Astros' Yordan Alvarez Faces Major Obstacles in Triple Crown Chase

Yordan Alvarez has to deal with these two limiting factors in his triple crown quest.

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44)Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez’s quest for the triple crown got a little less daunting with a homer and three RBI performance against the Seattle Mariners.

Of the three categories (batting average, home runs, and RBI) required to win the Triple Crown, Yordan is tied or leading in two of the three categories. Winning the Triple Crown has only happened once in the last 58 seasons.

Tuesday’s Performance

Alvarez started the game with a single scoring Jeremy Pena from second to open the scoring in the contest. It gave him 100 RBI on the season and increased his average.

Alvarez sits six RBI short of Pete Alonso with five games to play. It’s going to be extremely tricky to catch Alonso but if Alvarez gets the opportunities with men on base, he may have a chance.

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Intentional Walks Set Back

Alvarez was intentionally walked next time up, not a unique occurrence especially for Alvarez who already broke the Astro single-season record for intentional walks which stood at 27 from Jeff Bagwell in 1997. Alvarez now has 33.

Intentional walks are out of his control and may be holding Yordan back from the RBI or home run lead.

In the last triple crown season, Miguel Cabrera was intentionally walked 17 times in 2012. Carl Yastrzemski was intentionally walked just 11 times in his triple crown season of 1967.

Those two, the last players to achieve the triple crown, would have gotten a handful more at-bats with runners on base than Alvarez. Intentional walks almost exclusively happen with runners in scoring position, taking the bat out of the star player's chance and tanking his RBI numbers.

Yordan added a two-run home run later in the game to give him 103 RBI and tie him for the lead in home runs with Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Hitting Second

Another factor that the last two Triple Crown winners had over Alvarez in the RBI department was their positioning in the batting order.

Alvarez hits second in the order while Yastrzemski and Cabrera both hit primarily third. For Alvarez, this limits the number of first-inning at-bats with lots of runners on base. However, it does mean Alvarez would get a slightly higher number of plate appearances over the course of the season, but not enough to make up for the missed opportunities with runners on base that Yastrzemski and Cabrera had.

Astros Records

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) and Daulton Varsho (18) Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In non-triple crown categories, Alvarez needs 12 times on base in his final five games to reach 300 for a single season, becoming the fourth different Astro to reach that mark.

Bagwell did it four times, and Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman each did it once. If Alvarez reaches these numbers, it will be hard to keep the Astros out of the playoffs.

It’s true that Alvarez is at a disadvantage to win the RBI crown because of where he hits in the order and the number of intentional walks he receives, but it will still be exciting for Astros fans to see Alvarez make a run at an achievement this rare.

However, you can be sure that Yordan would take a division crown over the triple crown any day.