What Has Led to Houston Astros Star Being One of Few .300 Hitters in Baseball?

A dialed-in approach at the plate has a Houston Astros star in rarified air for the 2024 season.

Sep 11, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) breaks his bat on a single during the third inning against the Oakland Athletics at Minute Maid Park. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has quickly turned into one of the most consistent hitters in baseball.

A real power threat every time he steps to the plate, calling him only a home run hitter doesn’t do justice to how good he truly is.

There isn’t anything he can’t handle, as he gets the job done in virtually every situation.

As a left-handed hitter, he crushes righties with a .977 OPS. Teams who counter with a lefty aren’t going to throw him off, as he has recorded an OPS of .967 against them.

Maybe the friendly confines of Minute Maid Park have resulted in him being able to buoy his numbers, but while an OPS of .924 at home is very good, it is even better once he heads on the road with a 1.027 everywhere else.

Measured at a towering 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds, Alvarez generates some real power when he swings the bat. He is seventh in the league in average bat speed, but what makes him so special is how calculated he is at the plate.

As one of only eight qualified players with a batting average over .300, Alvarez is a special hitter. Bradford Doolittle of ESPN shared what makes him so good at the plate.

What separates him from his peers is that he takes zero bad swings.

“But the bat tracking department at Statcast also tracks 'swords,' which are those feeble swings a hitter takes when he's completely fooled by a pitch but can't hold back. The league leaders in swords are both Angels -- Zach Neto and Logan O'Hoppe -- with 35. (Better look into that, Halos.) Kyle Schwarber, who is enjoying a career season for the Phillies, has 34. [Bobby] Witt has 16, [Aaron] Judge has 13 and [Vladimir] Guerrero has eight. Alvarez? He has zero.”

That kind of discipline is remarkable.

Pitchers are not going to fool Alvarez at the plate, leading to him getting himself out. Opponents legitimately need to beat him with a pitch, which is easier said than done.

Doolittle noted that Alvarez is a negative in every other aspect of the game except with his hitting; his bWAR 197 runs better than average, but his overall runs above average is 143, meaning he is -54 at everything that doesn't include swinging the bat.

Part of his skill set is that he is doing this damage without being an all-or-nothing hitter.

There aren’t many who do it as well as him, which has led to comps to a Hall of Fame slugger.

“If hitting is going to be the sum of his contribution, he's going to do it better than anybody. In this way he reflects the all-around skills at the plate of Hall of Fame DH David Ortiz, probably Alvarez's closest historical antecedent. So players like this do come around and will come around again. But they are so, so rare,” wrote Doolittle.

The approach of the Houston star is one that others can replicate, but finding this level of success is rare.

If he ever shifts to designated hitter full-time, his advanced stats will see a boost with fielding not dragging down the overall numbers.