ATLANTA – Houston Astros left fielder Yordan Alvarez left Friday night’s game and was taken to the hospital after complaining of an illness.
According to the Astros, Alvarez began feeling ill and was evaluated during the team’s game against the Braves.
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After a brief evaluation, Alvarez was transported to an area hospital.
Astros manager Dusty Baker said postgame Alvarez had “shortness of breath,” which was worsened by post-home run fireworks at Truist Park.
“They said all of his vitals are good and he’s feeling normal,” said Baker. “He had shortness of breath, then when they shot the fireworks off, the smoke made it worse.”
Yordan Alvarez left the game due to feeling ill on the field. He was evaluated in the training room and then transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 20, 2022
“I’m glad we got him out when we did because I looked up and he was in the dugout and it was kind of a scary moment because it could be anything, but they said he’s doing fine at the moment.”
Baker said no one in the Astros’ dugout knew Alvarez, an AL All-Star this year and the 2019 Rookie of the Year, was in any distress.
“We didn’t see anything,” Baker said. “I just looked up in the dugout and he was there. After that we had to take it into emergency action to find out what’s wrong and then the emergency crew came over and took him to the hospital.”
Losing Alvarez, who ranks first in AL on-base percentage and second in homers, slugging percentage, OPS and runs, for any length of time would be a big blow to Houston. The AL-leading Astros are 77-44 and primed for another deep postseason run.
They lost in the World Series last year to Atlanta.
“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’re thinking about getting him back and hopefully he’ll be all right tomorrow.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.