Astros outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez seems to have hit another speed bump. General manager Dana Brown informed reporters, including Chandler Rome of The Athletic, that Alvarez has been shut down due to some renewed hand soreness. He will see a specialist at some point in the next 48 hours, at which point the club hopes to have more information.
At this point, details are still fairly sparse regarding Alvarez, though it’s an ominous development. Hand issues have been an ongoing problem for him. He had soreness in both hands in 2022 and spent some time on the injured list. Hand soreness also seemingly hampered him during spring training in 2023.
This year, he got out to a bad start, hitting .210/.306/.340 for a 76 wRC+ through 29 games. He landed on the 15-day injured list in early May due to right hand inflammation. At the end of May, Brown relayed that the club found a “very small fracture” in the ring finger of Alvarez’s right hand. He has been ramping up activities in recent days but this renewed soreness obviously creates concern that he’s not fully healed.
Time will tell how serious this setback is but it’s less than ideal for the Astros. Alvarez has been a key part of their lineup and one of the best hitters in baseball during his career. He came into this season with a .298/.390/.583 batting line and 166 wRC+. Only Aaron Judge had a higher wRC+ for the 2019-2024 span, among hitters with at least 60 plate appearances.
The Astros would obviously love to have that bat back in the lineup. That’s especially true because he is left-handed and the club is notably deficient in that department. The Astros don’t really have a pure lefty in their everyday lineup. Switch-hitters Victor Caratini and Cooper Hummel are getting regular playing time. The three pure lefties on the active roster at present are all bench players: Taylor Trammell, César Salazar and Luis Guillorme.
Putting aside handedness, this also compounds a more general injury problem for the Astros. They have over a dozen players on the IL, including seven position players. They recently lost their starting shortstop when Jeremy Peña hit the IL last week with a rib fracture.
Despite the all of those injuries, the Astros are 50-34. They are six games up in the American League West and will clearly be buying at the deadline. Brown already openly admitted that the club is looking for lefty bats. That need would only grow if this setback for Alvarez turns out to be significant. The club seems to be planning to avoid the competitive balance tax this year, which will be a challenge in making additions. RosterResource estimates the club’s CBT number is at $236MM, just $5MM from the base threshold.
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
What a shock ! Get him healthy and trade him for an Ace pitcher..
Valdez and Brown are not a fun duo to face in postseason even with a less imposing lineup. If they get a bat, the AL is very winnable.
A .959 OPS hitter at 28 years old? I’ll take him all day on my favorite team. Wish we had an ace to trade you, not many teams do.
Here’s your current Mets DHs:
Soto (plays RF)
Nimmo DH soon (currently plays LF)
Vientos (plays 3b and DH)
Alonso (plays 1b)
S Marte (plays DH)
Winker (IL now, plays DH)
Mets don’t need another DH, especially one with recurring hand problems. Mets need athleticism and defense.
Name an ace pitcher who might be on the block.
deGrom or Sale if their clubs hit the skids enough (despite what AA said if a contender offers too much to turn down).
Marcus Stroman?
I highly doubt that either deGrom or Sale are going anywhere at the deadline.
Alcantara, Gallen, Matz spring to mind, but for a bat of Alvarez’ caliber, Cease, Castillo, Skenes, DeGrom should all be in the conversation.
Almost nobody is untouchable if the deal is right.
Skenes. LOL
You are seriously overvaluing Skenes. He is one torn UCL away from being ordinary, and batters are starting to work him out. He is very good, but not great.
Cease
The Astros also aren’t going to trade Alvarez.
Probably not, but they should.
He’s a top 5 hitter on the planet when healthy why would the Astros trade him for an older injury prone starter like sale or degrom when the Astros need left handed bats
Gotta hand it to him, he knows how to hold us in suspense!
I see what you did there
As an Astros fan, I will say that I believe nothing they say about injuries. Either a player is a active or who knows?
Surprisingly someone was dying on the hill yesterday on another article about the Stros that they are no different than any other club when it comes to injury disclosures/diagnosis and management. Shocked after what has happened with Alvarez, Tucker, Altuve, and about 10 others just the past couple years. Something is fishy with their medical team or management is getting way too involved in it.
Nootbaar from the Cards. Cards have too many left hand hitting outfielders and more to come ready in minors
ALvarez makes Stanton and Rendon look durable.
4 years in a row Alvarez played 100+ games, logic bandit.
He is the most feared hitter in the league when healthy.
Ohtani? Agreed.
I fear Alvarez more I still have the image of Robbie ray throwing a meatball to Alvarez seared into my mind
The players voted Soto as the hitter pitchers don’t want to face
Judge?
they should have traded him and kept tucker
Has yordan ever played a full season in his career? No right?
Seriously, Astros need to clean out their medical department and start over. multiple people suffering setbacks over the last few years.
Why has Taylor Trammell been on an MLB roster so long after posting negative WAR every year in MLB?
I certainly hope the Astros can bring on a left-handed bat before the trade deadline. Maybe Ryan O’Hearn. I know he’s played a little bit of left field.
This feels like the Tucker situation last year all over again… these guys are being knowingly obtuse or outright lying or wrong about injuries. Really strange. These are star players too.