So it looks like our 1st priority at the trade deadline is starting pitcher, then possibly relief pitcher. Then a left handed OF bat.
We’ve got some possible SP coming back around the deadline. The real problem is trying to get through next 2 months with Gusto/Gordon/Blubaugh types filling half the rotation. I am not sure it’s wise to wait for help,
Yordan Alvarez clearly knew something was still wrong when he took BP. “First of all, the plan was this. We had a plan. Obviously it was to hit against pitchers yesterday. Obviously I agreed with the plan, but I knew I wasn’t well,” he said. 1/ “I knew I didn’t feel well. So I said, ‘If there’s nothing else I’ll have no choice but to go out like this. I told the guys, my teammates, ‘I will play, but I know I’m not well.’ Then I hit against pitchers & said, ‘No, literally, I don’t feel good. … 2/ “‘I cannot go out & play and put up with 3 or 4 games in a row.’ That’s when we decided to do another imaging test & they discovered that (fracture). But the reason they discovered it is supposedly because there’s not as much inflammation in the area … 3/ “And they could see the small fracture.” Alvarez says he’ll keep running and doing all baseball activities other than hitting for a short period. 4/end https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6394793/2025/05/31/yordan-alvarez-injury-astros-medical-history/ … Alvarez has not appeared in a major-league game since May 2. On Saturday, the three-time All-Star acknowledged the injury occurred in a game prior to that date, but Alvarez attempted to play through it “because I’ve played before with pain in my hand.” “I didn’t think it was going to be something big,” Alvarez added through an interpreter. “But I think the fact that I kept playing caused my hand to stress more and caused the small fracture.” The team first described Alvarez’s injury as a muscle strain on the top of his right hand. According to Brown, initial imaging taken May 6 showed inflammation and fluid around the area. After three weeks of rest and ambiguous updates — always with positive undertones — team officials hoped Alvarez could return during this weekend’s series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Two minor-league pitchers flew in from Florida on Friday morning to throw live batting practice against Alvarez at Daikin Park. “It doesn’t surprise me that it was fractured,” Alvarez said. “I knew there was something there on my first MRI with the muscle strain, but that’s what I was dealing with. Time passed, and it was supposed to get better, but it wasn’t like that. I knew I couldn’t go out there and support three or four games out there.” Both Brown and Alvarez said the Astros only took two images of Alvarez’s hand: the one on May 6 and another on Friday evening. It’s unclear why additional imaging wasn’t ordered once Alvarez’s inflammation subsided. Asked whether Friday’s imaging came with Astros’ doctors or an external physician, Alvarez replied, “Both.” Brown acknowledged that Alvarez received a “second opinion through him and his agent.” Alvarez’s agent, Dan Lozano of MVP Sports Group, declined to comment Saturday. “That’s normal in baseball,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of guys that do that and we’re not opposed to it. The beauty is our doctors will always communicate with the doctor (who gives) the second opinion, and we’ll work through it.” The Astros continue to refuse all interview requests for head trainer Jeremiah Randall, claiming the sport’s collective bargaining agreement prevents it. Still, the Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins and Athletics are among teams that make their medical staffs available in either informal or on-the-record settings. The Detroit Tigers issue a formal injury report twice a week. On Saturday, Houston opted for its head of baseball operations to deliver a radiology lesson. “I think part of the problem is twofold: You don’t see the calcium or callus buildup until five weeks or so, and that’s part of the problem,” Brown said. “When you do these imagings and you have so much fluid and inflammation, it is very, very difficult to diagnose it. Even with multiple opinions, it’s very difficult to see.” Both Brown and Alvarez acknowledged that swinging a bat within the past week may have exacerbated the injury, inviting wonder as to why Alvarez did so in the first place. “I was in agreement with that plan, but I knew something wasn’t right,” Alvarez said Saturday. “But there wasn’t anything more to show after the first MRI. When I first hit off the pitchers yesterday, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to play three or four games straight, and that’s when we decided to do the MRI again.” Three years ago, former general manager James Click called into question the team’s “return to play procedure” after admitting Jake Meyers was rushed back from a shoulder injury. Click promised a review, but got fired before it could be conducted. Perhaps it would behoove Brown to begin one of his own. He already acknowledged rushing pitcher J.P. France back from a shoulder injury last spring. Luis Garcia still hasn’t appeared in a major league game since undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2023. Lance McCullers Jr. had several setbacks while recovering from flexor tendon surgery. Asked if he is concerned about how Houston’s medical staff has handled his injury, Alvarez said he is not. “Because maybe I should have said something before that I wanted another study,” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “But I didn’t do it because that was the first thing that came out. It got to the point where I wanted to do another study and that’s what we did.”
The Astros' management of injuries is horrendous. Not only are they secretive, but there appears to be a measure of incompetence. Hand injuries are not like brain surgery. Their diagnosis and treatment should not be as convoluted as described.
I don't ever need to see him pitch again. He's basically useless, they might as well let Altuve pitch and save a roster spot.
