Alvarez doing it right in left field
DETROIT — Willi Castro covers 28.4 feet per second when he sprints, more than a foot per second above major league average and good enough to be the fourth-fastest member of a miserable team that can’t score. The Detroit Tigers have no choice but to be aggressive. No lineup in baseball produces fewer runs. Chances to cross home plate come so infrequently that, when they do, it can prompt panic.
In the third inning of another awful offensive showing Monday night, Castro broke for third base after Javier Báez bounced a single through the infield. Third-base coach Ramón Santiago did not hesitate to wave Castro home. Yordan Alvarez sprinted in two steps and secured the baseball.
“Yordan is way better in left field than what people think,” catcher Martín Maldonado said. “He’s got a good arm. He takes pride in his defense. I feel like every time he gets the opportunity to play out there, he does something special.”
All of Alvarez’s momentum carried him forward. The slugger finished a seamless glove-tohand transition and uncorked a throw toward Maldonado. It bounced twice and forced Maldonado to adjust. The veteran catcher corraled it, applied the tag and appeared dumbfounded that plate umpire Cory Blaser called Castro safe.
Alvarez waited in left field while replay review overturned the incorrect call. The ruling cemented Alvarez’s seventh outfield assist of the season, tying him for fourth among all major league left fielders
Each of the three men with more has played at least 985 innings and started 113 games. Alvarez started his 49th game in left field Tuesday. His appearance Monday pushed him across 400 defensive innings. He entered the season with 385 total across his first three major league seasons.
“I think some people are surprised that I’m able to play there in left field, especially since I came up as a designated hitter,” Alvarez said Tuesday through an interpreter. “I think I’m changing some people’s minds that I can play there every day.”
Since Michael Brantley’s season-ending shoulder surgery last month, Alvarez has morphed into the closest thing Houston has to an everyday left fielder. His 49 starts there lead the Astros.
Alvarez has started 15 of the 30 games since the trade deadline, part an indictment on Trey Mancini’s defense and part a reward for Alvarez’s continued transformation into something more than just a designated hitter.
“That was the label I think I had coming up to the majors, but since day one when I made it to the majors, I was playing with my knees bothering me, which also carried to the following year,” Alvarez said. “After having surgery, now I feel healthy, and I can play in left field every day now.”
Manager Dusty Baker’s best defensive outfield still includes Chas McCormick in left field, Mauricio Dubón in center and Kyle Tucker in right, but the team’s meager run production has required a lineup that includes both Alvarez and Mancini.
Defensive metrics are conflicted about Alvarez, but they are finicky by nature. For example, Alvarez is worth negative-five outs above average, according to Baseball Savant. Of the 35 left fielders with at least 75 chances, only four are worth fewer.
Both Sports Info Solutions and FanGraphs, meanwhile, measure Alvarez’s worth six defensive runs saved.
His arm is his most obvious asset, but Alvarez plays with enough range and awareness to make most of the routine plays hit his way.
“Alvarez has worked extremely hard on his defense,” Baker said. “He told me that last year. He throws almost every day to some base or another, and he’s really, really accurate. As an outfielder, accuracy is far more important than arm strength. You have to have arm strength, but accuracy is number one.”
Utilityman returns after stretch on IL
The Astros activated utilityman Aledmys Díaz from the injured list prior to Tuesday’s game against the Tigers and inserted him back into the starting lineup — hitting him seventh as the designated hitter.
Houston optioned J.J. Matijevic to Class AAA Sugar Land to clear a space on the active roster.
Díaz missed 23 games after injuring his left groin in midAugust. He finished 2-for-12 during three minor league rehab games with Class AAA Sugar Land.
“It’s great to have him back,” manager Dusty Baker said. “(We’re) going to break him in slowly. He has to get his stroke, and hopefully, we’ll find a couple spots to play him in the field … We have to get him right, because he’s a big part of this team.”
Reliever activated after elbow injury
The Astros activated lefthanded reliever Blake Taylor off the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Class AAA Sugar Land.
Taylor hasn’t pitched in a major league game since June 3, when he exited with a left elbow issue. Taylor had a setback during his recovery but finished a minor league rehab assignment this week without incident. The 27-year-old southpaw threw 11⁄3 innings for Class AAA Sugar Land on Sunday — his longest outing since the elbow injury.
On Tuesday, Baker intimated Taylor is still in consideration for the postseason roster and optioning him is a chance to test Taylor out in games he wouldn’t get in at the major league level. The team has one lefthander in its major league bullpen — deadline acquisition Will Smith. Smith entered Tuesday’s game on an eight-inning scoreless streak.
Houston designated Taylor Jones for assignment to clear a space.
Sugar Land tops Salt Lake in 10
Alex De Goti drove in Scott Manea with a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning as host Sugar Land beat Salt Lake 4-3.
The Space Cowboys’ Korey Lee hit his 23rd home run of the season.