(Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Yordan Alvarez is the Houston Astros‘ best hitter.
It might sound like a controversial statement, but there isn’t much room for doubt at this point.
It’s a rather impressive achievement or recognition, given that Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Michael Brantley, Jeremy Pena and Jose Abreu all play in Houston.
Yordan at his best is in a different tier, though.
There were concerns regarding the health of his left hand during spring training.
He reported soreness in the area, which was worrisome because it’s something that occurred to him last year, too.
Astros GM Dana Brown implied that Alvarez wouldn’t be an everyday player initially to give his hand a chance to heal, or at least feel better.
He was part of the Opening Day lineup, and even though his Astros couldn’t beat the Chicago White Sox, Alvarez reminded us that his hand is mostly fine.
YORDAN. 442 FEET. pic.twitter.com/H0wYvIdvdt
— Houston Astros (@astros) March 31, 2023
Alvarez absolutely punished that ball on the inside part of the zone to send it to the furthest part of the stadium.
If his hand is a big problem, it definitely didn’t look like it on Thursday.
It may hurt from time to time, in which case he will be on the bench (at least early in the season, like Brown said) but it looks like something that does not affect him much if he is in the lineup.
Hopefully we get a fully healthy version of Alvarez in 2023.
Last year, he hit .306 with 37 home runs and 97 RBI in just 135 games.
His 1.019 OPS was just bested by Aaron Judge.
If his hand doesn’t get in the way, we might be about to see an MVP-caliber season from Alvarez.
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