Yordan Alvarez is putting up numbers that are just ridiculous, leading the American League with 37 home runs and the entire MLB with a 1.048 OPS, even with his recent power dip. We are talking about a guy who just snapped a 12-game homer drought on Saturday, and he is still tearing it up.
The Numbers Don’t Lie… Or Do They?
Seriously, this dude is on another level. Think about it: Alvarez has only two home runs in his last 119 plate appearances! You’d think that would absolutely crater a slugger’s stats, right? Nope. His OPS for August is .919. That’s his second-lowest this season in a month, but get this, it would still rank fourth-highest among *all* qualified hitters for an entire season. That’s just wild.
He was seeing a career-low 41.4% of pitches in the strike zone this August, according to Baseball Savant, and his chase rate climbed by about 4%. You know he’s trying to make things happen for an offense that’s been sputtering, maybe even pressing a bit. Even with just one homer in his first 24 games this month, his slash line entering Saturday was a stellar .289/.429/.446, and only six hitters had a higher on-base percentage in August. The guy basically had as many walks (18) as strikeouts (19) this month, and eight of those walks were intentional! That brings his majors-high total to 28 intentional walks for the season. Opponents are straight-up refusing to pitch to him, and for good reason.
Still Carrying The Load For Houston
This Astros offense, man. It’s inconsistent, top-heavy, and honestly, it pretty much needs Alvarez to be otherworldly to function. And he usually is! On Saturday, in their 6-2 loss to the Mets, the rest of the lineup managed just four hits, and Alvarez had two of them, driving in both of their runs. His .320 average is second among qualified hitters in MLB.
Alvarez knows what’s up. Through interpreter Otto Loor, he said, “If the home runs are not there, you’ve still got to try to find a way to contribute and try to find a way to get on base. And that’s what I’ve been trying to do.” He’s just too disciplined a hitter to totally compromise his approach, even if he feels like he needs to do it all.
The Astros are in a tight playoff race right now, and what Alvarez is doing , finding a million ways to get on base, still crushing the ball even when the long balls aren’t falling every other at-bat , is exactly what they need. His overall stats are bonkers: .320 AVG, .435 OBP, 90 runs, 154 hits, 28 doubles, 1 triple, 37 homers, 93 RBI, and 93 walks. That’s a guy who isn’t letting a momentary power dip slow him down. Others need to step up, no doubt, but Alvarez is still bringing it.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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