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Ranking the Six Houston Astros That Fans Should be Most Thankful For
By Alec Brown
2) Yordan Alvarez
Just like the lineup, Yordan Alvarez is pencilled in just ahead of Alex Bregman on this list. No other team in the game possesses a left-handed slugger that can hit for average and possesses the level of plate discipline that Alvarez brings to the lineup.
The titan hits mammoth home run after mammoth home run, playing in a home ballpark that feels built specially for him.
Yordan showed a combination of enough improvement and continued health to justify 56 starts in Left Field this season and is trending towards playing there full-time in 2023. An ever-improving hitter and an ever-improving fielder, there is no end in sight to his upward trajectory.
Speaking of no end in sight...
Alvarez hit the two biggest home runs of the Astros' World Series push this October. With as close as the Seattle series was, who knows what happens had Houston dropped Game 1 and lost home-field advantage?
His titanic shot in Game 6 was the deciding blow of the series. Had he not gone deep, it's entirely likely the series would have tilted in Philadelphia's favor with Alex Bregman, Yuli Gurriel and Jose Altuve all suffering injuries in Games 5 & 6.
Without Yordan and his timely heroics, Houston may not have hoisted the Commissioner's Trophy this year. He's locked up through 2028 on a team-friendly deal and we are so lucky to have him in an Astros' uniform.