WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Astros outfielder Yordan Alvarez thought manager Joe Espada was joking when the skipper told his best run producer that he wanted him to hit second in the batting order.

“I would just chuckle and laugh,” Alvarez said through interpreter Jenloy Herrera.

After a few more conversations about hitting second, Alvarez started to realize that Espada was serious.

“Espada would mention [hitting second] here and there, and I just never took it seriously. I thought it was a joke until I got to the point where I asked, ‘Are you being serious about this?’ [Espada] said, ‘Yeah, I am,’” Alvarez remembered.

During his five-year career in the Major Leagues, Alvarez has mostly hit third or fourth. He has hit second in the order in only three games, going 2-for-8. Espada is trying to maximize the strength of the lineup. Alvarez would be hitting behind leadoff hitter Jose Altuve.

“I’m trying to put our best hitters on top and try to give them opportunities to come to the plate more often,” Espada said.

In fact, during a 10-3 loss to the Nationals on Tuesday afternoon, Alvarez went 1-for-2 with a walk from the No. 2 spot in his first game of the spring.

“They were good,” Espada said about Alvarez’s at-bats. “He hit the ball hard up the middle.”

Alvarez is all for hitting behind Altuve.

“Hitting behind Altuve doesn’t feel like you are hitting second in the lineup, because he has hit third in the past,” Alvarez said. “It still feels like you are hitting fourth. But with him, he is a guy that likes to swing quickly, so I have to get out there and get ready to swing quickly as well. Let’s try it. Nothing is going to change. I’m going to have the same approach. The batting order is just a number.”

Alvarez’s goals are the same as they were the previous five years: win a World Series and stay healthy. The 26-year-old missed 39 games from June 9 to July 26 last season because of right oblique discomfort.

“I’m trying to strengthen some of the things that I have had issues with in the past. That’s the goal. Just trying to get stronger,” Alvarez said.