Yordan Alvarez has put himself in the middle of two races at once, and both could end with the Houston Astros. He came back after sitting out two games with an ankle injury and entered the final stretch leading the American League with a .310 batting average. His 38 home runs were tied for second, and his 96 RBIs ranked second.
That puts the Triple Crown in play, but it also keeps him squarely in the AL MVP conversation.
Houston’s margin is razor-thin. The Astros are up one game on Texas in the AL West and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, which means every Alvarez trip to the plate carries weight beyond his own stat line. He can shape the division race, the MVP picture and a rare statistical chase all at the same time.
The challenge is that opposing pitchers are not giving him much to work with. Alvarez’s run at the Triple Crown has slowed in part because teams have gotten more cautious with him.
He is seeing fewer pitches he can really attack, especially with runners in scoring position. That kind of treatment can chip away at home run and RBI chances even when he is still getting on base and helping Houston in other ways.
So the Astros need the bats around him to matter.
If the lineup behind Alvarez starts forcing pitchers to pitch more honestly, he should get more chances to drive the ball instead of being worked around. If not, his biggest September value may come from the walks he takes rather than the milestones he chases.
That same patience helps his MVP case, too. Alvarez leads the AL in key advanced numbers, including OPS and win probability added, which underscores how much his value stretches beyond the Triple Crown categories.
There is still the usual wrinkle for a designated hitter in award voting, since those players are judged through a different lens when defense enters the conversation. Shohei Ohtani’s awards showed that elite offense can still break through that barrier.
Alvarez has spent some time in the outfield, but the heart of his case remains the same: the bat, and the way Houston finishes. If the Astros win the AL West and Alvarez stays near the top of the league in the biggest offensive categories, his argument gets a lot harder to ignore.
The Triple Crown is still a steep climb, especially with opponents pitching carefully around him. The MVP path may be cleaner.
In Other News...
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Cristian Javier gave the Astros a solid enough start, working 5 1/3 innings and allowing two runs, and Jeremy Pea did his part with three hits. Still, Houston could not do much with traffic on the bases, repeatedly failing to push runners beyond second, and the Royals broke it open with three runs in the eighth to leave the Astros looking up again in the AL West. [Read more 🡒]
Yordan lvarez Is Getting Overlooked In An MVP Debate Astros Fans Will Hate
Yordan Alvarez has spent much of this season doing what he always seems to do for the Astros, which is punish mistakes and force pitchers to work around him. This has become a career-best offensive year for him, with Alvarez sitting atop the American League in several key categories, including batting average, on-base percentage and intentional walks, a reminder of just how complete his bat has been for Houston.
Still, the MVP conversation is not always following the numbers in a straight line. Junior Caminero has been getting attention for another big power season with Tampa Bay, but the broader case gets murkier once his defensive profile enters the picture, especially when weighed against Alvarezs all-around offensive edge. Former MLB GM Jim Bowden has even argued Caminero should be the AL MVP, a stance Astros fans are unlikely to love, and one that keeps Alvarezs standing in the race from feeling as secure as his production suggests. [Read more 🡒]