In presenting Yordan Alvarez with the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award on Wednesday night in Las Vegas at the MLB Awards presented by MGM Rewards, Astros Hall of Fame slugger Jeff Bagwell joked he might have been the worst DH in the history of baseball. Bagwell only had 51 career plate appearances at DH in his career, including eight in the 2005 World Series, and had more strikeouts (14) than hits (nine).
Bagwell, who made his mark as a Gold Glove first baseman and swatted 449 career homers, understands how difficult it can be for a DH to only step on the field four or five times a game and still be locked in. It's a position that comes with a unique set of challenges and one that Alvarez did better than anybody else in Major League Baseball last season.
Alvarez, who is a finalist for the AL Most Valuable Player Award that will be announced Thursday, is the first DH not named Shohei Ohtani to win the award since 2020. Ohtani had won five consecutive times, tying him with David Ortiz (2003-07) for the most consecutive wins since the award’s inception in 1973.
The honor was renamed in 2004 for Martinez, who spent his entire 18-year career with the Mariners and won the award in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001. Ballots are cast by club beat writers, broadcasters and public relations departments with nominees including all players with a minimum of 100 at-bats as a DH.
Alvarez, who is the first Astros player to win the award, played in 134 games at DH last season and slashed .305/.422/.575 with 34 homers and 83 RBIs as a designated hitter, which was part of a tremendous season that could see him win several more awards this month.
Alvarez, who also started 24 games in left field in '26, won the batting title in the AL with a .316 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.
Alvarez is also a finalist for the AL Silver Slugger at DH, which will be announced on Tuesday. The AL MVP, as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, will be announced from 6-7 p.m. CT Thursday on MLB Network and MLB+.