The playoff-hopeful Houston Astros did themselves a favor this week by winning their high-stakes series against the Texas Rangers, but it came at a cost.
The left ankle injury that star slugger Yordan Alvarez suffered in Monday night’s series opener is “pretty significant,” manager Joe Espada said, in a development that could shift the balance of the American League playoff picture.
“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 [it] 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.”
Alvarez, a three-time All-Star, sustained the injury in the first inning of Monday’s 6-3 win when he landed awkwardly on home plate as he hustled to score a run, causing his left foot to roll to a near 90-degree ankle.
The 28-year-old Alvarez immediately exited Monday’s game but had not been placed on the injured list as of Wednesday morning.
The Astros began Wednesday in sole possession of the second American League wild card spot, putting them on track to face the Yankees in the Bronx in the best-of-three wild card round of the playoffs.
Of course, the standings can change dramatically between now and the end of the regular season, which is scheduled to conclude on Sept. 28.
Entering Wednesday, the Astros were a half-game ahead of the Boston Red Sox, who held the third and final wild card position, and were three games in front of the Cleveland Guardians and four ahead of the Rangers, who were both on the outside looking in.
The Astros trailed the Seattle Mariners by a half-game for first place in the AL West.
Nobody is taking the Astros lightly — especially the Yankees, who have been eliminated by Houston in four postseasons since 2015.
But there’s no denying Houston’s lineup looks different without Alvarez in the middle of it.
From 2021-24, Alvarez exceeded 30 home runs in all four seasons, while his .958 OPS over that stretch trailed only Aaron Judge’s 1.056 and Shohei Ohtani’s .984 among MLB hitters.
This year, however, has been a challenge for Alvarez, who missed 100 games from early May until late August due to a hand injury. Overall, the lefty-swinging Alvarez is hitting .273 with six home runs and a .797 OPS in 48 games.
“We need him in there, right?” Espada said. “But there’s other things that we can’t control. It’s a freak accident that happens on a baseball field. That’s not what we need right now, but we do have guys here that understand the situation that we’re in. We’ve got talent. We’ve got guys that want it. We’ve got guys that can fight.”
Alvarez’s injury is the latest for an Astros team that’s been without another big bat in Isaac Paredes since mid-July due to a right hamstring strain. The Astros re-acquired Carlos Correa before the trade deadline to fill the void at third base, but Paredes could return to the Astros before the end of the regular season.
Houston entered Wednesday ranked 21st in the majors in runs scored and was averaging 4.3 runs per game.
