The Houston Astros just have not been able to catch any breaks whatsoever with injuries. Jose Altuve missed two months before returning, and they are still waiting for Michael Brantley to get healthy. And now, the Astros got a concrete timeline on slugger Yordan Alvarez, who is out for 4-6 weeks, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

‘Tough news for the Houston #Astros, who were without Jose Altuve for 2 months, still don’t have Michael Brantley, and now are without MVP candidate Yordan Alvarez for 4-6 weeks, targeting late July.'

Alvarez was recently placed on the 10-day IL but now is expected to be out for at least a month, and his return could come in late July if he ends up being out the full six weeks. Alvarez has been playing well, hitting .277 with 17 home runs and 55 RBI for the Astros, so losing this productivity will be another crushing blow to the team.

In other news, the Astros are hoping Brantley can return, although he suffered a somewhat scary incident in the batting cage recently. Nonetheless, being without Alvarez is going to be difficult, and the Astros are still a few games behind the Texas Rangers for first place in the American League West.

Yainer Diaz and Jose Abreu seem like the likely candidates to fill in as designated hitter for Alvarez in his absence, and Abreu finally clubbed his first home run of the season. All in all, the Astros might look to add a bat on the trade market if they want to sustain in the AL West and make a run at another AL pennant.