/DH Yordan Alvarez and second baseman Jose Altuve have been reinstated from the injured list. First baseman/outfielder Bligh Madris and infielder David Hensley were optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding pair of moves.
Alvarez, who just turned 26 last month, has cemented himself as one of the sport’s best young hitters in recent seasons. He boasts a .277/.388/.589 slash and 17 homers in just 232 plate appearances this season but has missed more than six weeks due to an oblique strain.
The Astros have posted a solid .252/.323/.433 line as a team even since Alvarez’s injury, but it’s still difficult to overstate just how big a boost his return will provide. Houston general manager Dana Brown has been quite candid about his desire to add a left-handed bat prior to next week’s trade deadline, but Alvarez’s return will at least lessen some of the urgency for such an acquisition.
Altuve has also been on the shelf with an oblique strain, though his wasn’t as severe as the one sustained by Alvarez. He hit the IL nearly a month after his teammate, on July 4, but will nonetheless return on the same day — just three weeks after landing on the shelf.
It’s been an even more frustrating season for Altuve than for Alvarez, from a health standpoint. He missed nearly two months early in the season after suffering a broken thumb during the World Baseball Classic and has only managed to get into the lineup for 32 of the Astros’ games this year. He’s been characteristically excellent when on the field, batting .264/.371/.479 with a career-best 14% walk rate in 143 trips to the plate.
It’s a major pair of returns for Houston that’ll augment the lineup more than any trade might have, but the ’Stros still figure to be active between now and next Tuesday. In addition to Brown’s stated desire to add a left-handed bat with some defensive versatility, he’s also been open about his hopes to add a starting pitcher and a reliever while trades are still permitted.
Here come the Astros comments. 1 2 3 go…
First person to comment about getting hurt in the WBC has to manually update all the Statistics links for the website
I would go along with that especially if they would dump Maldonado and start giving Diaz the majority of starts behind the plate. The guy is a flat out horrible hitter. He never runs full speed to first base. He’s slow even if he did try to run, but he doesn’t. His conditioning is also an issue. Maldonado used to be a defensive specialist, but he’s not even any good at that anymore. There’s talk about how he handles a pitching staff but the ERA is much higher when he catches than when Diaz does. Time to move on from Maldy.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse statline than David Hensley.
120 avg in 83 ab is pretty god awful
Take a look at Nevin for Detroit.
Yeah those numbers are bad, but it’s a very small sample size. He was outstanding last year and in the playoffs in World Series though
Don’t be surprised if the Astros work something out with Mets for JV
It’s a nice thought, but in reality there is zero chance they would take on that salary for next year
Jose Quintana and Robertson for the Astros top 3 prospects. Verlander won’t agree to any trades.
I wish Seager and Adolis were healthy. Rangers vs. Astros doesn’t feel right without all those guys.
Really? Yordan, Altuve, Brantley, McCullers, Garcia, Urquidy have been out for most or all of this year. And the Astros have played thru that and still beat you 5 games to 3 in the season to date and life is not fair? Don’t want to hear your whining. Get over Garcia missing 1 game and Seager out for a week going forward. Unbelievable crybabies.
You over react much. I think the guy was meaning that he wishes all the guys “Both sides” was in the series. Personally I would be happier if BOTH teams were fully staffed when they meet. It makes for a more entertaining series. Whew! Relax just a tad my friend
Thank you stroh- couldn’t have said half as well
Sounds like #1 Crybaby Dave Raymond
Houston will lose to Atlanta in the Fall Classic
Oh I forgot. But DeGrom is out. He who has pitched a maximum of 92 innings in each of the last 4 years was counted on by your genius GM. That’s like the Stros counting on McCullers except he’s actually pitched some the last 4 years.
Guy makes normal statement wishing for baseball’s sake that all the stars were back so he could see a good game… some jerk freaks out about crying babies or something, that sounds about right. What a world.
I took is as the comment was wanting BOTH teams to be fully staffed. Makes for a more entertaining series. Some people really need to Relax for Baseball’s sake
Or take a zanex, maybe less coffee, whatever works.
Hold your bottle chris44- Good Lord you “Rangers” fans have been bottom feeders for a long time in the AL West, all of baseball-
Astros Dominance is Fact!!!!
It’s better if We both are Competitive in the Great state of Texas, but live in the Real world please, I expect fantasies from the East & West coasts,
We Are Texans❤️❤️
Hensely was great last year, always getting on base and in clutch situations. Everyone remembers Yordan’s big home runs in the playoffs, but what people forget is that Hensely and Jeremy Pena got on base to get the inning/game to Yordan.
This year he just can’t find the ball, his stats have flipped and were bad even in the minors.
Please, if you are trading with the Tigers for Eduardo Rodriguez or Michael Lorenzen , be generous. We sure could use some bats!
Not to be rude but does Houston have any prospects that would interest Detroit?
The Astros have some good OF prospects. They may not be ranked high by the media outlets but neither were Pena, Altuve, Diaz, McCormick, Garcia, Javier, Urquidy, Valdez, France, or B. Abreu and they have turned out to be really good players.
Those were all pretty under the radar players too, you have a point. Now I’m wondering if the White Sox should do a Giolito trade with the Astros, wouldn’t mind another diamond in the rough from Houston.
And Houston’s march to another AL West title begins in earnest.
All I have to add is Altuve is a midget
A Hall of Fame midget
And Framber Valdez is a punk.
Semien is the punk. Perfect fit for the Rangers fanbase though, chatty and whiny.
Your screen name and your idiotic comment go well together.
Your screen name and that silly comment of yours go very well together.
See? You’re just like Semien. Take your retaliatory beaning like a man and quietly go about your business and go away.