ATLANTA — Astros outfielder Yordan Alvarez was rushed to an Atlanta hospital after suffering from shortness of breath during the fifth inning of Friday’s 6-2 loss to the Braves.
Alvarez, 25, went wide with two outs in the fifth inning. Manager Dusty Baker said the team didn’t notice anything unusual about Alvarez’s condition until he suddenly appeared in the dugout.
“We didn’t see anything, he just came into the dugout,” Baker said. “We looked up and he was there. What prompted the action was the fact that he came off the field. After that we had to take emergency measures and try to figure out what was wrong. The rescue team came and took him to the hospital.”
Braves head coach George Poulis and a ballpark medic walked across the field and into the Astros’ clubhouse shortly after Alvarez left the field. After the game, Baker said Alvarez remained hospitalized but reported the hitter felt “normal.”
“[The doctors]said all the vitals were fine, but he felt normal,” Baker said. “He still has to see the doctor in the emergency room. He was short of breath. Then when they set off the fireworks, the smoke made it worse. I’m glad we got him out when he did because I looked up and he was in the dugout. That was kind of a scary moment and it could be anything. They said he’s fine at the moment.”
Fireworks are a common sight at Truist Park following a Braves home run or an opponent’s strikeout. Both Baker and catcher Martín Maldonado mentioned the bleak conditions when discussing Alvarez’s exit from the game.
“I didn’t know what was going on. I saw him running off the field and I was like, I don’t know, my husband needs to go to the bathroom or maybe he’s not feeling well,” said starter Lance McCullers Jr.
“Obviously I saw a bit of a scramble in the dugout but I didn’t know if it was because someone was trying to go into left field or what it was for. You get into the dugout and you hear he’s being checked out and had to go to the hospital, it’s scary. We hope he is doing well.”
The Braves had two runners on and McCullers had pitched to Vaughn Grissom when Alvarez left the game. Grissom soiled the offering from his foot and took a moment to shake off the pain.
Before Grissom could go back into the pits, Alvarez had sprinted into the dugout, causing brief chaos while the Astros surveyed Alvarez and found his replacement. Mauricio Dubón, batting from the bottom of the batting cage, quickly found himself pushed into the game.
Baker didn’t want to speculate on how long Alvarez might be absent or if the Astros would need to make a roster change before Saturday’s game. Dubón also ended the game with a bruised left elbow in the sixth inning, leaving Houston very thin in outfield. Both Michael Brantley (shoulder) and Aledmys Díaz (groin) also remain injured.
Alvarez is in the midst of one of the worst slumps of his otherwise wonderful season. He struck twice on the Friday before leaving, bringing his OPS down to 0.613 in the Aug. 56 at-bats. Alvarez finishes this month around 0.214/0.309/0.304, a malaise apparently secondary to Friday’s scary sight.
“I’m not sure what to think, but we have a great medical staff and I saw their coach run across the field with EMS,” said third baseman Alex Bregman. “Hopefully he gets the attention he deserves and hopefully he’s doing well, he’s healthy. We will be thinking about him all day today.”