After greater than three and a half months on the injured checklist, Yordan Alvarez appears to be like to be approaching a return. Astros supervisor Joe Espada instructed the Houston Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara and different reporters that Alvarez is slated to start a rehab project at Double-A Corpus Christi on Tuesday. GM Dana Brown gave a number of extra particulars throughout a pregame radio interview, saying that the plan is for Alvarez to play Tuesday after which once more on Thursday and Friday after a relaxation and examination day on Wednesday.
August 26 is essentially the most possible day for Alvarez’s activation from the IL, when the Astros start a house sequence towards the Rockies. Brown instructed that if Alvarez is feeling good after his preliminary three Double-A video games, the slugger might be activated on Saturday when the Astros are in Baltimore, however naturally the crew will proceed with warning given how Alvarez’s restoration course of has already been stuffed with stops and begins.
Hand issues have bothered Alvarez previously, so there was some trepidation that his preliminary IL placement resulting from hand irritation in early Might would possibly go nicely past the minimal 10 days. Whereas Alvarez had superior to taking stay batting follow by the top the month, the scenario took one other flip when he felt some extra soreness in his proper hand, and a follow-up MRI revealed a slight fracture in his proper ring finger. Extra soreness in early July necessitated a transfer to the 60-day IL, and Kawahara writes that Alvarez additionally acquired two injections to take care of the irritation.
Alvarez was capable of restart his hitting development and Espada stated the three-time All-Star confronted stay pitching yesterday on the Astros’ Spring Coaching advanced. This was sufficient for the membership to lastly greenlight a correct rehab project.
2025 has been one thing of a misplaced yr totally for Alvarez, as he was hitting solely .210/.306/.340 over his first 121 plate appearances earlier than heading to the IL. Alvarez has a historical past of comparatively sluggish begins, so whereas these numbers have been nicely under his profession .838 OPS in March and April, there wasn’t a lot doubt that he’d finally get on observe along with his typical degree of elite slugging. The Astros can solely hope that Alvarez is ready to return while not having a lot time to spherical into kind, as each recreation is crucial within the playoff race.
Given how Houston has been with out Alvarez for many of the season and has handled a wealth of different accidents to a number of key gamers, it’s considerably outstanding that the Astros are nonetheless 69-55 and in first place within the AL West. A once-sizable division lead has dwindled to only a single recreation, nevertheless, for the reason that Mariners are surging and the Astros are solely 14-20 of their final 34 video games.
