Astros' Alvarez has sore hand, won't take BP for a few days
Houston Astros All-Star Yordan Alvarez has a sore left hand that will keep him out of batting practice for a few days in spring training.
Alvarez told reporters on Tuesday that soreness in the hand was an issue at times last year and continued to “flare up a bit at times” during the offseason.
Despite the soreness, Alvarez hit .306 with 37 homers and 97 RBIs and finished third in the AL MVP voting for the World Series champion Astros.
Speaking through a translator, Alvarez said he told team officials about the sore hand when he reported to camp.
“It's just something we're going to monitor,” said Alvarez, a native of Cuba. “I felt a little bit of discomfort but it's something we're going to monitor and work on. I'm going to take the next couple days off here like I did in the offseason and prepare but it's not something that's going to be an issue during the season.”
Alvarez had only three hits in the World Series, including a 450-foot, threerun homer that powered the Astros to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the decisive Game 6.
BIG YEAR FOR BELLINGER >> Cody Bellinger is getting a fresh start with the Chicago Cubs, and manager David Ross said the twotime All-Star has a “good energy about him.”
“He feels really good. He talks it. He hit an absolute missile yesterday in the live BPs down on the back fields,” Ross said. “It was nice to see . ... It's a big year for him and he's got something to prove, but it's not a pressure-type thing. It's just like I want to go out there and play baseball and can't wait to get started.”
The 27-year-old Bellinger spent his first six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning the NL MVP award after he batted
.305 with 47 homers and 115 RBIs in 2019. But he hasn't been the same since that monster performance, hitting just .210 last year with 150 strikeouts in 144 games.
Bellinger signed a $17.5 million, one-year deal with Chicago in December, and Ross said the center fielder is working on adjustments at the plate.
FRANCONA'S JITTERS PROVE PAINFUL >> Even after all these years, Terry Francona gets nervous before delivering the first speech of spring training to his players.
This season, it came with a price for Cleveland's manager.
Francona broke a tooth while preparing to speak to the Guardians in Goodyear, Arizona. Because he wanted to work on his remarks, Francona skipped dinner with his staff on Monday night to prepare. He made some pasta, but it was undercooked.
“It was frozen at the bottom and I broke part of my tooth,” he said following his speech. “At first I didn't think I did. Then I started chewing and said, `That tastes awful.' Not only did I swallow the
tooth, I chewed it.”
Then, when he arrived at the team's facility, Francona spilled coffee over his speech.
DONALDSON DOINGS >> Yankees manager Aaron Boone fully expects a comeback season for third baseman Josh Donaldson.
The 37-year old former AL MVP hit .222 last season, 43 points under his career average. He finished with 15 homers and 62 RBIs in 132 games.
“First of all we're talking about a great player,” Boone said. “This has been a star player, and consistently for a long time. He's not far removed from 2021 where he was still a wrecking ball” GUEST REQUIRES MEDICAL HELP >> A guest of the Pittsburgh Pirates required emergency medical attention after suffering cardiac arrest while fielding fly balls on a practice field.
Ernie Withers, 69, was shagging balls at the team's spring training complex when he had “a medical event” that required immediate attention and caused practice to stop.
Jacki Dezelski, president
of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce in Bradenton, Florida, confirmed Withers is a member of her group which sometimes is invited to attend practices and retrieve balls near the fence during batting practice. `WILD THING' NUMBER CHANGE FOR STRIDER >> Atlanta Braves right-hander Spencer Strider has changed his number from 65 to 99 for his second season.
The hard-throwing Strider finished second to teammate Michael Harris II in the NL Rookie of the Year voting and then plotted a uniform number change. He was inspired by the hard-throwing fictional star of the baseball movie “Major League.”
“Picking your jersey number in baseball to me has always been something of importance and my favorite movie is Major League and I like Rick Vaughn, so I see some similarities between Wild Thing and myself,” Strider said.
Strider, 24, was signed to a $75 million, six-year contract after posting an 11-5 record and 2.67 ERA in 31 games, including 20 starts.