Yordan Alvarez Injury: Could return early next week

General manager Dana Brown suggested Sunday that Alvarez (hand) could be activated from the 60-day injured list at some point during the upcoming weekend, though the 28-year-old is more likely to return when Houston begins a 10-game homestand Aug. 26, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

Alvarez is slated to kick off a rehab assignment with Double-A Corpus Christi on Tuesday, marking the slugger's first game action since he landed on the IL on May 5 due to what was later revealed to be a small fracture in his right hand. Despite being shelved for more than three months, Alvarez isn't expected to require a lengthy rehab assignment. The Astros plan to have Alvarez serve as Corpus Christi's designated hitter Tuesday, take Wednesday off, and then return to the Double-A lineup to play back-to-back games Thursday and Friday. Alvarez will be reassessed after those three games, and while it's feasible that he could rejoin the Astros for the final contest or two of the weekend series in Baltimore, he's more likely to stay behind in Texas before making his return to the Houston lineup early next week. Though Alvarez's power output could be compromised a bit coming off the hand injury, his eventual addition should provide a lift to the Astros offense down the stretch.