Inside the Astros

Bold Prediction Sees Astros All-Star Slugger Lead AL in This Surprising Stat

The Astros have one of the most fearsome sluggers in all of baseball and he could earn a surprising accolade in 2025.

Kyle Morton

Mar 29, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) hits an RBI double during the sixth inning against the New York Mets at Daikin Park.
Mar 29, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) hits an RBI double during the sixth inning against the New York Mets at Daikin Park. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
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The Houston Astros have produced an absurd amount of top-end offensive talent in the past decade-plus.

From Jose Altuve to George Springer to Kyle Tucker to Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman, the team's borderline dynastic run has been powered by league-best hitting in addition to the organization's knack for identifying and developing elite pitching.

But of all the prolific hitters the club has produced, none quite reach the all-around excellence that designated hitter Yordan Alvarez has shown ever since he first entered the league in 2019, when he won the American League Rookie of the Year award.

In his career, Alvarez has produced a slash line of .298/.390/.582. In terms of hitting talent, both for average and for power, the only player in all of baseball clearly ahead of him is Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.

And yet, despite the fact that Alvarez has only played one full season in which he produced an OPS+ of less than 170, there is a distinct lack of league-leading accolades on his Baseball Reference page.

Writing in Bleacher Report, Joel Reuter went out on a limb to make one bold prediction for all 30 MLB teams. In doing so, he tabbed Alvarez not as the AL's eventual home run leader, but as its batting champion.

"With an imposing 6'4" frame and four straight 30-homer seasons, Alvarez is one of baseball's most productive sluggers," Reuter wrote. "He is also an elite pure hitter who finished fourth in the AL batting title race with a .308 average in 2024, and he ranked in the 97th percentile expected batting average. It's only a matter of time before we see a season where a few more hard-hit balls find a hole and he hits .325."

Reuter has it exactly right. Alvarez's approach at the plate and his ability to make quality contact so frequently make him a great candidate to flirt with the .330 mark, even if you would typically imagine him as more of a 50-home run threat.

Alvarez is off to a relatively slow start to his season, with just one hit in eight at-bats for a .125 batting average. His on-bace percentage is a respectable .333 due to the fact that he has already drawn three walks, but there is no question that better days are ahead on balls put in play.

If Alvarez has slightly better batted-ball luck this season, and none of his peers in the AL produce other-worldly, Luis Arraez-like batting averages, he has the chance to take home the batting title.

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Kyle Morton
KYLE MORTON

Kyle Morton has covered various sports from amateur to professional level athletics. A graduate of Fordham University, Kyle specializes in MLB and NHL coverage while having previous bylines with SB Nation, The Hockey Writers, HighSchoolOT, and Sports World News. He spent time working the beat for the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes and is an avid fan of the NHL, MLB, NFL and college basketball. Enjoys the outdoors and hiking in his free time away from sports.

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