The Astros' season has had plenty of ups and downs, but Yordan Alvarez has been the one constant, and the numbers are starting to back that up in a major way.
Alvarez's 25 home runs are tied for the second most in franchise history through the club's first 80 games. He sits right alongside Lance Berkman, who also had 25 through 80 games back in 2002, and just one behind Jeff Bagwell, who hit 26 in both 1994 and 1999.
The all time record through 81 games belongs to Berkman, who had 27 in 2002. Alvarez has a real shot at chasing that mark in the coming days if he keeps this kind of performance up.
Alvarez is currently batting .323 with 25 home runs on the season, per MLB. He has been especially dangerous lately at Rogers Centre, where he is hitting .370 with 7 home runs and 16 RBI over his last 15 games there, an .860 slugging percentage and a 1.362 OPS in that stretch, per The Crawfish Boxes. That kind of production on the road has been a big reason the Astros are now tied for first in the AL in road batting average.
This is not the first time Alvarez has put himself in the franchise record books. He already holds the record for fastest Astro to reach 150 career home runs, doing it in just 590 games, and he has tied Bagwell for the most three-homer games in team history. He is putting together one of the best individual seasons an Astro has ever had, and he is doing it during a stretch where the team has needed every bit of it.
Alvarez also leads all AL designated hitters in All-Star voting, with nearly 2 million votes putting him second in the AL and third in all of baseball. The numbers all point to the same thing, this is a special year for Alvarez individually no matter what happens with the team around him.
The Astros have leaned on him heavily, especially since turning things around in mid-May. Since May 15 the bullpen has had the best ERA in the AL, and the Astros are 20-15 in that span, per The Crawfish Boxes. Alvarez has been the constant at the plate the entire way.
If he keeps this pace up, Berkman's franchise record of 27 home runs through 81 games could be in serious jeopardy very soon.
