The Houston Astros enter Tuesday ranked third in the American League in home runs, with 63. The biggest reason for the Astros’ impressive home run total this year is the power surge of Yordan Alvarez. Following a two-homer game against the Oakland Athletics on Monday, Alvarez is up to 14 bombs this season, a total that is behind only Aaron Judge in the AL. With this strong start to his 2022 campaign, the 24-year old is on pace to smash his previous career high of 33 homers that he set last year. Here are the numbers inside Alvarez’s power surge.
Advanced Metrics
Listed at 6’5″ 225 pounds, Alvarez looks every bit the part of a feared slugger, and he plays the part very well. When it comes to the eye test, Alvarez excels. When you look into the advanced metrics, the story stays the same.
On Baseball Savant’s percentile rankings, the higher the number, the better a player is at that particular stat. On some of the most important advanced metrics, Alvarez is near the top in the whole league. He is in the 100th percentile in hard-hit percentage, xwOBA, and xSLG. He is in the 99th percentile in average exit velocity and the 98th percentile in barrel percentage. Basically what these statistics amount to is that Alvarez hits the ball extremely hard, and with the ideal launch angle. Some players hit the ball very hard, but do a lot of chasing and striking out. However, Alvarez is not one of these players.
Strike Zone Discipline
In 2022, Alvarez is chasing less than ever before. His chase percentage is a career-low 20.8%, which puts him in the 89th percentile, meaning he does not chase often. His decrease in chasing has led to a lot of walks and fewer strikeouts than ever. Alvarez’ 13.4% walk percentage is in the 91st percentile. This has led to 24 walks, eighth in the AL. Meanwhile, Alvarez is striking out at a career-low rate of 18.4%. Not only is this figure a career-low, but it is well below the average across the league. Alvarez has managed to increase his home runs while decreasing his strikeout rate, a feat that is not easy to accomplish.
Key Astros Bat
The Astros have a daunting lineup, and Alvarez is arguably the most feared of them all. The young slugger has a .576 career slugging percentage, and this year has been more of the same. Overall, he has a .260/.358/.571 in 43 games played this season. Alvarez has 19 extra-base hits, 28 RBI, and 29 runs scored. All are near or at the top among Astros players.
With all the success he has had this season, there is a way that Alvarez can get better. On the year, the DH/left fielder is hitting .200 on fastballs, a far cry from the .306 batting average he had on fastballs in 2021. However, his expected batting average, which is based on quality of contact, is .317. This means that Alvarez is hitting fastballs hard, but not finding many holes. Sometimes, these even out as the year goes on. Yordan Alvarez has been really impressive from a power perspective this season, and there are still ways for him to get even better.
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