Alvarez makes spring debut
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Yordan Alvarez’s Grapefruit League debut Thursday arrived with seven days to spare before the Astros’ March 30 opener. The Astros wanted Alvarez to take three at-bats and hit him leadoff so he could get them quickly.
In the bottom of the first, Alvarez stepped in against Washington righthander Trevor Williams. Alvarez watched two pitches before pouncing on the third. The baseball traveled to dead center field and into a strong wind. A sparse crowd roared. Nationals center fielder Victor Robles backed onto the track and secured it.
Alvarez had an almost identical fly out in the third, sending Williams’ 0-2 offering to the base of the center-field wall. He struck out looking in his third at-bat on a borderline pitch to finish a productive — if even uneventful — spring debut.
“I felt good,” Alvarez said through an interpreter following Houston’s 5-4 win. “I thought I was going to be a little more lost at the plate without seeing pitchers for a couple months. But (both fly outs) felt pretty good, and it feels good knowing the season is coming.”
The exact nature of Alvarez’s hand ailment remains unknown. Similar problems plagued him last season, even if the statistics don’t suggest it. Alvarez struck 37 home runs, slugged .613 and secured a third-place finish in American League MVP voting. He made his first All-Star team, too. Earlier this spring, Alvarez acknowledged he might have to manage hand pain all season. The Astros seem more than willing to accommodate that.
Few players in baseball can handle high-level major league pitching with limited spring training at-bats or in-season interruptions. Manager Dusty Baker mentioned Dick Allen and Benito Santiago as two from his past who could.
“But that’s rare,” Baker said. “(Alvarez) is rare anyway, so we’ll see. I was telling someone on the bench, man, if he hits this first ball out … If it wasn’t for the wind, it would have probably
gone out. That was a pleasant surprise. Shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was pleasant.”
Alvarez will work in the batting cages Friday and is scheduled to play again Saturday against the Nationals.