If you needed a reminder of what Yordan Alvarez looks like when healthy, the Houston Astros’ opening homestand provided a thorough one. Alvarez hit three home runs, drove in six runs, and posted a .417 batting average through the first seven games of the 2026 season. He had more walks than strikeouts. He had three multi-hit games in six chances. The 2026 version of Yordan Alvarez looks a lot like the version that made him one of the most feared hitters in baseball from 2021 through 2024.
Nobody felt that more acutely than the Boston Red Sox.
Alvarez has been a one-man wrecking crew against Boston throughout his career, posting a .382/.477/.787 slash line with a 1.264 OPS in 25 games against the Red Sox. According to one report, no hitter in MLB history owns a higher OPS against Boston, placing Alvarez ahead of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in that particular category. He added two home runs and a double in the first two games of this week’s series before Garrett Crochet held him to a double and a single in Wednesday’s finale. Small consolation for a Red Sox staff that left Houston with a -15 run differential on the series.
It’s worth noting that Boston went 4-2 against Houston last season, but Alvarez didn’t play in a single one of those games, limited to just 48 appearances all year due to a hand fracture and ankle sprain. The Red Sox were lucky last year. They weren’t this week.
The larger point is that Alvarez appears to be fully himself again. He averaged 34 home runs and 96 RBI from 2021 through 2024, and only six players hit more home runs during that stretch. His lost 2025 season should be viewed as the aberration it was. Through one week of 2026, the evidence is mounting that the best designated hitter in the American League is back. Consider the rest of the league warned.
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Photo by thatlostdog via Flickr, licensed under CC BY 2.0.