Houston Astros Slugger Yordan Alvarez Late Scratch

Yordan Alvarez was a late scratch from the lineup for the Houston Astros on Friday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Alvarez was in the original lineup, but that may have been wishful thinking as he is still dealing with a wrist injury that has been hampering him since before the All-Star break. The Astros have a 10.5-game lead in the American League West and a six-game lead over the New York Yankees for the best record in the American League and thus home-field advantage in the playoffs. There is little to no reason for them to rush Alvarez back into the lineup until he is 100% healthy. They should just be focused on getting him ready for the playoffs.

Saturday’s game may give us our pitching matchup as the Astros will start Luis Garcia while the Los Angeles Angels will counter with their ace, Shohei Ohtani. The Astros are -200 (+1.5) on the run line and +102 on the money line, with an over/under of eight, over (-110), and under (-110). You can find the odds and props for this game and every other at the FanDuel Sportsbook.