Alvarez improving but timeline to return uncertain

HOUSTON -- Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez, who suffered a sprained right knee sliding into second base in Sunday’s game against the Angels and hasn’t played since, said Tuesday his condition was improving, but he still has some significant progress to make before returning to the field.

Alvarez addressed reporters at Minute Maid Park prior to the game against the Mariners for the first time since he was injured. He said the knee is still inflamed and he lacks mobility, but he’s able to walk easier than he was on Monday.

“Time is just the biggest thing now,” he said. “We need the inflammation to go down and time is the only thing that’s going to allow that to happen.”

The Astros don’t have much time, with the regular season set to end on Sunday. Astros manager Joe Espada said postgame Monday that Alvarez wouldn’t play in the final two games against the Mariners. The Astros needed to win just one of those games to clinch the American League West, which would allow them to shut Alvarez down for the rest of the regular season.

The attention would then turn to whether Alvarez would be available for the start of the AL Wild Card Series on Oct. 1.

“We just need to give him some time and see how he feels the next couple of days,” Espada said.

Alvarez underwent arthroscopic surgery on both knees in August 2020 after suffering knee problems the first two years of his career. He had a slight tear of the patellar tendon in his right knee, which was repaired. On July 6 in Minnesota, Alvarez was struck on the right knee by a 94-mph Joe Ryan fastball and knocked to the ground and missed one game.

Alvarez is wrapping up another standout season at the plate, having hit .308 with 35 homers, 34 doubles and a .959 OPS through 147 games. He has 53 multi-hit games, which are the most by an Astros player since Michael Brantley had 56 in 2019. Alvarez went 4-for-5 with a home run and a double in Saturday’s win.

He was injured on a third-inning double Sunday when he jammed his knee into the ground on a slide.

“I knew something had happened,” he said. “I had a lot of pain there. The news wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”