After sitting out the first nine games of Grapefruit League play, Yordan Alvarez returned to the Astros lineup and played the first six innings of the Astros 3-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Sunday afternoon.
"He looked pretty good," Astros manager Dusty Baker said. His timing's off, naturally, because he hadn't played, but he made contact, that's the key to spring training, making contact, so eventually you end up knowing where the barrel of the bat is. He came out of it unscathed so I'm happy about that."
Alvarez batted fifth in Baker's lineup and finished 0-for-3 in his first game since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on both knees last August. But after the long rehab process that spilled into spring training, the 2019 American League Rookie of the Year says he is healthy.
"Thank God I feel really good," Alvarez said through an interpreter. "To be honest, it's not part of my thought process, I'm not thinking about my injury, it's in the past, and it's something I don't even have to worry about now because I feel really good, and I've put in the work and recuperated fully."
His first two at bats came against former all stars. He was robbed of a base hit by Nationals centerfielder Victor Robles, who made a diving catch after Alvarez floated a 1-0 Stephen Strasburg curveball into shallow center. His second at bat came against left-handed reliever Brad Hand, and it ended in a fly out to left field.
"I just felt comfortable in the box," he said. "It's been a long time since I've been in a regular game, so just to be in there, feeling comfortable is a really important thing for me and I really don't have anything negative to say about the game today."
Alvarez says he will "supposedly" play in Monday's game against the Miami Marlins, though Baker says he will likely be off until Tuesday, and while he served as the Astros designated hitter on Sunday the plan is to get him some work in the field, both in the outfield and at first base at some point before the start of the regular season, but his bat is what's most important to the Astros success in 2021.
"He is an absolute game changer," Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. said. "If I was waking up and I saw Yordan Alvarez's name in the lineup, you gotta circle it."
Along with Alvarez returning to action on Sunday, Baker Astros bench coach Joe Espada said Alex Bregman will make his spring debut early this week. He's been rehabbing a hamstring strain suffered in January.
