BOSTON -- He’s one of the most feared sluggers in the Major Leagues and a strong candidate for American League Player of the Month honors for April. And to think that Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez will spend the weekend at Fenway Park -- a place where he has crushed the ball throughout his career.
Alvarez, who slugged his 12th homer of the season in the Astros’ win over the Orioles in Game 2 of a doubleheader Thursday in Baltimore -- tying Munetaka Murakami of the White Sox and Aaron Judge of the Yankees for the MLB lead -- has the highest-career OPS (1.693) and slugging percentage (1.093) among players to take at least 50 plate appearances at Fenway Park.
The Astros open a three-game series against the Red Sox in Boston on Friday.
Alvarez has drawn comparisons on his career to David Ortiz, the Hall of Famer slugger who hit 541 career home runs, including 483 in 14 seasons in a Red Sox uniform. Like Ortiz, Alvarez has power to all fields, but the short right-field line -- it’s 302 feet to the foul pole -- makes him a home-run threat with any swing.
Alvarez has hit safely in 13 of his 15 career games at Fenway Park, including the playoffs. He was injured when Houston visited Boston last year, but was 6-for-10 with three homers and five RBIs during the Astros’ three-game sweep at Fenway Park in 2024. Alvarez went 4-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs in a 13-5 win at Fenway Park on April 28, 2023, and followed that up the next day with a three-hit game, including a homer.
You get the idea.
This year, Alvarez is slashing .356/.462/.737 with 27 RBIs, 21 walks and 14 strikeouts while starting all 32 games for the Astros. Alvarez is on pace to smash Houston’s single-season home run record of 47, set by Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell in 2000. Only one Astros player has hit 40 homers in a season since (Alex Bregman with 41 in 2019), but Alvarez is already nearly one-third of the way to his career high of 37 homers, set in 2022.
What’s more, Alvarez’s 12 homers are the second-most through the first 32 games of the season in Astros history. Lance Berkman had 13 homers in the first 32 games in 2002. Berkman hit 42 home runs that season.
Alvarez has been the bright spot in the Astros’ 12-20 start. Last year, the Astros missed the playoffs by one game despite Alvarez missing 100 games while recovering from a broken bone in his right hand and later an ankle injury.
He returned from the hand injury Aug. 26 and slashed .369/.462/.569 with three homers and nine RBIs in 19 games, including back-to-back four-hit games against the Yankees on Sept. 3-4, but suffered a left ankle sprain when he slipped on home plate Sept. 15 against the Rangers and didn’t return. That essentially ended Houston’s playoff hopes.
The Astros have been ravaged by injuries again this year, including to starting pitchers Hunter Brown and Tatsuya Imai, All-Star closer Josh Hader and All-Star shortstop Jeremy Peña, but Alvarez has remained healthy and is must-watch TV when he comes to the plate.
Especially at Fenway Park.