Although Aaron Judge is a serious contender in the American League MVP Award race, the Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez has taken the top spot.
The 25-year-old Alvarez is packing.313/.411/.660 with 25 home runs and 58 RBI. The number for his home runs is tied with Kyle Schwarber for second place, just behind Judge’s 29. Alvarez is also just two RBI behind Judge this season.
His overall swing rate has been consistent in the past three years—43.2 percent in 2019, 43.0 percent in 2021, and 42.1 percent in 2022. The one thing that has changed is his swing rate on balls outside the strike zone. The number has gone from 30.7 percent as a rookie to 30.3 percent last year. He is currently at 25.8 percent. Within the same period, his swing rate on balls in the strike zone has also improved. After scoring a 63.0 percent and 62.1% percent rate in 2019 and 2021, respectively, it is now up at 67.0 percent so far this season.
Alvarez has been on his current pace since June. He has a batting average of .418, a .510 on-base percentage, and a .835 slugging percentage while accumulating nine home runs with 28 RBI. Alvarez recently signed a six-year $115 million contract extension, which will have him play for the Astros through 2028.
Houston has secured one of the league’s excellent power hitters. The team scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals to end the game as they improved to 54-28 on the season with a 5-2 win.
Hyping up the crowd
During the match against the Royals, when Alvarez stepped to the plate in the bottom half of the eighth innings, the home crowd showed their support for him, repeatedly chanting “MVP”. Alvarez eventually scored his 25th homer of the season.
Alvarez did not hide his excitement upon hearing his fans calling him the MVP.
“It felt exciting that the fanbase is calling for that, so it definitely felt good,” he said. “Houston is one of the best fanbases in baseball.
Fellow Astros Alex Bregman also showed his support for Alvarez. “That’s what great players like Yordan do on both sides of the ball,” he said. “Just a huge play defensively and then comes up and adds some insurance.”
With his current pace, he would soon top Jeff Bagwell’s 47 home run record in a single season in 2000.
Alvarez has a Weighted Runs Created Plus (WRC+) of 201, which ranks first among the other 157 qualified MLB hitters. He has also accumulated 3.9 fWAR, which is a single-season career-high mark.
Judge’s performance
Judge has been dubbed the American League MVP throughout the first half of the season. Yet, for the first time, Judge loses the top spot in the AL MVP race to Alvarez.
At first, through April, May, and most of June, Judge was tearing pitchers apart with .304/.379/.658 on his way to 27 home runs, 53 RBI, 187 wRC+, and a 4.0 WAR throughout his first 299 plate appearances. However, since June 24, these numbers have dropped to 171/.267/.395 slash line with a wRC+ of 86.