Astros’ Yordan Alvarez joins Aaron Judge, Ted Williams in American League history

Yordan Alvarez continues to put together an MVP-caliber season for the Houston Astros, and opposing teams are running out of ideas for how to stop him.

According to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, Alvarez received his 30th intentional walk of the season, becoming just the sixth player in American League history to reach that mark.

Alvarez joins Aaron Judge (2025), Miguel Cabrera (2010), John Olerud (1993), George Brett (1985) and Ted Williams (1957). That’s some ridiculous company.

Intentional walks aren’t nearly as common as they once were, especially with teams constructing deeper lineups around their superstar hitters. But opposing managers have made it clear that they’d rather take their chances against somebody else than allow Alvarez to beat them. It’s hard to blame them.

Alvarez has been the driving force behind an Astros team fighting to win the AL West and return to the postseason. He enters Thursday’s game against the Chicago White Sox hitting above .317 with 37 home runs and an OPS above 1.037 (best of his career) while putting himself in position to potentially win the AL Triple Crown. He’s one home run shy of breaking his own career record as well.

There is no doubt that Alvarez will win his first-ever MVP award this season, barring a sudden injury. FanDuel lists the slugger as an overwhelming -20000 betting favorite.

Aaron Judge’s absence certainly opened the door in the American League, but Alvarez still had to take advantage of it. He has done exactly that. Houston’s postseason fate remains undecided, but Alvarez has done just about everything possible to keep the Astros in position.

The good news is that Carlos Correa is on track to return from his injury very soon.

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