Alvarez’s time as DH won’t end till Baker says so

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Despite Yordan Alvarez’s continued work in left field and his long-stated desire to play some defense, the Astros are “not in a real hurry” to play the slugger anywhere but designated hitter, manager Dusty

Baker said Sunday. “I’m not in a real hurry, but I see him working out there,” Baker said before Sunday’s series finale against the Rays. “I think we’ve got to get a little deeper in the season. He’s working out there, but he has one speed. He’s kind of a one-speed guy unless he has to turn it on on the bases. I haven’t seen him turn it on in the outfield.”

Alvarez needed two stints on the COVID-19 injured list in April, once as a close contact to a positive test before an unspecified two-day absence this past week. He still has slugged .550 during his first 84 plate appearances, with 11 extrabase hits. Alvarez has struck out 21 times.

“In my mind, he’s not right yet stroke-wise,” Baker said. “He’s hitting the ball out of the ballpark a lot in batting practice, but he’s not doing it in games yet. He’s had a bunch of near misses. It’s hard to be 100 percent May 1, stroke-wise. The more reps he gets, I anticipate him getting hotter.”

Alvarez’s value to the Astros is almost exclusively his bat, but some defensive innings would allow Baker more flexibility in writing his lineups. Aledmys Diaz is working in left and right field as a backup option, but freeing the designated hitter spot for an occasional half-day for veterans like Michael Brantley, Yuli Gurriel or Jose Altuve would provide long-term benefits.

“I’m obviously always working on my swing, and I’m also working on being more confident in my swing decisions and making that decision when to swing and when not to swing,” Alvarez said Sunday through an interpreter. “(There’s) no specific plan with Dusty right now (to play defense). I think we talk about it a lot. Dusty understands what it feels like to be coming off a surgery and still building up.”

Home runs have been missing

If Yordan Alvarez’s home run Sunday seemed rare, it was. He had not hit one in 48 at-bats. It was only Houston’s third home run in the last seven days. The team has just 27 long balls in 28 games, confounding for a lineup that contains names like Alvarez, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve.

Three of those four players have missed time due to health and safety protocols. Correa has played all but one game but lamented Friday that he’s gotten few inside pitches to elevate on the pull side.

Pitchers seem to be attacking him away with breaking pitches, forcing Correa to settle for opposite-field singles and doubles more regularly than he’d like. Fifteen of his 30 hits have gone to the opposite field — and Correa is insistent that isn’t part of his plan.

Correa hasn’t homered in 26 at-bats. Altuve hasn’t homered in 40 at-bats.

The Astros entered Sunday’s game as one of 11 teams with fewer than 30 home runs. Other than to ascribe it to normal, earlyseason struggles, manager

Dusty Baker had no obvious answer for the anemia.

Baker did point to the abundance of lefthanded starters early in the season and their styles as perhaps a factor. In 28 games, the Astros have faced 17 southpaw starters. Alvarez’s home run Sunday came after Rich Hill left in favor of righthander Michael Wacha.

“It’s tough hitting homers off lefties,” Baker said. “I didn’t think there were that many lefthanded people in the world. Now it seems like there are lefties everywhere. Things go in cycles. Sometimes you can’t find a lefty. Other times, there’s lefties everywhere.

“Most of them aren’t power pitchers. Most of them keep you off-balance, which is where most of your power comes is staying on balance. I think that has a lot to do with it.”

Odds and ends

General manager James

Click said on the Astros’ pregame radio show that he expects reliever Enoli

Paredes (side) to return during the 10-game homestand that begins Friday. Paredes, who went on the injured list April 9, was scheduled to throw a oneinning simulated game Sunday at Corpus Christi. … Austin Pruitt is “a little bit behind” Josh James in their respective rehabilitations, Click said. The team is tentatively targeting early June for James’ return from offseason hip surgery. Pruitt is on the 60-day injured list after undergoing elbow surgery in September. … Click said he does not expect starter

Jake Odorizzi (right pronator muscle strain) to require a minor league rehab assignment. Odorizzi threw off flat ground Sunday in Tampa and is eligible to come off the injured list May 6.