Astros get extremely welcome good news from Yordan Alvarez hand injury update

Things haven't exactly gone according to plan in the early going of the season for the Houston Astros. After saying goodbye to stars Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, key acquisitions like Christian Walker have struggled, putting immense pressure on slugger Yordan Alvarez to carry the water offensively.

Unfortunately, Alvarez has not been his usual self this season, batting just .210/.306/.340 on the year before succumbing to a hand injury. The injury raised the panic meter as he hit the injury list, and an unfortunate diagnosis could've cost him a lengthy stint away from the team.

Now the team can breathe a sigh of relief as an MRI delivers the best possible news for the star's prognosis. The perennial MVP candidate was diagnosed with a strained muscle in his hand, avoiding calamity and inspiring confidence that he won't have to spend any more than the minimum 10 days on the injured list.

The Astros need the star slugger Yordan Alvarez back and healthy as soon as possible

In the meantime, the team needs him to return quickly and get back to his customary mashing of baseballs as soon as possible. With the exodus of stars and Alvarez's struggles, the Astros rank just 20th in runs scored with 145 through their first 36 games.

As a result, the team sits at a concerning 18-18. Jose Altuve, now 35, has looked like a player on the decline, watching his OPS plummet from .915 in 2023, to .790 last year, to .662 so far in 2025, while also struggling to adapt to his new digs in left field.

Elsewhere in the lineup rookie phenom Cam Smith has struggled to adjust to major league pitching slashing just .212/.302/.365 while striking out 30.2% of the time, Isaac Paredes has yet to be the monster many envisioned peppering the Crawford Boxes with dingers as he's slugging just .391 on the year.

Houston's rotation has been awesome, led by a Hunter Brown breakout that has the 26-year-old at the forefront of the AL Cy Young race. The bullpen has been even better, ranking third in the majors in ERA with a 2.73 mark.

None of this will matter, however, without the requisite offensive support. If the Astros want to continue their AL West dominance, they're going to need a lot more to stave of the Seattle Mariners who have finally figured out how to hit the baseball and boast one of the most talented rotations in baseball. The upstart Athletics are a threat as well, with their burgeoning young bats blossoming in the hot Sacramento air.

All of this is to say that the Astros desperately need Alvarez back and hitting like his old self as soon as humanly possible. The latest diagnosis is an extremely welcome development and should put the superstar back in the driver's seat of a lineup that desperately needs him very soon, avoiding a potentially calamitous situation.