ASTROS NEWS
Astros will retire Billy Wagner's No. 13 in honor of his induction into Hall of Fame
Feb 5, 2025, 11:52 am
Billly Wagner's number will be retired. Photo by Jed Jacobson/Getty Images.
Houston Astros all-time saves leader Billy Wagner will have his jersey number retired, an honor that coincides with his induction into the Hall of Fame, the team announced Tuesday.
Wagner's No. 13 will be the 10th number retired by the Astros during a ceremony Aug. 16. He'll be inducted July 27 in Cooperstown with Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, Dave Parker and Dick Allen.
Wagner, a three-time All-Star, saved 225 games for the Astros from 1995-2003. The hard-throwing lefty finished fourth in 1999 NL Cy Young Award voting after recording 39 saves in 42 opportunities and recording a 1.57 ERA with 124 strikeouts and 35 hits allowed in 74 2/3 innings. Opponents batted just .135 against him that year.
Wagner was traded to Philadelphia in 2003, and he went on to save 197 games for the Phillies, Mets, Red Sox and Braves before he retired in 2010.
Christian Walker, who signed with the Astros in December and had planned to wear No. 13, will switch to No. 8.
A timely blast from Caratini fuels another Astros win
Jul 1, 2025, 11:32 pm
Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has experienced a setback in his recovery from a broken right hand and will see a specialist.
Astros general manager Dana Brown said Alvarez felt pain when he arrived Tuesday at the team's spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he had a workout a day earlier. Alvarez also took batting practice Saturday at Daikin Park.
He will be shut down until he's evaluated by the specialist.
“It’s a tough time going through this with Yordan, but I know that he’s still feeling pain and the soreness in his hand,” Brown said before Tuesday night's series opener at Colorado. “We’re not going to try to push it or force him through anything. We're just going to allow him to heal and get a little bit more answers as to what steps we take next.”
Alvarez has been sidelined for nearly two months. The injury was initially diagnosed as a muscle strain, but when Alvarez felt pain again while hitting in late May, imaging revealed a small fracture.
The 28-year-old outfielder, who has hit 31 homers or more in each of the past four seasons, had been eyeing a return as soon as this weekend at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now it's uncertain when he'll play.
“We felt like he was close because he had felt so good of late,” Brown said, “but this is certainly news that we didn't want.”
You can watch Brown discuss the setback in the video below.
#Astros GM Dana Brown has the latest on Yordan Alvarez who will see a hand specialist tomorrow
We'll discuss on @astros Pregame before tonight's game with the Rockies starting at 7PM on SCHN pic.twitter.com/7hyIFL9jah
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) July 1, 2025
Also Tuesday, the Astros officially placed shortstop Jeremy Peña on the 10-day injured list with a fractured rib and recalled infielder Shay Whitcomb from Triple-A Sugar Land.