HOUSTON — Yordan Alvarez’s hand injury has turned out to be more serious than initially thought, complicating his expected recovery timeline.
The Astros’ powerful hitter began experiencing discomfort in his right hand last Friday while engaged in batting practice. What was first believed to be a minor muscle strain was later diagnosed as a small fracture. Encouragingly, the fracture is already about 60% healed.
According to general manager Dana Brown, the initial imaging conducted on Alvarez’s fourth metacarpal on May 6 failed to reveal the fracture, possibly due to excessive swelling and fluid buildup at the time.
Alvarez has been sidelined since May 3 because of this injury. The team was optimistic about removing him from the injured list this weekend.
“Right now, the plan is simple: let it rest,” Brown stated. “While he’s resting, he’ll still participate in other baseball activities like running and fielding. He can do virtually everything except for swinging a bat. We don’t even want him hitting off tees, even though he could probably manage that now. It’s crucial to ensure it heals completely before he picks up a bat again.”
The good news is the fracture is progressing well, and Brown is hopeful Alvarez won’t be out of action for much longer than anticipated.
“We’re optimistic about his progress and believe he’ll make his return sooner than later,” Brown added.
When asked about his return, Alvarez shared, “I wish I could predict when I’ll be back. The positive thing is it’s healing properly, but resting is important because continuing to swing was delaying the healing process.”
Brown also mentioned that Alvarez might have developed the fracture when he continued to play despite the initial belief of a simple muscle strain. He played for an additional two weeks after first noticing the issue before undergoing any imaging.
“The muscle strain was genuine,” Brown noted. “It’s possible that during the time he pushed through, thinking it wasn’t like previous hand issues, he aggravated it, leading to more severe damage.”
Prior to being placed on the injured list, Alvarez was hitting .210 with three homers and 18 RBIs over 29 games this season.