Ladies and gentlemen, Yordan Alvarez is playing video game baseball.
Just 10 days into the season, the Houston Astros slugger is already at 1.1 fWAR - the first player in baseball to hit that mark - while posting an absolutely ridiculous .400/.578/.900 slash line with 4 home runs and a 285 wRC+, according to FanGraphs.
Let me put those numbers in perspective for you. A .400 batting average? We haven't seen a full-season .400 hitter since Ted Williams in 1941. A .578 on-base percentage? That's Barry Bonds territory. A .900 slugging percentage? That's Babe Ruth territory.
This isn't just a hot start, folks. This is historic.
Alvarez is doing things that put him in the conversation with the all-time greats for early season dominance. Now, can he possibly maintain this pace? Probably not - nobody can hit .400 with a .900 slugging percentage for an entire season. The laws of baseball physics don't allow it.
But here's the thing - even if he cools off to "merely excellent," Alvarez is showing why he's one of the most feared hitters in baseball. When he's locked in like this, there's no stopping him. Pitchers can't throw it past him. They can't fool him with breaking balls. They can't pitch around him because he'll take his walks and clog the bases.
The Astros are betting that Alvarez can carry them back to October. They've won it all before, they know what championship baseball looks like, and they know you need superstars performing like superstars. Right now, Alvarez is performing like a superhero.
Houston's lineup was already dangerous with Jose Altuve and company, but when Alvarez is doing this? Forget about it. You're talking about a team that can score runs in bunches and make life miserable for opposing pitchers.
We're watching something special here, folks. Enjoy it while it lasts, because performances like this don't come around often. is putting on an absolute clinic.
