Astros' Alvarez improving, but return to lineup not yet set

HOUSTON -- Slugger Yordan Alvarez is feeling better after spraining his right knee this weekend but isn't sure when he'll be able to return.

"I wish I knew what was going to happen in the next few days or had a vision for what was going to happen in the next few days," the Houston Astros star said in Spanish through a translator. "But we need to wait for the inflammation to go down and then we can go from there."

Alvarez was injured sliding into second base on a double in the third inning Sunday. On Monday, manager Joe Espada ruled Alvarez out for the rest of the series against the Seattle Mariners, which runs through Wednesday.

The Astros lead the AL West and need a win over the Mariners to clinch the division for a fourth straight season.

Alvarez, who plays left field and is often the team's designated hitter, said he was much less sore Tuesday than he was the day after he was injured.

"Today, I can walk better," he said. "Yesterday, I wasn't able to put much weight on the knee. Today I can put a lot more weight on that leg, so I definitely feel better."

But he's still struggling with mobility because of swelling in his knee.

"I really can't do much right now," he said. "Inflammation obviously is still there and I can't even turn my knee right now."

Espada was asked if there was a possibility that Alvarez could be available off the bench if he isn't ready to play a full game this weekend when the Astros wrap up the regular season with a series at Cleveland.

"It would be great to have Yordan off the bench," Espada said. "It would be great to have Yordan in some capacity. But we ... just need to give him some time and see how he feels the next couple of days."

Alvarez leads the Astros with .308 average, 35 home runs and 86 RBIs.