Prior to Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, the Houston Astros knew very well that the Texas Rangers carrying six left-handed pitchers was going to be a problem. But, not for Yordan Alvarez. The Astros slugger isn’t fazed by lefties as he continued his parade through the postseason the other night, hitting an RBI single off Andrew Heaney, a sacrifice fly off Chad Bradford and an RBI single off Martin Perez. All left-handers.
Yordan Alvarez Continues His Romp In October
Alvarez’s Stats for the Postseason
Stats through four games of the ALDS and four games of the ALCS
15-for-36, 6 HR, 13 RBI, .416/.450/972
Alvarez is hitting 9-for-15 (.600) against lefties with two home runs and seven RBI. Those two home runs have come off left-handed relievers, who Alvarez is 6-for-10 (.600) against. This doesn’t come as a surprise, however. During the regular season Alvarez had and .892 OPS against lefties which was the sixth-highest by a left-handed hitter. His teammate, Kyle Tucker, was third at .934. However in the postseason, lefties have no answer for him whatsoever.
highest SLG in 1st 8 games of single postseason, min 20 PA:
2004 Carlos Beltrán: 1.219
2008 Manny Ramírez: 1.080
1996 Bernie Williams: 1.069
2023 Yordan Alvarez: 1.065— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 20, 2023
Alvarez’s slugging percentage is the fourth highest in the first eight games of a postseason. That’s behind Carlos Beltran (1.219) in 2004, Manny Ramírez in 2008 (1.080) and Bernie Williams in 1996 (1.069).
Texas Treaded As Carefully As They Could With Alvarez
The @astros are now 18-2 (.900) in the postseason when Yordan Alvarez has an RBI.
Only one other MLB player has a .900+ career winning percentage in the postseason when driving in a run (min. 20 games): Lou Gehrig (also 18-2). pic.twitter.com/8i47Cbbp3a
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 19, 2023
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy brought lefthander Cody Bradford in from his bullpen to face the Astros slugger in the 3-3 game. Alvarez worked a nine pitch at-bat, with Bradford throwing a mix of sinkers and changeups. A final changeup saw Alvarez crush it to center field, only to settle for a sacrifice fly. The next batter, José Abreu, crushed a fastball from Bradford for a three-run homer that led to a 10-3 Astros win. Alvarez did contribute to the blowout, driving in three runs and two hits to continue is postseason run.
He didn’t deliver a dramatic swing in the game, but his impact on how the game unfolded was evident. Texas treaded as carefully as they could with Alvarez. He took four plate appearances against five pitchers with Bochy bringing out a new reliever every time he came up to the plate.
Yordan Alvarez and Houston’s Other Veterans Have Stepped Up
Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Abreu continue to carry the weight for the Astros. Altuve recorded his 15th career playoff game with multiple hits and a home run in Game 4 of the ALCS. He then hit the game winning run with a three-run homer in the top of the ninth of Game 5. Altuve’s 26 postseason home runs is five back surpassing Manny Ramirez on the all-time postseason list. Bregman is the most underrated player among the Astros core hitters. The third baseman has 53 RBI in the postseason since 2017, the second-most of any player in that length. Abreu, who was signed as a free agent before the 2023 season, has had quite the impact for the Astros.
He’s hit four runs for Houston which ties him for the career postseason home run of both Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio combined. The 1.020 OPS and 11 RBI are an impact for Houston. Even before the ALCS, Abreu hit three homers in the last two games of the ALDS.
