The Houston Astros and their fans received a scare when slugger Yordan Alvarez collided with teammate Jeremy Pena while they were each tracking a pop fly during a game against the New York Mets last week. Both Alvarez and Pena immediately fell to the ground, with the team's trainers running out to check on them.
Alvarez had to exit the game via a cart, with Pena walking off under his own power. Both Astros stars reportedly were in the concussion protocol. Pena returned on Friday after undergoing an evaluation. On Saturday, the Astros received some equally good news on Alvarez ahead of their game against the Los Angeles Angels.
Brian McTaggart of MLB.com has the details.
Per McTaggart, Alvarez has been cleared and is in the Astros lineup for their game against the Angels. The towering slugger will be batting third against Angels left-hander Patrick Sandoval.
Ahead of the game, Alvarez spoke to the media for the first time since the collision, revealing some details about the scary incident, via Mark Berman of Fox 26.
“It definitely was scary, especially for Jeremy, because he was running a lot faster than I was. Then when I looked in my glove to try to catch the ball, I was hit in the face which caused me to be dizzy.”
Alvarez said that he was worried for Pena, who was moving faster than he was. The scariest part was that the Astros slugger was immediately dizzy and had a cut on his mouth.
Fortunately for the Astros and their fans, both players ended up coming out of the collision just fine. Now Alvarez, who has bashed 23 home runs this year, can continue what looks like a career year for him.