Yordan Alvarez’s standing is the most important query mark dealing with the Astros because the postseason begins, however supervisor Joe Espada stated Alvarez will take batting observe tomorrow. “That’s a very good signal. Simply the truth that he’s in a position to hit and rotate and do stuff {that a} couple days in the past I assumed he wasn’t going to have the ability to do in a matter of days,” Espada informed reporters, together with Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle.
Alvarez hasn’t performed since struggling a knee sprain whereas sliding on September 22, and it appears attainable that the Astros may not tip their hand about his availability till Tuesday morning, once they should launch their rosters for his or her AL Wild Card Sequence with the Tigers. Ready till the relative final minute makes it tougher for the Tigers to organize, and it additionally offers Alvarez and the Astros as a lot time as attainable to judge the star slugger’s knee well being.
Outfielder Chas McCormick may be one other late roster determination, although MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart writes (X hyperlink) that McCormick took dwell batting observe in the present day and is ready for one more dwell BP session tomorrow. McCormick has been sidelined since September 10 as a consequence of a fracture in his proper hand, however has been in a position to participate in different baseball actions over the previous week.
Extra from the AL West…
- Recurring shoulder issues despatched Josh Sborz to the injured record 4 completely different instances this season, and restricted the Rangers reliever to solely 17 video games and 16 1/3 innings. Sborz informed Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning Information that he’s going to seek the advice of Dr. Neal ElAttrache about the issue, and whether or not or not surgical procedure may probably be required. “For me, not having any understanding of it’s what’s killing me essentially the most,” Sborz stated. “You get damage, you wish to perceive it so you’ll be able to mitigate the chance of it coming again. I’d prefer to get readability, however the crappy factor about shoulders is there isn’t a whole lot of readability.” Surgical procedure and a prolonged restoration may flip Sborz right into a non-tender candidate for the Rangers as he enters his second 12 months of arbitration eligibility, which might be a tricky consequence for a pitcher who was a key a part of the Texas bullpen in the course of the 2023 postseason. Sborz earned $1.025MM this season, and is due only a minimal increase due to on a regular basis spent on the IL.
- Brandon Drury hit solely .169/.242/.228 over 360 plate appearances for the Angels this season, with a 34 wRC+ that was by far the worst of any participant within the majors with at the least 350 PA. Migraines and a few nagging accidents performed a job in these struggles, however Drury informed Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that some swing modifications final offseason would possibly’ve been the most important offender, as his makes an attempt so as to add exit velocity backfired badly. All of it added as much as a tough platform 12 months as Drury enters free company, and the 32-year-old may need to accept both a minor league contract or a small assured deal heading into his eleventh MLB season. Assuming Drury figures issues out together with his offseason prep, there’s seemingly some good bounce-back potential, as Drury hit a really stable .263/.313/.493 over 1179 PA from 2021-23.
