At 47-27, the Houston Astros have one of the best records in baseball, and a big lead in the AL West. The last thing they want is to lose an important player to injury, and Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field (GameTracker), two key Astros had to exit the game after a collision in shallow left field. Shortstop Jeremy Peña and left fielder Yordan Alvarez ran into each other chasing a pop up.
Here's the collision, which didn't look too bad live, but did force Alvarez and Peña to leave the game. Alvarez was carted off -- he did get to his feet and walk to the cart under his own power -- and Peña was removed after initially trying to stay in. Third baseman Alex Bregman and second baseman Aledmys Díaz called the trainers out to look at Peña.
Peña's forearm slammed into Alvarez's head and Peña's head snapped back hard when he hit the ground. The Astros have not yet announced an update on Alvarez or Peña, and both figure to go to concussion tests, among other things. Alvarez was alert as he was carted off the field.
Alvarez is simply a monster and one of the best hitters in the world. He took a .321/.415/.667 batting line and 23 home runs into Wednesday's game -- a 2-0 Astros win. Alvarez leads baseball in slugging percentage, OPS (1.081), and OPS+ (206). The last thing the Astros want is to lose him for any length of time.
As for Peña, the rookie has seamlessly replaced Carlos Correa, and owns a .275/.329/.465 batting line with nine home runs. Alvarez (3.7) and Peña (2.9) are both top 11 in wins above replacement among American League position players.
