Yordan Alvarez has turned a standout season into something much bigger for the Astros, and the numbers now put him in the middle of a real Triple Crown chase.
Entering Monday, Alvarez sat atop the American League in batting average at .322, home runs with 35, and RBIs with 86. His edge in average is solid, and he owns a six-RBI cushion. The tighter race is in the power categories, where Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero is at 33 homers and Yankees catcher Ben Rice has 32.
That means there’s not much breathing room with about seven weeks left. Alvarez has held all three spots deep into the season, though, and what started as an early-season storyline has become a legitimate shot at history.
No one has won a league Triple Crown since Miguel Cabrera did it for the Detroit Tigers in 2012, when he finished with a .330 average, 44 home runs and 139 RBIs.
ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian weighed in Monday on SportsCenter, and he didn’t dance around it. “At this point, I think he's going to win the Triple Crown.”
There’s good reason for that confidence, especially in batting average. Alvarez has lifted his mark from .316 to .322 since June, which has strengthened his grip on the category that once looked like his biggest hurdle.
The home run race, though, is where the pressure sits now. Alvarez is only two ahead of Caminero and three ahead of Rice, so even a short cold stretch could flip the leaderboard fast.
He does have enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title, but he still has to keep the pace through the finish. Staying healthy will matter, too, as Houston keeps pushing toward the postseason.
"At this point, I think he's going to win the Triple Crown."@Kurkjian_ESPN believes Yordan Alvarez will join some ELITE company this season 👀 pic.twitter.com/bjVrJnaXiG
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 10, 2026
If Alvarez finishes with the American League lead in all three categories, he would give baseball its first Triple Crown winner in 14 years. If he were to take the MLB-wide Triple Crown, the last player to do that was Mickey Mantle in 1956.
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