It hasn’t been a good start to the Houston Astros season to say the least. The Astros currently have one of the worst records in baseball with a 11-18 mark. It’s the worst record in the American League and third worst overall.
The season has already been plagued with injuries, and the pitching has been a disaster for a lot of the time. The Astros have the worst pitching staff in MLB with the highest ERA, earned runs, and walks. Injuries have really hurt that side of the team. The bright spot for the Astros has been the offense. That group has continued to perform at an incredible level and has consistently given the team a chance to win with the runs being scored. The Astros are the best offense in the American League and are top three in most categories overall.
The Superstar of the Powerful Offense: Yordan Alvarez
There have been plenty of contributors for Houston throughout the lineup, but the one standout player who has been hitting at a historic level is a familiar name. That’s Yordan Alvarez. He has reminded everyone in the baseball world who he is in case anyone forgot after being out of most of last season due to injury. The 6-foot-4, 237-pound slugger is one of the most fearsome hitters in baseball. His postseason heroics were on full display in 2022 and can be considered one of the most clutch hitters in the game.
Alvarez is without a doubt one of the best hitters in baseball when healthy. He only played 38 games last season and hasn’t been mentioned as much as some of the other big names. Alvarez was widely known but never really received the praise he has deserved. That is, until now. The big man has taken over baseball with his amazing hitting numbers.
MVP Start
Alvarez is the MVP of the Astros at the moment and should be in the running for American League MVP. He’s been a hitting machine. The Las Tunas, Cuba native blasted his 11th home run of the season on April 22nd and took the MLB lead in homers over Aaron Judge at that point. Munetaka Murakami has since taken the lead with 12. Alvarez chipped in during the series against the New York Yankees and currently has an 11-game hit streak going. He’s carrying the offense and team at times. Sometimes, he’s the only bright spot.
Yordan Alvarez last 9 games:
.361 BA
5 HR
12 RBIpic.twitter.com/XqGQd0sU7q— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) April 22, 2026
The 28-year-old is on top of charts in pretty much every offensive category. Alvarez is first in average at .358, OBP at .465, slugging at .755, and OPS at 1.220. He’s also first in hits with 38 and second overall in RBIs with 26. Even with all that hitting, Alvarez has just 11 strikeouts. That is such a low number compared to his competitors.
More Incredible Stats from Alvarez
His K% is just 8.5%, which is ranked in the 99th percentile according to Baseball Savant.
Alvarez is also first in all the advanced metrics as well. He has the best xSLG (.837), WRC+ (157), fWAR (4.4), xwOBA (.541), and he’s first in BB/K. He’s an MVP player, and these statistics show how much of a run producer he is. The way Alvarez is swinging the bat is second to none. The runs he creates, the type of contact he makes, and the effect on winning are all demonstrated here.
Alvarez is the greatest lefty hitter in MLB history at the moment. He has the highest slugging percentage since 1961 in that matchup. He’s better than Barry Bonds in that category and defying the traditional platoon numbers. When you’re better than something like Bonds, that is big-time. Alvarez is hitting .417 with a 1.377 OPS against lefties with five home runs so far.
He’s also getting intentionally walked often. Teams just don’t want to deal with him in big situations.
All his numbers are on pace for a career high. Given the kind of power hitter Alvarez is, it is surprising that he’s never reached 40 home runs in a season. If he continues his pace, Alvarez could get 50. That’ll help his MVP chances. What would help even more is the Astros getting back to winning.
If this is Alvarez’s first season to cross 40 homers, it cannot be wasted at all. A season that’s going like this for Alvarez needs to be taken full advantage of. It can be lethal in the postseason and help the Astros get back to being golden with a deep run. Injuries have been an issue for him at times, which makes a season like this more valuable to the team.
Not Used to Losing
While the Astros were 3-3 last week, it’ll take more than that. The AL West is all jumbled up at the moment, and the Astros have a shot to come back. Alvarez shockingly slammed his bat in frustration in the dugout after getting out in an at-bat against the Cleveland Guardians. Alvarez isn’t someone who displays a lot of emotions like that, but it’s been a tough season. Clearly, he feels additional responsibility to productively hit given how the pitching has struggled.
More so, Alvarez hasn’t experienced losing like this so far in his career. All the Astros have done is won since he was a rookie in 2019. Even when he does well, it’s still not even enough a lot of times.
If the pitching gets healthy and figures it out, look out for Alvarez to take that MVP crown.
(Top Image Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images)
