KANSAS CITY -- Astros infielder/outfielder Marwin Gonzalez remains day to day with a left hand contusion. He originally sustained the injury while sliding into a base about 10 days ago and aggravated it sliding into second and third base in the sixth inning during Monday's 7-3 win against the Royals.
"It's feeling pretty sore, but it's nothing bad," said Gonzalez, who left Monday's game in the eighth inning. "It's just a hand contusion. I am going to be available for the game. I'm not going to [start] today, obviously, and maybe not tomorrow either, to get some rest. I'm going to try to go out to the cage today and have some swings during the game, as well as tomorrow."
Gonzalez has ordered a protective guard that he plans to put on his left hand to help absorb some of the shock when his hand hits the ground while sliding feet first into a base. He said he's also toying with the idea of sliding headfirst.
"I've been sliding kind of too hard the last two weeks," he said. "I did it [Monday] two times. I'm going to get some protection, too. We're going to order a pad and it's going to come in the next few days. I'm going to try to slide headfirst, something different, to avoid that."
Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Gonzalez, a switch-hitter, told him on Monday that it bothers his right-handed swing more than his left-handed swing. The contusion is on the meat of the palm of his hand, where the knob of the bat nestles during his swing.
"I know he's sore and we're going to get him a guard to protect his hand when he slides," Hinch said. "We'll see how it feels holding the bat or if we can put something on his bat to alleviate some of the stress. We feel good that he's avoided a bigger injury, but he may need a day or two."
Gonzalez entered Tuesday hitting .314 with 12 homers and 34 RBIs, and he had reached base in 27 consecutive games in which he started since April 22. He's hitting .389 with nine doubles, nine homers and 28 RBIs in that span. He leads the team in OPS at 1.044.