When Will Yordan Alvarez, Kodai Senga, Aaron Nola Return? Fantasy Baseball Injury Update

June 18, 2025

When will Alvarez, Senga, and Nola return and play? Will Alvarez, Senga, and Nola be back again this season? Read the latest fantasy baseball injury updates and return date for Week 12 of the 2025 MLB season.

As the first half of the 2025 campaign rolls on, fantasy managers have had to deal with a slew of notable players spending time on the injured list. Houston Astros outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (hand), New York Mets right-hander Kodai Senga (hamstring), and Philadelphia Phillies righty Aaron Nola (ankle, ribs) are among those who have dealt with significant injuries in the first few months of the season.

The lack of availability has negatively affected the value of Alvarez, Senga, and Nola early this season. However, that doesn't mean all hope is lost. Any of them could come back to make major impacts over the coming months.

So, when will Alvarez, Senga, and Nola return? Will they make it back before the end of June? Let's dive in and find out. 

Yordan Alvarez Injury Update For Fantasy Baseball

Set to turn 28 on June 27, Alvarez has been one of the elite hitters in the sport since he burst on the scene in 2019. The Cuban star entered this season with a superb lifetime line of .298/.390/.583 over 2,668 plate appearances. He was also fresh off four straight 30-home run seasons coming into 2025.

Expectations were that Alvarez would provide more of the same fantastic production this season. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Alvarez stumbled out of the gates with a toothless .210/.306/.340 line, three homers, and 18 RBI in 121 trips to the plate through May 2.

The left-handed slugger then landed on the 10-day injured list with right-hand inflammation. Alvarez revealed that he suffered the injury in late April, but he thought he'd be able to play through it.

A month and a half later, Alvarez still hasn't returned to the Astros lineup. The injury has turned out worse than he and the team initially feared. After Alvarez felt discomfort in his hand during a batting practice session on May 30, the Astros discovered a "very small fracture," general manager Dana Brown announced.

Yordan Alvarez felt discomfort after his live BP yesterday and the Astros sent him for imaging. General manager Dana Brown said it showed a fracture that is “60 percent healed.” Alvarez will be shut down, but Brown hopes he can return “in the near future.”

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) May 31, 2025

That "near future" date still hasn't arrived. Alvarez remains sidelined and without a clear timetable for a return to the majors. The Astros announced Monday that Alvarez did not join them as they embarked on a seven-game road trip because he isn't ready to resume swinging a bat yet.

The Astros included this in their game notes today, which is very helpful and informative. pic.twitter.com/whkUgVGZi3

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) June 16, 2025

While it's frustrating for fantasy managers that Alvarez is still on the shelf, they have no choice but to wait it out. He's a game-changing force when healthy, though injuries have been an unfortunate part of the package during his career. Although he got off to a slow start this year before the injury, there's no reason to expect anything but stellar hitting from Alvarez when he rejoins the Astros.

Kodai Senga Injury Update For Fantasy Baseball

Like Alvarez, Senga has also missed a sizable chunk of time with injuries during his career. The former Nippon Professional Baseball ace left Japan to join the Mets on a five-year, $75 million contract before 2023.

Everything went swimmingly during Senga's rookie campaign. He made 29 starts then, pitched to an impressive 2.98 ERA, earned a National League All-Star nod, and finished as the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up to Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll.

Senga was a legitimate frontline starter during his introduction to the majors, but he couldn't follow up on it last year. He suffered a strain in his pitching shoulder during spring training that kept him out for the first four months of the campaign. Then, after making his 2024 debut on July 26, he went back on the IL for the rest of the regular season with a high-grade left calf strain.

After making three appearances in the 2024 postseason, Senga came back this year at full strength. The 32-year-old was among the top starters in the game across the first two-plus months of the season, recording a 7-3 record with an NL-leading 1.47 ERA, 70 strikeouts, and 31 walks over 73 2/3 innings.

In his 13th start of the year on June 12, misfortune struck yet again. Senga added 5 2/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit ball against the Washington Nationals before exiting early with another injury. He suffered a right hamstring strain after landing awkwardly while covering first base on a putout. The Mets immediately placed him on the 15-day IL with a Grade 1 strain.

Kodai Senga left the game with an apparent hamstring injury after landing awkwardly trying to make a play at 1st base pic.twitter.com/2gOjCobdjF

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 12, 2025

While it's a relief that Senga is only dealing with a low-grade strain, he'll still miss at least a handful of starts. Manager Carlos Mendoza said on June 13 that the Mets would shut Senga down for two weeks before re-evaluating him.

Carlos Mendoza says that Kodai Senga has a Grade 1 hamstring strain:

"We're looking at probably two weeks, 14 days before we re-evaluate again." pic.twitter.com/Msd8I86lQn

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 14, 2025

Assuming Senga checks out fine at the end of the current two-week period, he will still need time to ramp up before returning to the majors. In the end, he's likely to be out of action for at least five weeks, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. That means fantasy managers should expect Senga to rejoin the Mets sometime around the All-Star break in the middle of July. It's not ideal, but his production is worth the wait.

Aaron Nola Injury Update For Fantasy Baseball

Now 32 years old, Nola has enjoyed a strong career since he made his debut with the Phillies in 2015. As his lifetime 3.78 ERA indicates, Nola hasn't always kept runs off the board at an elite clip. However, he has shown he can provide solid numbers while racking up a high volume of starts and innings.

Nola came into this year with four straight seasons of 32 or more starts and 180-plus innings under his belt. However, it's now obvious that both of those streaks will come to an end this season. Both below-average performance and injury troubles have been the story of his first half.

Nola was healthy enough to make nine starts through the middle of May, but they didn't go well. Over that 49 2/3-inning span, he picked up just two quality starts, compiled a 1-7 record, and notched an unsightly 6.16 ERA. Nola's most recent outing, a 14-7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on May 14, was especially poor. The Cardinals tattooed him for nine earned runs on 12 hits across 3 2/3 frames.

After his blow-up against the Cardinals, the Phillies placed Nola on the 15-day IL with a sprained right ankle. A little over a month later, Nola is still nowhere close to a return. He's now battling another injury -- a stress reaction in his right rib -- that cropped up a week ago.

Aaron Nola has a stress reaction in his right rib. He’s shut down for two weeks

— Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) June 10, 2025

With Nola unable to throw for at least another week, he's still a long way from rejoining Philadelphia's rotation. When asked on June 13 when Nola could come back, Phillies manager Rob Thomson told Paul Casella of MLB.com, "I have no idea."

Once Nola resumes throwing, it could still be weeks before he dons a Phillies uniform again. He'll need to ramp up enough to embark on a minor league rehab assignment before he's back in the majors. With that in mind, Nola will likely be out through the All-Star break, according to Casella.

Considering his typical blend of durability and productivity, Nola looked like a safe (albeit unexciting) choice for fantasy managers entering the season. Unfortunately, Nola has endured a disastrous year and will not have an opportunity to rebound for the foreseeable future.

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