Knee injury ends year for Astros’ Yordan Álvarez, 2019’s top rookie

DENVER — Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Álvarez, last season’s AL Rookie of the Year, will miss the rest of the season because of a partially torn right patellar tendon that requires surgery, manager Dusty Baker said Wednesday.

Álvarez hit 27 homers in 313 at-bats last season but appeared in just two games this year. He missed Houston’s summer camp and the first three weeks of the season while recovering from the coronavirus.

Álvarez made his season debut on Friday and homered against the Seattle Mariners. He played again Saturday but was scratched from Sunday’s lineup because of the knee injury and placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday.

“We expect a full recovery,” Baker said. “It’s better that it happens now for spring training because he has between now and spring training to heal.”

Former Gonzaga first baseman Taylor Jones was recalled from the Astros’ alternate training site to take Álvarez’s place on the roster.