Yordan Alvarez In the Company Of Babe Ruth With This Stat

Yordan Alvarez and Babe Ruth are the only players to reach these numbers through 3400 plate appearances.

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44). Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Yordan Alvarez became just the second player to hit .300+ with 200+ home runs in his first 3400 plate appearances. He joins Babe Ruth, who accomplished the feat back in 1923, in his 10th year in the big leagues.

Yordan adds this to his list of accomplishments and firsts in both Astros history and major league history.  Alvarez has hit .301 during his career with Houston, which began in 2019, along with a Rookie of the Year Award.

Alvarez is two games shy of 800 for his career and already has 206 home runs. He ranks tied for seventh with Harmon Killebrew for most homers through 800 games. He has the second-highest average among players with 200 homers in 800 games, trailing only Willie Mays’ .316 average. Babe Ruth had 198 homers at the 800-game mark and was hitting .336.

Alvarez’s Astro Records

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Yordan has the second-best OPS in Astros history for those with 1500 plate appearances, the standard cutoff for measuring rate-based statistics for an individual franchise. He trails only Moises Alou, who put up a .988 in his four seasons in Houston.

Alvarez’s OPS sits at .977 for his career, higher than the Astros’ marks of Lance Berkman (.959) and Jeff Bagwell (.948). Alvarez’s on-base percentage (.396) ranks fourth behind Berkman, Bagwell and Alou, but Yordan’s on-base percentage continues to rise as he works walks at a high rate and earns intentional walks at an MLB-leading rate this season.

Regarding intentional walks, Alvarez is primed to be the Astros' single-season leader in the category with 24 so far this season. He needs four more to pass Jeff Bagwell’s 27 set in 1997.

Alvarez’s OPS Numbers

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez rounds the bases | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Alvarez’s OPS this season is a scorching 1.064 with an OPS+ of 197; he sits comfortably in second in Astros history in that category behind Jeff Bagwell’s near-untouchable 1.201 OPS and 213 OPS+ set back in his MVP season of 1994.

A tougher mark to reach will be the Astros' home run record. Alvarez needs 11 more to tie to reach Bagwell’s 47 set back in the first year in the new ballpark. Alvarez’s own single-season best of 37 lies just one homer away from the Cuban slugger’s current mark of 36.

At 29, Alvarez’s current age represents the peak for most baseball players. For Astros fans, it’s thrilling to watch Alvarez at his peak day in and day out.  If Alvarez continues at this pace, he will rewrite the Astros' single-season record book and continue to do things not seen since the era of Babe Ruth.