HOUSTON -- Three weeks after getting Yordan Alvarez back after he missed 100 games while recovering from a broken bone in his hand, the Astros are now facing life without their star slugger for an undetermined amount of time.
Astros manager Joe Espada said Tuesday that Alvarez suffered a “significant” sprain of his left ankle while scoring in the first inning of Monday’s 6-3 win over the Rangers. Espada wouldn’t put a timetable on a possible return -- Alvarez was not immediately placed on the injured list -- but with only 11 regular-season games remaining, it would seem far-fetched that he could return.
Espada said Alvarez was in a walking boot on Tuesday and is getting treatment. Alvarez wasn’t available for comment.
“This is going to keep him out for a while,” Espada said. “Let’s not get into days, weeks, any of that. We are going to take one day at a time, but this is going to take some time to heal. We don’t have that many days left in the regular season. He’s in [the clubhouse] getting some treatment, getting work done. Hopefully he’s not out for a long period of time.”
In 19 games since coming off the injured list on Aug. 26, Alvarez hit .369/.462/.569 with three homers and nine RBIs while splitting time between left field and designated hitter. He had back-to-back four-hit games against the Yankees earlier this month and had been crushing the baseball.
The Astros can slide Jesús Sánchez, Ramón Urías, rookie Zach Cole or one of their catchers into the DH spot. Jose Altuve has started 42 games at DH this year, but there’s no replacing Alvarez’s power threat.
“I’m not asking them to put the Yordan Alvarez hat on,” Espada said. “I want them to be themselves. I want them to be the best versions of themselves, and if we do that, we’re going to find ourselves competing and doing everything we can to win the division.”
Alvarez’s loss comes at a critical juncture of the season and underscores what’s been a frustrating Astros season, filled with impact players losing chunks of time because of injuries. In addition to Alvarez, the Astros lost three key members of their starting rotation -- Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski and Spencer Arrighetti -- early in the season, though Arrighetti returned to make five starts in August before suffering elbow inflammation.
Three of Houston’s four 2025 All-Stars -- shortstop Jeremy Peña, third baseman Isaac Paredes and closer Josh Hader -- missed time with injuries. Peña was out 27 games in July with a rib fracture, Paredes has been out since July 19 with a hamstring strain and Hader since Aug. 11 with a shoulder capsule strain.
“We have put ourselves in a really good spot and we have missed a lot of our star players, and that speaks highly of the guys we have here, the young players who have worked really hard to do the work they’ve done to help us be in this position,” Espada said. “These players know, this team knows, what it takes.”