Astros Boss Will Not Pin Down Superstar’s Return from Injured List

The return of Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez is still a significant matter of discussion going into the Athletics series.

Apr 27, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Houston Astros outfielder Yordan Alvarez (44) hits a home run during the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

At some point, Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez will return from the injured list. But manager Joe Espada won’t be pinned to a timeline.

It’s been nearly a month since the Astros put Alvarez on the 10-day injured list with a right hand muscle strain. Given that Alvarez needs his hand at full strength to hold a bat, getting the injury fully healed is vital.

But Alvarez was eligible to come off the injured list on May 13. The hope was that he would only need the minimum 10 days to return. He’s now two weeks past that timeline.

In an interview with MLB.com last week, he said the hand had gotten “a lot better” but that the long recovery was “very frustrating.”

The Astros host the Athletics on Tuesday.

Will Yordan Alvarez Play Against Athletics?

Both MLB.com and The Athletic attempted to pin down a timeline for Alvarez, with The Athletic asking if the designated hitter could be ready to play sometime against the Athletics.

Espada didn’t provide a timeline.

"I'm not going to box him in like that,” he said. “We're going to wait until he feels like he's ready to go, but I'm not going to put a specific day or game or anything like that."

MLB.com provided a progress report on Alvarez over the weekend, a report that read much like several of Alvarez’s last injury updates.

"He continues to progress,” Espada said. “He ran, he hit, he's doing all the baseball activities. Waiting for... Once he feels like he's ready to go, we'll get him in there."

Before the injury, Alvarez was mired in a month-long slump to start the season. He slashed .210/.306/.340 in 29 games with three home runs and 18 RBI. It’s a far cry from his production of the past three season, each of which led to All-Star Game selections.

Houston could use his 162-game average slash of .295/.387/.573 and something resembling the 41 home runs and 119 RBI he averages per 162 games.

He’s also capable of producing in a season when he loses a month due to an injury, such as 2023. He only played 114 games that season but slashed .293/.407/.583 with 31 home runs and 97 RBI.

Houston enters play on Tuesday at 28-25 and 1.5 games back of the Seattle Mariners in the American League West, where the top four teams are separated by fewer than five games.

A return from Alvarez could boost the Astros’ hopes of winning the division once again.