After career year, batting champ Alvarez named AL MVP finalist
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HOUSTON – Not that the gaudy numbers put up this season by Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez weren’t enough to make him the front-runner for the American League Most Valuable Player Award, but an endorsement from a former MVP certainly doesn’t hurt his case.
“No doubt, he’s hands down the best player right now in the league,” said Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, the 2017 AL MVP, earlier this year.
The numbers prove it. And now it’s up to the voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to decide if Alvarez’s monster 2026 season was enough for him to win his first MVP. Alvarez is one of three finalists for the AL MVP, along with Junior Caminero of the Rays and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals.
The winner will be announced from 6-7 p.m. CT Nov. 12 on MLB Network.
Alvarez won the batting title in the AL with a .316 batting average and led the league in on-base percentage (.432), slugging percentage (.601), OPS (1.033), offensive WAR (7.2), total bases (341), walks (109) and extra-base hits (77), while finishing second in RBIs (106) and tying for second in home runs (42), both of which were career highs.
“It’s crazy, everything he’s doing,” Altuve said. “He does it over and over. We know he’s going to hit a lot of homers, but when he hits them, we’re still surprised. He’s amazing. He deserves everything that happens to him.”
Alvarez is the third player since 1970 to win the AL batting title while hitting at least 40 homers, joining Aaron Judge (2025) and Miguel Cabrera (2012-13).
“That’s something that I’ve always wanted to do,” he said of the batting title. “I feel very proud to be able to do that. In fact, I even told [my teammates] that even though I hit 40 home runs, I think the batting title was something I always wanted and I feel very proud to be able to do that.”
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“That’s something that I’ve always wanted to do,” he said of the batting title. “I feel very proud to be able to do that. In fact, I even told [my teammates] that even though I hit 40 home runs, I think the batting title was something I always wanted and I feel very proud to be able to do that.”
Alvarez was named AL Player of the Month in March/April and July and led the Majors in batting average, OBP and slugging, becoming the first player to lead MLB in all three of those categories since Judge in 2025, Cabrera in 2013 and Barry Bonds in 2002. All three were named MVP in their respective leagues.
He was so feared as a hitter he drew 33 intentional walks, breaking Jeff Bagwell’s club record of 27 in 1997. The only player in AL history to have more intentional walks in a season was Judge with 33 last year.
According to Baseball Savant, he ranked in the 99th percentile in xwOBA (.443), xBA (.319) and xSLG (.640) and exit velocity (94.4 average).
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When it came to big moments during games, Alvarez was front and center for the Astros. He hit a two-run homer and a grand slam in a nine-run first inning June 12 in Kansas City, driving in a franchise-record six runs in an inning.
He provided early fireworks on July 4 at Daikin Park by hitting two homers, including a two-run, walk-off homer to straightaway center in a come-from-behind win over the eventual AL champion Rays. On Aug. 2, he went 4-for-5 to complete a sweep of the first-place Rangers for Houston’s sixth consecutive win.
Alvarez is looking to join Bagwell (1994 in the National League) and Altuve as the only MVP winners in Astros history.