Astros refute Yordan Álvarez injury update from unlikely source with encouraging news

Houston Astros fans have had a lot of reasons to celebrate lately, but there's been a lot of people worried about injured slugger Yordan Álvarez and wondering when he's going to return to the lineup.

Unfortunately, Álvarez's mysterious hand injury has not only robbed the Astros of their best hitter, but it's also made Houston's lineup extremely right-handed heavy. That's already caused some problems and has forced Dana Brown and the Astros front office into a league-wide search for lefty help.

It was assumed that Alvarez was going to return soon, but he suffered a setback during his time in Florida as he was building back up during his rehab. That, of course, raised concerns that he would be out for much longer. Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart seems to have just confirmed that Alvarez suffered a torn ligament in his hand and won't be swinging for at least six weeks.

As to how that news was kinda confirmed, it was anything but typical.

Whispers that Astros DH Yordan Alvarez has a torn ligament in his hand are spreading rapidly

McTaggart simply reposted the above X post from Matthew Aucoin, and there hasn't been any confirmation it beyond that. It's entirely possible that McTaggart was only reposting it as a curiosity or potential development and nothing more. All that's really revealed is that Astros fans seemingly ran into Alvarez on a flight, shared a picture of him on a plane wearing a brace on his wrist, and added a specific explanation of the injury itself.

However, this account seems to be on the level — no FAX Sports shenanigans we can see — and the account is a bit too specific to be a hoax in all likelihood. The fact that McTaggart felt compelled to spread it to the masses gives at least some credence to the authenticity of the news.

The plot thickened a bit later on Thursday when the Astros put their own version of events out there for public consumption which McTaggart also sent out into the world. While the Astros' statement technically doesn't completely rule out a torn ligament, it does seem to run counter to the narrative from the initial post and it paints a significantly rosier picture of Alvarez's situation.

Frankly, Astros fans probably should have expected some sort of bad news at this point. Houston had to completely shut Alvarez down after he experienced pain in his hand earlier this week meant that bad news was inevitable.

At the moment, it doesn't seem like Alvarez will undergo surgery or, if he already has, the timetable isn't completely disastrous. For Astros fans looking for a silver lining here, there is at least that and one hopes that Houston's optimism is well-placed.

More Astros News from Climbing Tal's Hill