The Houston Astros slugger continues to receive praise as one of the best hitters in all of baseball.
On Thursday, MLB released its final hitter power rankings, and to no surprise, designated hitter Yordan Álvarez once again appeared on the list. The 27-year-old remained at the number five in the league’s top ten hitters across baseball.
The three-time Astros All-Star is having another phenomenal season at the plate. Heading into Friday, he is hitting .303/.388/.558 with 34 home runs and 85 RBI. His season .946 OPS is seventh among all hitters in the Major Leagues, and he currently has one of the best walks to strikeout ratios (.739) in all of baseball.
He has already produced a 5.2 WAR, only the second time in his career he has surpassed five wins above replacement since making his debut in 2019. He is also on pace for a 169 OPS+, higher than his career average.
His performance at the plate has been a huge reason the Astros were able to turn their season around and inevitably return to the top of the AL West standings after beginning the year 7-19, the worst 26-game start in franchise history dating back to 1969. The team is now sitting with a comfortable five game lead over the Seattle Mariners with only nine games to go into the regular season. Houston will look to reach their eighth straight American League Championship Series (ALCS) and their fifth World Series within that span.
The Astros, who have a few decisions to make this offseason regarding some of their stars on the roster, have nothing to worry about when looking at the future of Álvarez. The Houston slugger signed a 6-year, $115M contract with the club during the 2022 season as is not set to become a free agent until his age 32 season after 2028.
The Astros will finish their season on the road against the Cleveland Guardians, but before that will play six straight games back at Minute Maid Park before preparing for the postseason. Álvarez is only one home run away from reaching 35 on the year for only the second time in his career. He is also only three away from catching former Astros first baseman Glenn Davis with 166 homers, good enough for 8th all-time in Houston Astros history.
Álvarez finished in the final hitter power rankings only behind New York Yankees Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani, Kansas City Royals Bobby Witt Jr., and Yankees Juan Soto.
