The Astros have spent almost the complete season lacking the celebrity model of Yordan Alvarez, first as a result of the 28-year-old slugger struggled throughout March and April after which as a result of he missed almost 4 months as a consequence of a fractured metacarpal in his proper hand. He heated up upon returning to the lineup in late August, however on Monday night time he sprained his left ankle, an damage prone to sideline him for the remainder of the common season and maybe longer. He’s not the one American League star whose greatest hope for returning to the lineup is in the course of the playoffs, as Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette has been dominated out for the remainder of the common season with a sprained ligament in his left knee.
Alvarez suffered his damage within the first inning of Monday night time’s recreation in opposition to the Rangers in Houston. He adopted Jeremy Peña’s leadoff single by drawing a stroll in opposition to Jack Leiter. Carlos Correa then hit a weak comebacker towards the mound; Leiter tried to throw whereas on the bottom however airmailed the ball far past the attain of first baseman Jake Burger. Peña scored simply as Adolis García retrieved the ball, however the best fielder’s throw residence was almost in time to nab Alvarez, who as an alternative of sliding went in standing up, solely to slide on residence plate. He instantly started limping, needed to be helped into the dugout, and didn’t return to the sphere — he began in left discipline — when the half-inning ended. As an alternative, proper fielder Jesús Sánchez shifted to left and Zach Cole entered the sport in proper. Cole, who homered off the Braves Hurston Waldrep in his first main league plate look on September 12, hit his second homer off Leiter within the fifth inning of what turned out to be a 6-3 win.
“When he stepped on residence plate, I had a front-row seat,” Peña stated after the sport. “His ankle form of twisted, and when he needed to plant once more, I noticed it twist once more. And it’s not fairly. You don’t wish to see that, particularly Yordan Alvarez. We’d like him.”
You may see video of the play in query right here, however you’re by yourself if you wish to search out the nonetheless shot of Alvarez’s leg bending in ways in which it shouldn’t. Colleague Dan Szymborski invoked Stretch Armstrong in his piece on the groups most impacted by accidents this 12 months, which ought to provide you with an concept.
Alvarez, who left Daikin Park on crutches and in a strolling boot, underwent an MRI on Tuesday. Supervisor Joe Espada referred to as the sprain “fairly vital,” however didn’t say whether or not the Astros would put him on the injured record or supply a timetable for his return.
“That is going to maintain him out for some time,” Espada advised reporters. “Let’s not get into days, weeks, any of that. We’re going to take someday at a time, however that is going to take a while to heal.”
“It’s a Grade II [sprain], I’m advised by a trusted supply, and that the swelling was speedy and likewise vital,” wrote Will Carroll at Below the Knife. “Not a excessive ankle sprain, however a normal one and even on the low finish of the usual return time, Alvarez can be into the playoffs. It’s usually a three-to-six-week quote for this, and his case has issues,” referring to Alvarez’s damage historical past, which incorporates his lacking all however two video games in 2020 as a consequence of arthroscopic surgical procedure on each knees.
That’s a major blow for the Astros (84-69), who slipped previous the Mariners (83-69) and into first place on Wednesday by finishing a three-game sweep of the Rangers in Houston, clinching their season collection within the course of. As I famous in Wednesday’s take a look at the playoff image, Houston led the division by 3 1/2 video games as of September 5 however misplaced floor to the Mariners, who received 10 straight, by going 6-4 throughout that span. Seattle’s streak lastly got here to an finish with a loss to the Royals on Wednesday night time.
Timing-wise, the Wild Card spherical begins on September 30, two weeks from this previous Tuesday, with the Division Collection on October 4, nonetheless contained in the three-week best-case-scenario window. The ALCS is scheduled to start out on October 12, and the World Collection on October 24, with the latter date simply shy of six weeks from the purpose of the damage.
Alvarez hit simply .210/.306/.340 (74 wRC+) earlier than touchdown on the IL on Could 5 with what was initially identified as a muscle pressure in his proper hand. In late Could, after his rehab suffered a setback, the staff — which could be the majors’ most tight-lipped in relation to specificity about accidents — revealed that he had truly fractured his fourth metacarpal, however that the bone was 60% healed. He suffered one other setback in early July, and solely returned to the lineup on August 26. In 78 plate appearances since returning, he hit .369/.462/.569 (183 wRC+) with three residence runs, although he entered Monday in a 2-for-18 droop after a scorching 21-for-40 stretch.
Elite hitters don’t develop on timber, because the Astros had been reminded throughout Alvarez’s earlier absence, which Szymborski estimated because the majors’ single most impactful by way of 2025 WAR (3.3), with the Astros main the majors at 17.6 misplaced WAR as a consequence of all of their accidents, which have been notably heavy on the pitching facet. Even together with Alvarez’s 32 video games as a delegated hitter, the staff’s DHs have mixed for an 85 wRC+ (.227/.291/.383), the fifth-worst mark within the majors. Jose Altuve has been the best DH fill-in, hitting .268/.332/.484 (124 wRC+) in 211 plate appearances there whereas giving the Astros protection a lift along with his absence, as his metrics at each second base and in left discipline are brutal. Espada has additionally relied closely on whichever catcher isn’t beginning behind the plate that day, however each Victor Caratini (.180/.261/.290, 55 wRC+ in 115 PA as a DH) and Yainer Diaz (.206/.240/.258, 34 wRC+ in 104 PA as a DH) have fared poorly in that capability. Alvarez himself DH’d in simply 9 of the 19 video games he performed after returning, manning left discipline for 9 as properly and pinch-hitting as soon as. As with DH, left discipline has been a sore spot for the Astros; their gamers at that place — together with Altuve in 45 video games — have hit a mixed .230/.309/.359 (86 wRC+), the final of which is the majors’ seventh-lowest mark on the place. For his or her two video games since Alvarez’s damage, each in opposition to righties (Merrill Kelly and Jacob deGrom), Diaz and Caratini break up the DH and catcher duties, with Altuve at second, Sánchez in left and Cole in proper.
Whereas Espada might transfer the items round, Cole is the almost certainly beneficiary of elevated taking part in time in Alvarez’s absence. The lefty-swinging 25-year-old, whom the staff drafted out of Ball State College within the Tenth spherical in 2022, hit a mixed .279/.377/.539 (151 wRC+) with 19 homers and 18 steals in 82 video games at Double-A Corpus Christi and 15 at Triple-A Spherical Rock earlier than being referred to as up in late August. In his first six video games within the majors, he’s hit a scorching .333/.429/.667 (201 wRC+) in 21 plate appearances, but in addition struck out seven instances.
These strikeouts are a problem for Cole. Simply earlier than the All-Star break, Eric Longenhagen graded Cole as a 35+ FV prospect primarily based on reservations about his hit software, which he assigned a gift worth of 30 and a 35 FV (different shops concur). Longenhagen was extra impressed by Cole’s operating (60) and throwing (70). Right here’s the report:
Cole barely performed in his first two years at Ball State earlier than breaking out sufficient as a junior to earn a Tenth-round choice. Now he’s pushing 25 and threading the needle of being too toolsy to not be intriguing, however too unrefined to challenge him to actualize his plus uncooked pop. Lithe and long-levered, Cole has the vary to play a satisfactory middle discipline and the cannon to be a defensive asset in proper. He has a superb eye, big-time juice, and sufficient loft to go away the yard in any course. However it is a lengthy swing with extraneous motion and an imprecise barrel. Cole is repeating Double-A and likewise repeating his 38% strikeout price from final 12 months, pushed largely by in-zone whiff. Such a flawed hit software doubtless resigns Cole to being an up-and-down fifth outfielder kind, however the kind who has an unbelievable feat of power or two combined in between all of the whiffs.
Cole did decrease his strikeout price to 35.1% by the point he was referred to as up, however that’s nonetheless alarmingly excessive. Even so, it’s not out of the query that the occasional knock can offset these woes, at the least for the quick time period.
As for Bichette, he sprained the posterior collateral ligament of his left knee on September 6, when he collided with Yankees catcher Austin Wells whereas being thrown out on the plate within the sixth inning. He completed the sport, however an MRI taken a few days later revealed the sprain, and so he was positioned on the IL retroactive to September 7. The Blue Jays didn’t supply a timeline for his return at that time.
On Monday, the 27-year-old shortstop acquired a second opinion on the knee from Dr. Dan Cooper in Dallas. “Together with double-checking the analysis, Bichette and the Blue Jays needed to look forward on this damage to guarantee that his eventual rehab would come with none extra dangers or hindrances,” wrote MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson.
The follow-up “confirmed what the primary [diagnosis] was, which is only a sprain to his knee and nothing additional required,” stated supervisor John Schneider on Tuesday. “It’s relaxation and rehab, then getting again as quickly as he can.” Towards that finish, Bichette received’t play once more in the course of the common season however may resume baseball exercise later this week.
After a dismal 2024 season through which he hit .225/.277/.322 (70 wRC+) and was restricted to 81 video games as a consequence of a proper calf pressure and a fractured proper center finger (a season-ender sustained a day after his return from a two-month IL stint), Bichette has hit a strong .311/.357/.483 (133 wRC+) with 18 homers and three.7 WAR. He’s a pending free agent, and whereas this would be the fourth time previously six seasons through which he’s helped Blue Jays attain the playoffs, they’ve but to win a single postseason recreation on his watch.
With Bichette out, the Blue Jays have shifted Ernie Clement and Andrés Giménez — each robust defenders at second base — to shortstop, generally pairing the 2 and different instances utilizing Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Davis Schneider at second. They’re keen to think about using Bichette as their designated hitter earlier than he’s able to play protection; primarily based on this 12 months’s metrics at the least (-12 DRS, -10 FRV), that’s no nice loss. Such a configuration would shift the stress on the protection by pushing George Springer again to the outfield; he’s began 32 video games in proper, 9 in left, and eight in middle, in comparison with 79 at DH. His defensive metrics haven’t been good (a mixed -8 DRS, -7 FRV), notably in proper, however he at the least offers the Blue Jays a wide range of choices.
“In an ideal world, if [Bichette] can come again and play quick, nice,” Schneider stated earlier this week. “With how he’s shifting, it appears to me that hitting can be a little bit bit in entrance of all the things else…. if we will get his bat again, hell yeah, I’ll take that.” The supervisor believes Bichette’s athleticism will assist him adapt his swing, as Matheson summarized:
Bichette is thought for the large, athletic leg kick, however he additionally has an easier strategy the place that entrance toe stays on the bottom. Bichette’s swing is as versatile as anybody’s in baseball, so if the ability isn’t going to come back from his lead leg, it may come from the torque of his physique and fast palms. If nothing else, it’s value a strive.
Whereas the Astros stay in a dogfight for a playoff spot, the Blue Jays have comparatively easy crusing for the remainder of the common season. At 89-63, they’ve four-game leads over the Yankees (85-67) within the AL East and the Tigers (85-67) for the league’s prime seed; they received their season collection in opposition to each groups (8-5 in opposition to the Yankees, 4-3 in opposition to the Tigers), giving them an additional cushion if issues begin to go sideways. The additional few days produced by profitable a bye can solely assist Bichette.
Because the playoffs strategy, it’s notably unsettling when star gamers go down. We wish to see groups compete for the championship at full power as an alternative of getting their probabilities considerably affected by accidents. Sadly, our bodies don’t all the time cooperate towards that finish, and whereas each the Astros and Blue Jays are placing courageous faces on these accidents, with quick collection looming, it’s completely doable we received’t get to see far more of what Alvarez and Bichette can do.