Astros shutting down Yordan Alvarez in brutal injury swerve

Yordan Alvarez’s nightmare season just hit another turn for the worse.The Astros are shutting down Alvarez again after an MRI exam showed a “very small fracture” in his right hand that is only “60 percent healed,” general manager Dana Brown told reporters. Alvarez, who hit .210 with three home runs through his first 100 at-bats of the season, hasn’t played since May 2.It was originally thought that the former American League Rookie of the Year and three-time All-Star was dealing with a muscle strain and that rest would cure the inflammation and fluid in his hand.Progress was made, and it appeared that he was days away from coming off the injured list before he took live batting practice on Friday.

But that proved to be false hope.“Even up until (Friday), he felt like, ‘Wow, this feels really good,’” Brown said.“We were trying to get him back for this weekend actually because he said he felt too good.

Part of the reason why he felt so good was because a lot of the inflammation and fluid was gone.”Alvarez’s batting practice “looked pretty good,” but he “still felt a little bit of discomfort,” afterward, Brown said.The Astros entered Saturday leading the AL West despite Alvarez’s minimal contributions and extended absence.He is going to have to get really hot whenever he returns to reach 30 home runs for the fifth consecutive season.No timetable for recovery was shared, but Alvarez said through an interpreter that he has played before with pain in his hand.“He is going to be back in the near future,” Brown said.

“I think it could be soon because it’s started to heal and he’s actually feeling better.But with Yordan, and the force of the swings that he takes, he probably felt it a little bit, and that’s why we got the extra imaging.”...