Houston Astros Injured Slugger Deemed Franchise 'Cornerstone Player'

The Houston Astros are once again proving that they still are a contender in the American League with a great start to the season.

After what was a wild offseason for the Astros, it was fair to believe that the team was going to be taking a step backward. Houston lost two of their best players Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman, who were fixtures in their success.

Even though they are going about it in a slightly different way, the Astros are winning games and battling for first place in the AL West.

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So far, Houston has been led by one of the best bullpens in baseball. The bounce-back campaign from Josh Hader has helped lead what has been a strong group. Furthermore, even though the starting rotation has dealt with some injuries, the team still done well.

With the franchise still finding ways to contend, there is a good amount of talent still in the organization leading the way.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez being the cornerstone player for the franchise.

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“Between his slow start and the subsequent discovery of a fracture in his hand, though, maybe it ought to be Altuve in this spot. Either way, the ranking probably doesn't change, and Alvarez has plenty of season left to get healthy and anchor another October run," he wrote.

While the recency bias is against him, Alvarez has been one of the best hitters in baseball for quite some time now.

Unfortunately, he got off to a slow start this year, which has contributed to the overall struggles of the offense. Furthermore, he has been on the injured list for quite some time, but the former AL Rookie of the Year has been a key member of the lineup for many campaigns now.

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For the last three seasons, the slugger has been an All-Star in the AL, but that is a streak that will likely be coming to an end this year.

However, even though he has gotten off to the worst start to a campaign in his career, there is plenty of reason to believe he will be an elite hitter when he does return.

With an OPS over .900 for the last three seasons, Alvarez has proven to be one of the best in the game.

In terms of being the cornerstone of the franchise, he is certainly their best hitter when healthy, but does have an emerging star in the rotation in Hunter Brown that is going to be giving him a run for his money for this title.

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