As the Houston Astros are clinging to the American League Western Division lead, designated hitter and outfielder Yordan Alvarez remains in the hunt for the Triple Crown.
There’s much for Astros fans to cheer for on Sunday in St. Petersburg, Florida. Houston wraps up a six-game road trip that goes through Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, and on Tuesday the team comes home to Daikin Park for the week. With the Astros holding a two-game lead over the Texas Rangers in the West, there is little margin for error as the MLB season dwindles down to its final two weeks.
With club general manager Dana Brown relieved of his duties in August, and skipper Joe Espada remaining with the Astros despite being informed by management that he will not be offered a contract after this season, focusing on what they can control on the field remains a work in progress for the players.
Along with the club looking to return to the postseason after missing out in 2025, eyes are fixed on the individual performances of Alvarez, who is holding steady in hopes of becoming the first Triple Crown winner in baseball since 2012. Being the top home run hitter, RBI producer, and holder of the highest batting average in the American League doesn’t seem to be stressing the eight-year pro.
As Espada observes his top offensive weapon in 2026 at work this season, a picture emerges of his everyday slugger as among the most unassuming stars in the game. While speaking with reporters recently, Espada couldn’t have been more complimentary of his All-Star.
“He’s able to do what he’s doing and be able to stay calm because he’s got other things ahead of baseball,” Espada said. “He really cares about his family, kids, parents, like baseball on his list is in the bottom and that allows him to keep things in perspective and allows him to go out there and just relax and play and have fun.”
The Triple Crown is captured only rarely.
Miguel Cabrera did it in 2012 while leading the Detroit Tigers to the American League pennant. Cabrera took top batting honors in compiling a .330 average, with 139 RBIs, and clubbing 44 home runs. Prior to Cabrera, it was a full 45 years earlier, during the 1967 season, that Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski earned Triple Crown honors. Frank Robinson won the Triple Crown a year earlier with the Cincinnati Reds, and before that you have to look back a decade earlier for when Mickey Mantle of the Yankees in 1956 scored the title.
Over the last 100 years in the game, there have been only 10 Triple Crown winners.
Nursing a sore right ankle that he twisted during Thursday’s game at Philadelphia while running from first base to third, Alvarez going into Sunday’s game with the Rays is listed as day-to-day. Given that Houston is 75–74, and Alvarez has been sidelined for two consecutive games, Saturday’s 3–2 loss at Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field is indicative of how the loss of the popular Cuban’s bat can mean the difference between winning and losing.
Alvarez’s 38 home runs (second to Rays’ Junior Caminero’s 40), 96 RBIs (second to Orioles’ Pete Alonso’s 99), and his league-leading .310 average (Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson is second at .306) have him well within striking distance in all three categories by Sept. 27—which is Houston’s season finale in West Sacramento, California with the Athletics.
With stiff batting competition coming from Tampa Bay’s Simpson and Yandy Diaz, the 2023 American League batting champion, the pressure is mounting on Alvarez to step up his game, but it isn’t obvious in how he’s going about his business. Alvarez explained to reporters recently in Houston that the anonymity surrounding his place among his teammates sits well with him.
“I don’t see myself like a big star,” he said. “I just try to be normal, like a normal person and try to do fun things and whatever I want with my family.”
Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros is congratulated in the dugout after scoring a run in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Daikin Park in Houston on Sept. 4, 2026. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)
Before missing Friday’s series opener in Tampa Bay, Alvarez started 62 consecutive games. Last season, Alvarez sat out 114 games mainly due to a broken bone in his right hand. With the Astros missing the 2025 playoffs by one game, this is a scenario the organization hopes to avoid later this month. Having a healthy and productive bat from Alvarez is essential for Houston to continue their season into October.
Of the four opponents left on the Astros schedule this season (Kansas City, Seattle, the Athletics, and the Braves), only the Atlanta Braves are expected to qualify for the postseason. Houston’s explosive bats, lead by Alvarez, could realistically win three series. With Texas on the heels of the Astros in looking to claim a divisional title, winning as many games against perceived weaker clubs is paramount.
A much-needed physical and psychological boost for the Astros’ lineup is needed for the upcoming homestand. Alvarez is expected to be that boost for the club. His individual success is an added bonus as a reward for sacrifices made since the start of spring training. It just may come down to Game 162 to decide whether or not there will be a Triple Crown winner or not in 2026.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
