Yordan Alvarez Is Hitting Like Nobody Else in Baseball

There's "having a good year," and then there's whatever Yordan Alvarez is doing. Line up every regular hitter in baseball and rank them by OPS — the catch-all number for how much damage a guy does at the plate — and Alvarez is sitting at the very top of the list. Not top five. First. He's batting .325 with 24 home runs and 55 RBI, and honestly the scariest part is that he keeps getting hotter.

Because if April and May were great, June has been a problem for everyone who has to pitch to him. He's hitting well over .400 for the month, and the night that sums it all up came on June 13, when he went 3-for-5 with two homers and six runs batted in. One game, six RBI. That's not a hot streak, that's a one-man wrecking crew.

The signature swing from that night tells you everything. First inning, two outs, bases loaded, and Alvarez just demolishes one to dead center for a grand slam — four runs in before the other team even recorded its third out. Pitchers have spent all season trying to find a way to get him out and mostly coming up empty. It doesn't matter if they throw lefties or righties at him; he's hitting both about the same, and both are getting hurt. There's no book on him right now, no soft spot to pitch around.

And here's the twist that makes it all a little bittersweet: none of it is moving the needle for Houston. The Astros are stuck under .500 and sitting fourth in their division, which means the best hitter in the sport is basically carrying a lineup that can't quite carry him back. It's the kind of season that doesn't always show up in the standings — but it's exactly the kind that collectors remember. While the Astros figure out the rest of their summer, Yordan Alvarez is quietly putting together the individual story of the year, one no-doubt swing at a time.