Tough News for Astros As Yordan Alvarez Shut Down From Swinging Indefinitely

When Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez first went down to a hand injury on May 3rd, it was called "inflammation." Now, 28 days on the injured list later, he's been diagnosed with a fracture in that hand, and has been shut down from swinging a bat indefinitely.

Yordan Alvarez had more imaging done yesterday and it revealed a fracture that is 60% healed. He will be shut down from hitting.
— Julia Morales (@JuliaMorales) May 31, 2025

The revelation came after Alvarez took batting practice on Friday and noticed more discomfort in his hand. He went for imaging, and they found a fracture that is 60% healed.

"We had a plan," he told the media on Saturday. "Obviously, it was to hit against pitchers yesterday. Obviously, I agreed with the plan, but I knew I wasn’t well.

"I told the guys, my teammates, ‘I will play, but I know I’m not well.’ Then I hit against pitchers and said, ‘No, literally, I don’t feel good. I cannot go out and play and put up with three or four games in a row.’ That’s when we decided to do another imaging test and they discovered (the fracture). But the reason they discovered it is supposedly because there’s not as much inflammation in the area."

Alvarez said he's cleared to do running and other baseball activities aside from swinging.

Of course, swinging a bat is what the Astros' DH (and part-time outfielder) does better than just about anyone in the game. With a career batting average of .295 and an OPS of .959 (163 OPS+), Houston can ill-afford to do without Alvarez for very long.

He was off to a slow start this season, batting just .210 with only three home runs in 29 games, but perhaps the hand issue was contributing to that.

It's unknown when the 3-time All-Star will return.