The Houston Astros’ regular designated hitter Yordan Alvarez was deployed as a left fielder on Wednesday.
In the eighth inning of the game against the New York Mets, he was involved in a nasty collision with teammate Jeremy Pena that left him with concussion-like symptoms.
It appears a long-term injury was avoided, but it wasn’t pretty.
Despite the fact Alvarez could be out of the lineup for the next few days, it’s impossible to deny he has been a monster in June.
“Players to hit at least .400/.500/.800 in the month of June (min. 90 PA), since integration: 2022 – Yordan Alvarez; 2001 – Bernie Williams; 2000 – Jeff Kent; 1961 – Norm Cash; 1957 – Mickey Mantle,” MLB.com’s Andrew Simon tweeted.
Players to hit at least .400/.500/.800 in the month of June (min. 90 PA), since integration:
2022 – Yordan Alvarez
2001 – Bernie Williams
2000 – Jeff Kent
1961 – Norm Cash
1957 – Mickey Mantle— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) June 30, 2022
Those are some really impressive names joining Alvarez right there, including some Hall of Famers.
He is a really strong candidate to win the American League Player of the Month award, although some guy named Shohei Ohtani could possibly win the award, too.
Alvarez Has Been Playing At A Really High Level In 2022
All things considered, Alvarez is having an MVP-caliber season.
Hitting .316/.412/.658 with 23 home runs and a 1.070 OPS, he has been everything the Astros hoped for and more.
The whole baseball community is hoping he can stay healthy enough to play most nights and keep his MVP options intact.
Perhaps the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Ohtani will be stronger candidates, since they also play the field most nights (well, Ohtani does much more than that by pitching), but Alvarez has been the best hitter in the American League by some metrics.
He has had a truly amazing year, one that could be recognized in some form by individual awards.
It’s certainly what he deserves.
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