Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez is dealing with an illness during the American League Championship Series against the Texas Rangers.
Alvarez is in the lineup as the designated hitter and batting fourth for Monday's Game 2 of the best-of-seven series. But he struggled mightily in Houston's 2-0 home loss on Sunday by going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Amid reports Alvarez is dealing with a virus, Houston manager Dusty Baker downplayed the situation.
"He's fine," Baker said at his pregame press conference. "He's better today than he was yesterday."
Baker said players -- as well as regular people -- often perform their job duties when they are less than 100 percent.
"Like I was telling somebody yesterday, as a responsible man, a family man, you go to work, you know?" the 74-year-old Baker said. "And I never saw my dad in the bed ever sick, and I'm sure he was sick. And sometimes as a man you just go to work."
Alvarez, 26, batted .293 with 31 homers and 97 RBIs in 114 regular-season games while making the AL All-Star team for the second time. It was his third straight 30-homer season.
Alvarez starred in the AL Division Series against the Minnesota Twins, belting four homers in four games and batting .438 with six RBIs in 16 at-bats.
More must-reads: