Yordan Alvarez Makes Astros History With 2026 Major League Batting Title

Houston's superstar slugger still became a batting champion even without the Triple Crown.

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez hits a three-run home run during the fifth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Houston Astros are back in the postseason this year after missing out in 2025. While the Astros did benefit from the lack of quality in the American League West, as an 81-81 record was good enough to win the division, they wouldn't have even gotten close without Yordan Alvarez.

The presumptive American League MVP had carried the Astros offense through the tough summer months and delivered in key moments almost every single time. Alvarez was on a historic pace for the Triple Crown for most of the season before he went into a short slump in August.

However, there is no doubt he's the best hitter in the game at the moment. A true offensive explosion of a season for Alvarez always seemed inevitable. Alvarez just won his first career batting title with a .316 average over the course of 158 games.

Astros Batting Title History

Standing above the rest 👑#ChaseTheFight x @budweiserusa pic.twitter.com/E9hfiUtiSQ

— Houston Astros (@astros) September 28, 2026

Alvarez didn't just win the AL batting title. He had the best average in all of baseball. The next closest was catcher Gabriel Moreno of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who finished with a .311 average.

In the AL, Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Chandler Simpson ended up with a .306 mark. Alvarez became just the third player in Astros history to ever win the batting title.

He joined Jose Altuve and Yuli Gurriel as just the third player to do it in Astros history. Altuve, who just crossed over 2500 hits earlier in the month, has won the batting title three times. In 2014, Altuve won his first batting title and led MLB with a .341 average. Altuve then was a batting champion again in 2016 with a .338 mark.

While that wasn't the highest in baseball, it was still by far the highest in the AL. The next closest was Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox at .318. Altuve was the AL MVP in 2017 and also won his third batting title with a .346 average. That was the best mark in baseball.

Gurriel was the latest to win it for the Astros in 2021 with a .319 average. It came down to the last game of the season and a walk-off single that gave him the achievement. It was the second-highest mark in 2021 behind Trae Turner.

Alvarez at .316 has the lowest mark, but was hovering close to .330 during large chunks of the year. His slump during the heart of August and early September brought him down under .310, but Alvarez brought it back up with a great ending to the regular season.

He hit close to .400 with a 1.164 OPS in the last seven games that gave him the cushion he needed to win the much-deserved batting title.