MLB insider praises Astros' slugger amid reported illness: "A sick Yordan Alvarez is still better than a healthy everyone else"

Color Jeff Passan thoroughly impressed with Yordan Alvarez. The prolific slugger entered Game 2 battling an illness and was not a guarantee to play. He exited with yet another impressive postseason performance. It caught the eye of top MLB insider Jeff Passan.

After the first blast, Passan took to X to share his thoughts:

"A sick Yordan Alvarez is still better than a healthy everyone else. He just hit a missile off Nathan Eovaldi: 109 mph off the bat, 420 feet into the right-field stands. Rangers 4, Astros 1."

Passan was understandably impressed that Alvarez, who was undoubtedly a bit weakened by the illness he was battling, demolished a Nathan Eovaldi offering into the right field seats. He followed it up by cutting the deficit to one with another solo blast later in the game.

Unfortunately, it didn't matter. The Houston Astros could not mount the comeback and fell by that lone run. They now face a 2-0 deficit.

In Game 1, the Texas Rangers dominated the slugger. Alvarez was hitless with three strikeouts against Jordan Montgomery, who became the first person to do such a thing to Alvarez in the playoffs.

The sick Alvarez bounced back in a big way. Now, he needs his team to do the same as they face a shocking two-game deficit and head on the road for the next three.

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Yordan Alvarez can't do it all

Yordan Alvarez has been responsible for half of the Houston Astros runs. Through two games, they have scored four and Alvarez hit two solo home runs. He needs some sort of help if they're going to reverse course and get back to the World Series.

Yordan Alvarez smashed two home runs in Game 2

Several Astros are struggling, so they will need to follow Alvarez (2/7 so far with a walk and two home runs) and start hitting the ball better. That's no easy feat as the Rangers will send Max Scherzer and Jon Gray to the mound after they've come back from injury.