How Yordan Alvarez Continues to Dominate Pitchers in Race for AL MVP

Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez was named AL Player of the Month for July. It was the second time this season that Alvarez has taken home the monthly award pairing this win with an award for April.

Alvarez hit .360 in the month of July with a .467 on-base percentage and a 1.118 OPS. He led the American League in Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement (fWAR) across the month posting a 1.5 clip, besting Steven Kwan’s 1.3 fWAR. Isaac Paredes was the next best Astro hitter during the month with a 0.8 fWAR.

Alvarez’s 213 wRC+ led the league topping Wilson Contreras’ 208 mark for the surging Red Sox. The Astros went 13-10 in July, their third straight winning month, led by Alvarez's nine home runs. Alvarez drove in 22 runs in 23 games, no other player reached 20 RBI in the American League.

The Cuban slugger added 2.110 win probability in the month, over 0.86 better than the next best AL player. He had a positive win probability in 14 of his last 16 games during the month. Alvarez was also helped out by an unusually high batting average on balls in play, recording a .436 BAbip. Hitting the ball harder contributed to this number but with any player of the month award, a little luck was involved too.

Alvarez was even hotter as July came to a close and August rolled around. He has a 1.336 OPS over the course of the last 12 games, driving in 11, walking 11 times, including six intentional walks. He his .419 across these games.

Alvarez's Early Season Success

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) runs to first base on a single — Jul 31, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44). Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

He was the Astros bright spot early in the season as the team struggled. Alvarez took home the award in April as well when he registered a 1.199 OPS over the course of the first 31 games. He hit .356 in March/April. The Astros had a 12-20 record at the end of that month. Since then, the team has posted a 46-35 record bringing them to three games above .500 and a 2.5 game lead in the AL West race.

Astros Player of the Month History

The last Astro to win two Player of the Month awards in the same year was Jeff Bagwell in his strike-shortened MVP season of 1994. Over the course of his career, Bagwell won five player of the month awards, the most by an Astro. He now has four with wins in September of 2023 and June of 2022.

Alvarez and the Astros continue their homestand against the Blue Jays. The team has relied so heavily on him the past four months. It’s hard to envision a playoff Astro team in which he doesn’t close the season on a heater.

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