DENVER -- For the second time this season, Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has suffered a setback in his recovery from a right hand fracture just days before the Astros were potentially hoping to get him back to their lineup.
Astros general manager Dana Brown said prior to Houston's 6-5 win over the Rockies on Tuesday night at Coors Field that Alvarez, who’s been out since May 2, was set to see a hand specialist after having his rehab shut down. Alvarez reported to West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday and took some dry swings with the bat Monday. He came in Tuesday and said the hand was sore again.
Brown said Alvarez’s rehab will be shut down and they hope to know more in the next couple of days.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow but at the end of the day his health is the most important thing here,” Brown said. “And so, we’ll let him take the time that he needs to get completely healed. At this point, the team is playing very well. We’re 16 games over .500, we’re six [games] up in the division, and so we’ll take our time and let him continue to heal. Hopefully it won’t be much longer and we’ll get some good news in the next 48 hours.”
When asked if Alvarez could be facing surgery, Brown said that wouldn’t be known until he sees a specialist on Wednesday.
Brown said Monday he was hoping to get Alvarez back in the lineup next week and didn’t rule out flying him to Los Angeles for this weekend’s series against the Dodgers. Alvarez took batting practice on the field Saturday in Houston before heading to Florida the following day.
“We felt like he was close because he had felt so good of late and so this is certainly news that we didn’t want,” Brown said.
Astros manager Joe Espada remained positive despite Tuesday’s bad news, which came on the heels of shortstop Jeremy Peña landing on the injured list earlier in the day with a rib fracture.
“[Alvarez] is doing everything in his power to get back,” Espada said. “He’s staying optimistic and I’m staying optimistic with him. So we’ve just got to give it time and hopefully his hand heals and we get him back in our lineup."
Alvarez said he originally hurt his hand swinging the bat in a game in late April, but he kept playing through the pain because he’s dealt with similar injuries in the past. He was scratched from the Astros’ lineup prior to the May 3 game against the White Sox in Chicago and went on the 10-day IL on May 5.
Alvarez was originally diagnosed with a muscle strain in his right hand following a May 6 MRI, and Brown said the swelling and inflammation in the hand prevented the team from seeing what turned out to be a fracture of the fourth metacarpal. The team announced May 31 that Alvarez had a fracture that was 60 percent healed, calling it a “small fracture.”
The injury played a role in the slugger’s .210/.306/.340 slash line with only three homers and 18 RBIs in 121 plate appearances. The Astros were 34-19 without Alvarez in the lineup heading into Tuesday’s series opener at the Rockies, which is why they’ll play it safe with him going forward.
“If we rush him back and then he reinjures the hand and then now you’re potentially looking at the loss of the season,” Brown said. “I think it’s wise to pump the brakes while he’s feeling the soreness and get a deeper look and find out what the deal is and take it from there.”
Alvarez’s ongoing hand issue won’t change the Astros’ strategy at the Trade Deadline, which is four weeks away. The Astros will still be in the market for a left-handed bat, considering switch-hitting catcher Victor Caratini is the only rotational starter who swings it from the left side.
“We’re still in the same position,” Brown said. “We want to get a left-handed bat. The urgency is there.”