Astros' Yordan Alvarez Shut Down After Tests on Hand Injury Reveal Fracture

Houston Astros star Yordan Alvarez is not as close to returning as the team thought, as it was revealed on Saturday he was dealing a fracture in his hand.

General manager Dana Brown told reporters Alvarez had imaging done after experiencing discomfort following his batting practice session on Friday that showed a fracture that is "60 percent healed."

There's no definite timetable for Alvarez to return, with Brown noting they hope to have him back "in the near future."

Brown's comments come one day after Astros manager Joe Espada suggested Alvarez could be back in the lineup at some point this weekend after his batting practice session on Friday "went really well."

"He hit some balls out of the ballpark, he hit some balls the other way. He said he felt good, so we’ll see where this takes us. I think this is a step in the right direction," Espada said.

This is the first time it's been confirmed that Alvarez's injury was a hand fracture. He has been out of the lineup since May 2 and was placed on the injured list five days later.

Espada said at the time an MRI revealed Alvarez had a muscle strain in his right hand, with the hope he could return in a short time with rest.

"I think with some rest and some time, he’ll be back here—hopefully swinging the bat by the time we get back home," Espada said. "We got that as good news, so hopefully, we’ll get him going here in the next few days."

It's unclear exactly when the injury occurred. Alvarez was off to possibly the worst start of his career with a .210/.306/.340 slash line and three homers in 121 plate appearances through 29 games.

Alvarez previously dealt with inflammation in the same hand during the 2022 season, but he only missed six games from Aug. 28 to Sept. 3.

Despite not being the AL juggernaut they once were, the Astros have been able to hold serve without their best hitter in the lineup for the past month. Their 31-26 record entering play on Saturday has them in first place in the AL West, just one-half game ahead of the Seattle Mariners (30-26).

From 2021 to '24, Alvarez had .296/.387/.571 slash line and hit more than 30 homers in all four seasons. He finished in the top 10 in AL MVP voting in 2022 and 2024.