Yordan Álvarez

In August 2016, Álvarez was traded from the Dodgers to the Houston Astros for Josh Fields.[4] He made his professional debut in 2016 with the Dominican Summer League Astros, where he spent the whole year, batting .341 with a .974 OPS in 16 games.

He started 2017 with the Quad Cities River Bandits and was promoted to the Buies Creek Astros during the season.[5][6][7] In 90 total games between the River Bandits and Astros, he batted .304/.379/.481 with 12 home runs and 69 RBIs in 335 at bats.[8] He played in the 2017 All-Star Futures Game.[9][10]

Álvarez (left) with Luis García at the 2018 All-Star Futures Game

Álvarez was ranked among the top prospects in the minor leagues prior to the 2018 season. He started the 2018 season playing with the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Class AA Texas League.[11] Despite being a right-handed thrower, Alvarez was incorrectly listed as a left-handed thrower by many websites prior to 2018 spring training. He split the 2018 season between Corpus Christi and the Fresno Grizzlies of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League, hitting a combined .293/.369/.534/.904 with 63 runs, 20 home runs and 74 RBIs in 335 at bats.[12]

Álvarez opened the 2019 season with the Round Rock Express of the Pacific Coast League.[13] Prior to his first major league call-up, Álvarez batted .343/.443/.742 with 50 runs, 38 walks, 23 home runs, 71 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.185 in 213 at bats with Round Rock.[14]

On June 9, 2019, the Astros selected Álvarez' contract and promoted him to make his major league debut that afternoon versus the Baltimore Orioles.[14] He went 1-3 with a two-run home run in his debut.[15] The following game, Álvarez again homered, this time versus Matt Albers of the Milwaukee Brewers. He became the first Astro to homer in both of his first two games.[16] Álvarez became the fourth player in Major League Baseball (MLB) history to hit four home runs in his first five career games when he homered off of Clayton Richard of the Toronto Blue Jays, joining Trevor Story, Yasiel Puig and Mike Jacobs.[17] On June 23, Álvarez hit a 2-run home run for his 7th home run of the season in only 12 games, establishing an Astros franchise record. He also became the first player in MLB history to drive in 16 runs in his first 12 games.[18] He won the American League (AL) Rookie of the Month Award for both June and July – the first Astro to do so – after garnering 48 hits, batting .336, 13 doubles, 13 homers and 39 RBI, .699 slugging, and 1.120 OPS. He also led MLB with a 1.120 OPS since his debut, and was second in the AL with a .421 OBP, fourth in SLG, sixth in RBI, and seventh in average. Thus, he emerged as a leading contender for AL Rookie of the Year honors despite his late start to the season.[19]

On August 10, Álvarez hit a grand slam and homered twice more at Camden Yards versus the Orioles for his first three-home run game in a 23–2 romp. With a career-high seven runs driven in, his total stood at 51 to establish the major league record for the first 45 games.[20] The 23 runs accounted for a franchise record for runs scored in one game.[21] In a homestand at Minute Maid Park, Álvarez drove in six runs on three doubles in 21–1 romp over the Seattle Mariners on September 8.[22] The following day, he hit home run numbers 23 and 24 in 15–0 win versus the Oakland Athletics to break Carlos Correa's franchise record for rookies, which he set in 2015.[23]

In 2019 he batted .313/.412/.655 with 27 home runs and 75 RBIs in 313 at bats, and was the ninth-youngest ballplayer in the American League. His .655 slugging percentage was the highest in history for a qualified rookie.[24] He was unanimously voted AL Rookie of the Year.[25] He also hit a two-run homer off Joe Ross in Game 5 of the 2019 World Series.

Álvarez sat out the beginning of the 2020 season after having tested positive for COVID-19.[26] He returned in August and played just two games before undergoing arthroscopic surgery on both of his knees, shutting him down for the rest of the season.[27]