Yordan Alvarez injury update is a massive blow to Astros' postseason chances

If we learned anything from Yordan Alvarez's lengthy injured list stint with a hand injury this season, it is that the Houston Astros lineup is not nearly as fearsome without him in it. It took a good bit of luck and an inexplicable Jake Meyers hot streak for the Astros survive without Alvarez and even then, the offense was not anywhere near as explosive as they once were. When Alvarez came out swinging upon his return, there was hope that Houston would return to form just in time for the playoff run. Now, those hopes are out the window.

When Alvarez hurt himself crossing home plate on Monday, fans quickly expected the worse. We didn't know exactly how bad his ankle sprain was, but we did see how quickly he pulled up lame after crossing the plate. Subsequent camera angles showing Alvarez's ankle bending in ways that one's ankle shouldn't bend only added to the concern.

Those concerns proved to be rather founded. Before the Astros' matchup against the Rangers on Tuesday, manager Joe Espada declined to put an exact timeline on Alvarez's return. However, what Espada did say is that Alvarez has a "significant" ankle sprain and is going to be out "for a while".

Yordan Alvarez's "significant" ankle sprain threatens to derail Astros' playoff ambitions

There is no silver lining here beyond the fact that Houston has at least beaten the surging Rangers for two straight games. At this stage of the season, any injury is going to threaten a player's availability in the postseason. Given how Espada was talking about Alvarez's ankle, the odds that we see him again at all in 2025 are very low and may require a deep playoff run from Houston to even be possible.

The bigger problem is that the Astros are not guaranteed a postseason spot right now. Beating Texas twice this week has certainly helped the cause, but Seattle has won 10 straight games thanks, in part, to Cal Raleigh putting together the season of his life. Houston has also moved up to the second AL Wild Card spot, but they still have just a three game cushion for that spot and both the Guardians and Rangers are lurking with 10 games left in the season.

As things stand, the Astros are still favored to make it to the 2025 playoffs and that is great. However, unless Alvarez defies the odds and/or has a miraculous recovery over the next couple of weeks, Houston faces the very real possibility of another quick postseason exit.

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