Yordan Alvarez’s standing is the most important query mark going through the Astros because the postseason begins, however supervisor Joe Espada mentioned Alvarez will take batting apply tomorrow. “That’s a very good signal. Simply the truth that he’s capable of hit and rotate and do stuff {that a} couple days in the past I believed he wasn’t going to have the ability to do in a matter of days,” Espada instructed 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 doable that the Astros may not tip their hand about his availability till Tuesday morning, after they should launch their rosters for his or her AL Wild Card Sequence with the Tigers. Ready till the relative final minute makes it more durable for the Tigers to arrange, and it additionally provides Alvarez and the Astros as a lot time as doable to judge the star slugger’s knee well being.
Outfielder Chas McCormick is likely to be one other late roster resolution, although MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart writes (X hyperlink) that McCormick took stay batting apply in the present day and is about for one more stay BP session tomorrow. McCormick has been sidelined since September 10 as a result 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 listing 4 completely different instances this season, and restricted the Rangers reliever to solely 17 video games and 16 1/3 innings. Sborz instructed 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 might probably be required. “For me, not having any understanding of it’s what’s killing me probably the most,” Sborz mentioned. “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 variety of readability.” Surgical procedure and a prolonged restoration might flip Sborz right into a non-tender candidate for the Rangers as he enters his second yr of arbitration eligibility, which might be a tricky end result for a pitcher who was a key a part of the Texas bullpen through the 2023 postseason. Sborz earned $1.025MM this season, and is due only a minimal elevate 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 task in these struggles, however Drury instructed Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that some swing adjustments final offseason would possibly’ve been the most important perpetrator, as his makes an attempt so as to add exit velocity backfired badly. All of it added as much as a tough platform yr 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 along 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.