AL WILD CARD SERIES: TIGERS VS ASTROS

October 2, 2024

Yordan Alvarez

Minute Maid Park

Houston Astros

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Hey, Yordan, are you in the lineup today?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: Yes, sir.

Q. How are you feeling overall? If you could, could you put, like, a percentage on how your knee feels and how you're able to be out there right now?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: I think at this moment, it's not really about percentage. I think the adrenaline you get when you go out and play, the adrenaline is what's getting me going right now, getting me out there.

Q. Will you avoid trying to slide? Or, obviously, yesterday looked like you couldn't run at your top speed. What kind of restrictions do you have right now?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: I think the biggest thing right now is just to limit things that could cause damage or cause pain to the knee. But I was speaking to the medical staff, obviously. Whatever happens out there, happens. If it gets to a moment where I need to slide, the adrenaline, I might just do it and not really think about it too much.

Q. Yordan, are you wearing a brace or a wrap or something on your knee when you're playing?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: Yes.

Q. Does it restrict you by wearing it?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: No. I think it helps a ton. I think it helps a ton. Yesterday, I didn't really feel any pain whatsoever. And I think it's definitely helping.

Q. My follow-up was going to be, did playing yesterday make it feel worse?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: No.

Q. Could you tell us how much work you did with the training staff to be able to play and play awfully well yesterday, and how good did it feel to take those swings and produce seemingly like there's not a problem?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: It was a long week. Long week of a lot of work, a lot of exercises and physical therapy just to strengthen the knee, making sure the knee is as strong as possible.

Obviously, a lot of people didn't expect me to play yesterday. I always stayed really positive I was going to be able to play. When I was in the cage, I took some swings, was able to lean on my leg and felt really good.

Q. One more knee question. Are you feeling any pain in your knee when you run? You say you feel adrenaline. Is there any pain there?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: No, not really. Not really, there isn't any pain right there at the moment. A lot of the worriness comes from what the images showed what I had there in the knee. But right now, no pain.

Q. Yordan, this is the most you'd played in the big leagues this season, most games you had played. You had to play a lot of left field in September. How were your knees feeling before the Angels game?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: Excellent. I think since I had the surgery in 2020, I really haven't had anything with my knees, any pain or anything whatsoever. Obviously, this is part of just getting hit there, hitting myself there. But before that, didn't really have any pain.

Q. You mentioned moments ago about a lot of people didn't know or had the doubt whether or not you were going to play. On a personal note, how was that balance? How did you handle that balance that you want to be out there, but also just being safe with your health?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: Honestly speaking, I think the first three days, I really didn't see myself playing. Obviously had a lot of inflammation. After that, with the rest, the treatment, the inflammation went down. Then after that, that was kind of when the shift happened, I was like, okay, I can play.

Q. Yordan, you guys' record this year, when you got out to an early lead was significantly better than obviously when you had to come back. How much of an onus, at the top of the order, do you put on yourself to set the tone and let the other guys work?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: You know, it's one of those things that really didn't think about. Actually didn't even know until you mentioned it just now. I think all of us, everybody tries to just go out there and control what they can control.

Obviously, we try to go out there and try to get out to an early lead, but we don't feel that that's something we need to do to be able to win the game.

Q. Just wanted to follow up. Did you say you were worried by the results of the imaging on your knee?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: I wasn't worried. I think the medical staff was worried when I said that I can play after what they saw with the imaging. But I feel a lot better.

Yeah, I was worried the first two days because of inflammation. But after that.

THE MODERATOR: Yordan, thank you.