Season-ending knee surgery for Yordan Alvarez could spell doom for Astros

MLB: Texas Rangers at Houston Astros

It appears that the 2020 Major League Baseball season is over for Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez of Las Tunas, Cuba. According to ESPN on Wednesday, Alvarez will have season-ending knee surgery which will repair a tear in his right patella tendon.

Alvarez missed the beginning of the season because he tested positive for coronavirus. He then returned to the Astros lineup on August 14 in an 11-1 Astros win over the Seattle Mariners, and hit a three-run home run in the first inning, and then brought home a run after being hit by a pitch in the sixth inning. Then on August 15, Alvarez hit a run batted in single in a 2-1 Astros win over the Mariners.

In 2020, Alvarez batted .250 with two runs scored, two hits, one home run, four runs batted in, one hit by pitch, a .333 on base percentage, and a .625 slugging percentage. This was Alvarez’s second season in Houston after winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 2019. Last season with the Astros, Alvarez batted .313 with 27 home runs and 78 runs batted in. During 313 at bats, he scored 58 runs, and had 98 hits, 26 doubles, 52 walks, a .412 on base percentage, .655 slugging percentage, 205 total bases, two times hit by a pitch, and two more sacrifice flies.

There is no doubt that the Astros are the most controversial team in 2020 due to the penalties the franchise received from the recent cheating scandal, and now they will be out with a key bat in their batting order. Alvarez had been hitting in the middle of the Astros lineup, fifth and fourth respectively, each time behind Astros all-star third baseman Alex Bregman of Albuquerque, NM.

Despite Alvarez out of the lineup, the Astros are red hot at the moment, as they are winners of nine of their last 10 games. They are currently at 15 wins and 10 losses, and two and a half games back of the Oakland Athletics for first place in the American League West.

 

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