ARLINGTON -- Astros first baseman Christian Walker admitted he was “borderline speechless” watching teammate Yordan Alvarez swing the bat on Wednesday night. Shortstop Jeremy Peña said his performance was “next level.” And even Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson said he’s never seen anything like it.
And what does Alvarez think?
“Apparently, I love playing here,” he said. “I can see the ball really well here.”
Alvarez bolstered his case as one of the early favorites for American League Most Valuable Player by crushing his 19th and 20th homers of the season, the second of which put the Astros ahead in the eighth inning and sent them to a 4-3 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field -- a park where Alvarez’s 17 homers are the most among any visiting player.
The slugger became the fifth player in Astros history with at least two homers in consecutive games, joining Jose Altuve (2023), Richard Hidalgo (2000), Moises Alou (2000) and Doug Rader (1973). He will try to become only the fifth player in Major League history to do it in three consecutive games in Thursday’s series finale.
“What Yordan is doing, it’s next level,” Peña said. “He’s not just hitting the home runs, but the at-bats he takes, the approach, his ability to square up every single pitch and hit it above 110 [mph]. It’s pretty impressive to watch.”
Alvarez struck out in his first at-bat against Jacob deGrom -- taking a slider on the outside edge of the strike zone -- before hitting another slider from deGrom in a 2-2 count in his next at-bat in the fourth inning and smacking it a Statcast-projected 428 feet to straightaway center for his 19th homer.
“I was joking with the guys in the dugout, it was like he was throwing me Playstation-style, just dotting the corners, but the second at-bat I was able to adjust,” said Alvarez, who’s slashing .312/.422/.633 (1.085 OPS) with 39 RBIs.
Alvarez singled in the sixth before launching a 3-0 sweeper from reliever Tyler Alexander 448 feet to right center to lead off the eighth and give the Astros a 3-2 lead. He has hit five homers in the first three games of the series against Texas and has gone yard six times total against the Rangers this year.
"Alvarez is on a heater right now, there's no doubt about it,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “He's burned us a few times this year, more than a few times. We wanted to pitch him inside to kind of back him off a little bit. The 3-0 slider wasn't a terrible pitch. We didn't want him to beat us. If we walked him, we walked him, that was the message. That was what we were trying to do, and Alvarez still hit it out. In hindsight, yeah, maybe I should have walked him.”
The Rangers did intentionally walk Alvarez with Peña occupying first base in the ninth inning, but it was the homer on the 3-0 sweeper that had everyone buzzing.
“Who swings at a 3-0 [sweeper] and hits it 110 [mph] to the batter’s eye?” Peña said. “That goes to show that he’s two steps ahead. He knew they weren’t going to challenge him with something hard, so it’s soft and he doesn’t miss.”
Said Pederson, who also had two home runs: “You got to tip your hat sometimes, and I think, like we did in the last AB, and put him on base and don't let the hottest, best player beat you. And I think we'll make that adjustment tomorrow. But I mean, a 3-0 slider off the bullpen wall, I don't think I've seen that one.”
Alvarez said he planned on taking the 3-0 pitch, but…
“When I saw the ball was there, 3-0, I said, ‘Calm down,’ and I stayed through the middle there,” he said.
That, said Astros manager Joe Espada, is proof of the combination of skills and intelligence that separates Alvarez from others and elevates him among the best pure hitters in the game.
“You guys see the skills; I see the intelligence in between at-bats, how he talks through at-bat -- ‘This is what I’m looking for. I’m going to stay within myself and try to do something,’” he said. “He does it. It’s not that easy, but there’s a level of intelligence and calm through his at-bats that I have never ever seen in my career. This is a really good hitter."