Houston Astros hitter Yordan Alvarez felt sick on the field, left the field abruptly and was taken to a local hospital during Friday night’s game against the Braves in Atlanta.
After his team’s 6-2 loss, Astros manager Dusty Baker said Alvarez was experiencing shortness of breath, which was made worse by the smoke in the air after the Braves shot off fireworks at Truist Park.
“He’s being analyzed by the doctors,” Baker said. “They said all his vital signs are fine. He feels normal, but he has yet to see our doctor. He was just short of breath and then when they set off the fireworks the smoke made it worse.”
Alvarez left the game on his own with two outs at the end of the fifth inning. There was a pause in the action when Braves rookie Vaughn Grissom fouled a ball off his foot and was tended to by an athletic trainer.
That’s when Alvarez, who hits .295 with 31 homers and 77 RBIs, made his breakthrough for the Houston dugout.
“I’m glad we got him out in time,” Baker said. “I looked up and he was in the dugout. It was a scary moment. It could be anything. They said he’s fine at the moment.”
Baker said no one in the Astros’ dugout knew that Alvarez, an AL All-Star this year and 2019 Rookie of the Year, was in any dire straits.
“We didn’t see anything,” Baker said. “I just looked in the dugout and it was there. After that we had to take him to the emergency room to find out what was going on and then the ambulance crew came and took him to the hospital.”
Chas McCormick switched to the left as Alvarez left and Mauricio Dubon took over in the middle.
Losing Alvarez, who ranks first in AL on basis percentage and second in home runs, slugging percentage, OPS and runs for any length of time, would be a major blow to Houston. The AL-leading Astros are 77-44 and poised for another deep postseason run. You lost to Atlanta in the World Series last year.
“He’s a big, big part of this team,” Baker said. “He’s our big boy in the middle so we’re not thinking about losing him. We are thinking about getting him back and hopefully he will be fine tomorrow.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.