Air Yordan is back. The Astros announced today that outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. They had an open 40-man roster spot due to right-hander Shawn Dubin getting designated for assignment earlier this week. The Astros optioned infielder Brice Matthews to Triple-A to open an active roster spot.
The return of Alvarez is potentially a huge boost for the Astros down the stretch, as he is one of the most potent hitters in baseball when he’s at his best. He came into this year with 164 home runs and a .298/.390/.583 slash line, which translates to a 166 wRC+.
He has not been that guy in 2025. He hit .210/.306/.340 through 121 plate appearances before landing on the 15-day IL in early May. The club listed his injury as right hand inflammation. Later that month, it was thought that he was nearing a return but then the club found a fracture in the ring finger of that right hand.
Setbacks with that hand issue prevented him from starting a rehab assignment until a few days ago. He recently played in four Double-A games, stepping to the plate 17 times with no home runs but a huge .467/.529/.733 slash line.
That rehab performance is obviously encouraging but Alvarez will likely remain something of a wild card until he gets back on track at the big league level. Getting peak Alvarez back would obviously be tremendous for the Astros but it’s unclear if that’s possible. Houston is trying to hold off Seattle in the West, currently holding to a lead of 1.5 games, and will obviously welcome all the help it can get.
He is in tonight’s lineup and playing left field, alongside center fielder Jacob Melton and right fielder Jesús Sánchez. Lately, Jose Altuve has been seeing a lot of time in the designated hitter slot and is in there again tonight. It’s possible that guys like Cam Smith, Chas McCormick and Mauricio Dubón see a bit less playing time now. Dubon can also play second and is at the keystone tonight, though Ramón Urías is also a factor there, as well as Altuve.
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
C’mon baby let’s gooooooooooo
Cheaters don’t get chicken.
-Devonte Adams
I disagree with your premise, but I know I’ll never convince you. But after two WS you’re still acting grumpy? Frankly, we won, you lost. Bada-bing bada-boom.
Which premise?
I mean, I know they the Astros can buy chicken, obviously.
Astros cheated and won. Dodgers didn’t cheat and lost. Congrats.
And yes I’ll always root for the Astros to lose. The only team I have no respect for. They had enough talent and we’re good enough to compete on even terms. But they chose to cheat. When you’re at that level, knowing what’s coming makes all the difference when you can sit on a particular pitch.
You don’t have to convince me the Astros won. They have a trophy. And it’s already been proven they cheated. So there’s nothing to discuss really. Congrats on your teams lack of integrity. They did it well enough to win the world series. I guess that makes them winners, technically.
I get it. It’s easy for people to believe in such a black and white telling of the scandal, because it’s easy to understand.
The premise I disagree with is that the Astros were cheaters and the rest of the league were saints. That the Astros therefore cannot have chicken while the rest of the league has KFC for life.
The Astros did cheat, of course. And they shouldn’t have. The Astros weren’t the only team to cheat, just the only squad to get investigated. If not for Fiers, the MLB would’ve continued to turn a blind eye to the problem. Of course Manfred knew before the Athletic article, but wouldn’t have done anything about it until forced to by bad press. The cleanest way to get rid of the problem was a scapegoat.
Immunity, apology, ostracization: easy.
You don’t have to look far to find primary source evidence from players throughout the league that the Astros weren’t the only ones. I won’t list all of the quotes here, but really I encourage you to check it out.
It’s true that we know for a fact the Astros cheated, and all the rest is speculation sans facts. But I think it very naive to say that your Dodgers, or any other team, have moral high ground here.
Beyond all that, I don’t think it all matters regarding 2017. Easy for me to say right? But we scored more on the road than home all season. We won two games in LA. Not to mention that there’s no documented evidence they cheated in the WS.
Probably naive of me, honestly, to think people should move on. Incomplete justice isn’t justice, though. And don’t get me started on how people have villified Altuve.
Dodgers and Astros were both good enough to win it that year, and have both proven that by their current success and continued success over the last decade. Truly the best two teams in the sport in that time.
Manfred would let players shoot each other if it wouldn’t damage the image of the game and wasn’t reported. He rightly got his butt handed to him after he called the the trophy a piece of metal. Like these guys just bust their butts for money, and who really cares about who wins in the end? Idiot. I’m sure the PR savvy owners, the owners they actually care, and his crisis management team set him straight quickly.
Since then he’s been on a “for the good of the game we love” messaging redemption tour. But it’s also not his job to love the game, but to grow it and it’s revenue.
To say the word around the league was that the Dodgers and other teams were cheating, which I’ve heard numerous times from Astros fans, is disingenuous to me.
Back then the Dodgers were extremely good at picking up tells from pitchers and relaying that throughout the dugout. They also stole signs well. Justin Turner was amazing at it, and since I watch a lot of dodgers games, you would watch him in real time dispersing that information, as baseball players have done legally since the inception of the game. Then you’d see others learning to do the same on the team, with certain player conversations producing results.
But that’s all legal.
what was the initial diagnosis by the astros tm doctor, dr seuss? broken fingernail?
only took 4 months to come back for f sake. yordan better hit 2 hrs tonite
Well this is potentially the biggest news for the rest of the season.
Mets. Tong.
About damn time we got some good news!!!
If he’s back in form within next few weeks, Yordan and Altuve can do the heavy lifting in playoffs as usual. They and the lethargic Mets (with Soto) have key stars that thrive under pressure…..not get tight. Regular season stars like Judge and pending FA Tucker are guys who need to lift their clubs instead of relying on teammates to produce against good pitching.
Against Colorado’s pitching? Probably going to have a decent offensive night, tonight. 2-3, 2B, HR, 3RBI.
Add 2 walks to that line if the Rockies are pitching.
@AHH-Rox
Well… my prediction didn’t pan out…
I thought this guy retired
In the middle of a $115 million contract?
In his prime!
This might make things harder for the Mariners. I hope not.
by all means keep dubon in the lineup………………………..
I was wondering why they did that, too.