HOUSTON \u2014 A lineup lacking balance or brawn now has both, bringing the Houston Astros closer to full strength than at any point since early May.<\/p>\n
The Astros activated three-time All-Star slugger Yordan Alvarez prior to Tuesday\u2019s series-opener against the Colorado Rockies, concluding a circuitous 100-game stay on the injured list complete with setbacks, suspect messaging and an offense that sorely missed Alvarez\u2019s mere presence.<\/p>\n
Alvarez last played on May 2. A day later, the team placed him on the injured list with what it initially described as right hand inflammation.<\/p>\n
Further imaging in mid-June revealed a fracture of the fourth metacarpal \u2014 but only after the Astros allowed Alvarez to take live batting practice at Daikin Park in hopes of a return. Alvarez suffered another setback in July while working at the team\u2019s spring training complex, after which he saw another hand specialist and received two injections to reduce inflammation.<\/p>\n
No further roadblocks have been reported for Alvarez, who went 7-for-15 with four doubles during four minor-league rehab games at Double-A Corpus Christi last week.<\/p>\n
Houston went 56-44 during Alvarez\u2019s absence while slashing .258\/.321\/.414. Only 10 offenses had a higher OPS during that stretch, accentuating the admirable job done to stay afloat without one of its best hitters.<\/p>\n
Significant injuries to All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes and Jake Meyers in mid-July, coupled with rookie Cam Smith\u2019s pronounced slump, have further magnified Alvarez\u2019s absence. The Astros are averaging just 3.9 runs in August, with a 31-inning scoreless streak last week representing the nadir.<\/p>\n
Adding Alvarez is an obvious boost for morale and will make the Astros\u2019 lineup more formidable, but how effective he can be is a legitimate question. Alvarez has not faced major-league pitching in nearly four months.<\/p>\n
The last time he did, Alvarez slugged just .340 with a .646 OPS across 121 plate appearances. Whether the ailing right hand affected those numbers is an obvious thought. So is this: Will Alvarez have to manage some similar discomfort for the final five weeks of this season?<\/p>\n
Even if he does, Alvarez at limited efficacy is a better option than anything else these imbalanced Astros possess. Houston has received a major-league-low 409 plate appearances from left-handed hitters this season, a flaw that has allowed opposing managers to all but avoid throwing left-handed pitching against them.<\/p>\n
The Astros acquired left-handed-hitting outfielder Jes\u00fas S\u00e1nchez at the trade deadline to add some balance, but they will not play him against left-handed pitching due to his drastic platoon splits.<\/p>\n
Alvarez, on the other hand, has a career .967 OPS against left-handed pitching. No left-handed hitter has a higher mark since 2019 \u2014 the season Alvarez made his major-league debut. Manager Joe Espada could hit Alvarez anywhere from second to fourth, splitting up the glut of right-handed hitters that crowd the top of his batting order.<\/p>\n
More intrigue will surround what Alvarez\u2019s activation means for Jose Altuve, who has served as Houston\u2019s designated hitter during 12 of its past 16 games and has not started a game in left field since July 28.<\/p>\n
Though Alvarez played one game in left field last week during his minor-league rehab assignment, it stands to reason the Astros will want to limit how much \u2014 if at all \u2014 he plays defense.<\/p>\n
Doing so will either shift Altuve back to more regular left-field duty or put him at second base, the position Houston asked him to vacate this winter amid declining defensive metrics.<\/p>\n
(Photo: Erik Williams \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2014 A lineup lacking balance or brawn now has both, bringing the Houston Astros closer to full…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":177995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2084,2382,1266,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-177994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-fantasy-baseball","9":"tag-houston-astros","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115097103501396469","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}