Black MLB Players #8: Yordan Alvarez
Yordan Alvarez is a left fielder, first baseman, and designated hitter for the Houston Astros. He is 22 years old, stands at 6'5'’, and weighs 225 pounds. Yordan is from Las Tunas, Cuba and played for the Cuban National Series team located in Las Tunas from 2013–2015. Being only 16/17 years old and playing in the primary professional baseball league of Cuba’s revered national baseball system is a testament to how advanced Alvarez was and the large amount of potential he had as a baseball player at such a young age.
He defected from Cuba in 2016 and established residency in Haiti before signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an international free agent for $2 million dollars on June 15th, 2016 at the age of 19. He was traded at the major league trade deadline to the Houston Astros for relief pitcher Josh Fields. In the 16 games he played in Dominican Summer League he hit for a .341 batting average, got on base 47% of the time, slugged an even .500, and walked more than he struck out.
He has a simple left handed swing, holding his hands above his shoulder and near his head. Alvarez has a very great approach at the plate and has been applauded by his teammates for studying the tendencies of the opposing pitchers in at bats and understanding how opponents want to neutralize his effectiveness at the plate. For someone that’s so tall and has long arms Yordan makes contact at a good rate, and although he strikes out 25% of the time, he still walks at an above average clip to offset the strikeouts. He has the ability to hit for contact along with hitting for power, never posting a batting average below .293 and an OPS(On Base + Slugging) below .859 during his time in the minor leagues. At the MLB level he hit .313/.412/.655 with 27 home runs and was voted the unanimous 2019 American League Rookie of the Year. He made his debut on June 9th, 2019, almost three years to the day he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an international free agent.
From a long term standpoint Yordan Alvarez profiles as a left fielder that will most likely move over to first base as he gets older, but he has more than enough offensive value to justify playing in the corner outfield and at first base. He should be a mainstay in the middle order of the Houston Astros lineup for years, and should garner MVP votes and All Star selections. He reminds me a lot of David Ortiz, and from an hitting standpoint they have a lot of similar traits. They both displayed the ability to read pitchers well to formulate an effective plan and hit for contact and power from the left side of the plate.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/alvaryo01.shtml
https://www.fangraphs.com/players/yordan-alvarez/19556/stats?position=DH
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/yordan-alvarez-670541
