Astros All-Star outfielder Yordan Alvarez placed on IL with oblique injury

Houston, TX (KPLC) - The Houston Astros will be without arguably their best hitter as Yordan Alvarez has been added to the Astros’ 10-day injured list with right oblique discomfort.

We have placed OF Yordan Alvarez on the 10-day IL (right oblique discomfort). He will return to Houston for further evaluation.
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 9, 2023

Alvarez, who currently leads Major League Baseball with 55 RBIs, left Houston’s June 8th game against the Toronto Blue Jays after grounding out in the first inning. After the game reporters caught up with Alvarez and he said he felt pain when he swung and missed at the first two pitches in his only at-bat.

This is now the second injury to a star batter that the Astros have had to deal with this season, as Jose Altuve also missed the first 44 games of the season with a broken right thumb.

Yainer Diaz is expected to take over as the Designated Hitter for the Astros, and Houston also made the move to call up catcher Cesar Salazar from Triple-A Sugar Land.

Alvarez has put up numbers that rank at the top of the league through 57 games as he holds a batting average of .272 and is tied for fourth in MLB with 17 home runs.

At a minimum, Alvarez will miss at least 10 days, but the expectation is that it could possibly extend past that timeframe depending on how the muscle heals.