The Astros have placed outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez on the 10-day injured list with right hand inflammation, retroactive to May 3. Catcher César Salazar has been recalled to take his spot on the active roster. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com was among those to relay the news.
The hand issue doesn’t come out of nowhere, as Alvarez missed the club’s last two games due to that inflammation. It’s unclear how much time the Astros expect him to miss but he wasn’t immediately placed on the IL, so perhaps they just want to give him a bit of a rest. By backdating the transaction, he can be back in just over a week.
Hand inflammation has been an issue for him in the past. He dealt with soreness in both hands in 2022 and he did once go on the IL that year, though it was around the All-Star break, so he only missed a few games. Hand soreness also hampered him a bit in Spring Training 2023.
He still put up massive numbers in those seasons but 2025 has been a struggle. It’s unclear if he’s been battling the hand problems all year but he has a .210/.306/.340 line and 79 wRC+ through 121 plate appearances. That’s partly due to a .222 batting average on balls in play but his hard hit rate and barrel rate are also down compared to previous seasons. He carried a .298/.390/.583 career batting line and 166 wRC+ into the season, so this year’s production has been a massive drop-off.
The Astros will surely be hoping to get him back to that previous kind of offense after this IL stint. The one silver lining of not having Alvarez around is that it opens the designated hitter spot for other uses. The recall of Salazar gives the club three catchers and perhaps suggests that they will use the DH spot to get their backstops more plate appearances.
Victor Caratini has been drawing walks at a 12% clip this year, leading to a .233/.340/.372 line and 112 wRC+. Yainer Diaz doesn’t have a good line for the entire year, hitting .221/.250/.365 thus far for a 73 wRC+, but that’s mostly due to a horrendous start. He had a dismal .061/.139/.061 line through April 8th but has hit .296/.306/.507 for a 130 wRC+ since then.
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images