Astros Hoping Yordan Alvarez's IL Stint Gets Him Going After 'He Hasn’t Been the Guy'

Will the injured list stint of Yordan Alvarez get him going for the Houston Astros?

Apr 29, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) reacts after flying out during the sixth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Daikin Park | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros will be without Yordan Alvarez for the foreseeable future after he was placed on the injured list due to inflammation in his right hand, but some could argue the Astros have been without Alvarez this whole season.

Coming into the 2025 campaign, many circled the superstar slugger as an AL MVP candidate.

There was some concern about what Houston's lineup might look like without Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, but there were little worries about what Alvarez would bring to the table.

After all, the worst he's performed at the plate during a full season in terms of OPS+ came in 2021 when he was still 36 points above the league average and bashed 33 homers with 104 RBI.

But Alvarez has looked like a shell of himself thus far.

Through 29 games, his slash line of .210/.306/.340 is the worst of his career in those three key metrics, and his OPS+ of 88 is not only well below his career average of 163, but it's below the league average of 100.

The hand inflammation certainly could have something to do with it, but he wasn't his normal self even without this ailment.

By putting him on the shelf for a bit, the Astros are hoping he can find his past form.

"We gotta get him right, and I think with a few more days of rest, I think it will benefit him and hopefully we get him back by the homestand ... Maybe it has something to do with the hand. I'm not not going to speak for Yordan. I just know that he hasnt been the guy, right?" manager Joe Espada said, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

There's a good chance Alvarez gets red-hot at some point after he returns.

He's too good of a hitter not to get back to his normal averages, even if this slow start prevents him from having an MVP-level performance.

Houston needs that to happen if they're going to contend this year.