Latest Yordan Álvarez injury questions bring both concern and cautious optimism

The one player the Houston Astros absolutely cannot afford to lose to injury is Yordan Álvarez. Álvarez is far and away Houston's best hitter and is a huge reason why the Astros were able to turn their 2024 season around at all. Replacing him at this point of the season (or ever) would be an extremely tall order.

Unfortunately, the Astros were faced with the real prospect of having to do just that this week. On Friday, Álvarez woke up with pain in his neck and it kept him out of three games over the weekend. While Álvarez did return for Monday's game against the Phillies, concerns with his neck will remain until he shows he is 100% again, especially given what the Astros have been through this season.

Yordan Álvarez's neck injury is reminding Astros fans a little bit of Justin Verlander's IL saga

In Álvarez's return to the lineup against Philly, he went 1-for-4 in the walk-off loss. Again, no particular cause for concern there -- even when Mauricio Dubon replaced him in left late in the game, as that is just good defensive gameplanning. The guy can't hit multiple nukes every night, and playing in the field is already dicey under the best of circumstances.

However, neck injuries are very spooky, especially when they just pop up out of nowhere. They can affect everything about how a guy moves, and can range from "gone in a couple days" to "linger until the end of time". Álvarez being considered well enough to play is a plus, but some caution is basically a requirement, considering how many issues Houston has had with getting guys healthy again.

In fact, one reason why Álvarez's injury is so spooky is because of another neck injury that caused the Astros all sorts of headaches this season. Justin Verlander was scratched from a start with a seemingly minor sore neck, and he ended up missing over two months of the season. The circumstances are different between the two, and no two athletes are the same (especially given Verlander's age), but keeping an eye on Álvarez's production in the coming days and weeks feels very wise.

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