Since Yordan Álvarez made his Major League debut on June 9, 2019, the baseball world has witnessed the emergence of an exceptional talent. The Cuban, born in Las Tunas, has proven to be one of the most feared and consistent hitters in the MLB, and not only among Latinos, but in the entire league.
To understand Álvarez’s impact, just look at his numbers in advanced metrics. In terms of OPS (On-base Plus Slugging), one of the most important statistics to measure power and ability to get on base, Yordan ranks second in the Major Leagues with an impressive .974 since his debut, only behind Aaron Judge, who boasts an OPS of 1.034. Among Latinos, his closest competitor is Juan Soto, with an OPS of .965.
When it comes to SLG (Slugging Percentage), Alvarez is once again among the elite, ranking second in all of MLB with a .582 SLG, again behind Judge (.625) and surpassing figures like Shohei Ohtani (.573), Bryce Harper (.540) and Soto (.539).
ISO (Isolated Power), a metric that reveals a hitter’s true power, places Yordan third in the Major Leagues with a .283, behind only Ohtani (.296) and Judge (.311). His closest Latin competitor is Soto ranks seventh with a .255.
The wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus) statistic is another key metric that adjusts a hitter’s ability to create runs taking into account the park where he plays. Here, Yordan ranks second, behind only Judge, with Soto again in third place.
In Weighted On-base Average (wOBA), a more precise version of OBP (On-base Percentage) that assigns a different value to the way in which a player reaches base, places Álvarez in third place, behind Judge and just one point less than Soto.
Even in more traditional statistics like batting average, Alvarez stands out. Since his debut, the Cuban has the fourth-best average in the entire league with .299, surpassed only by Luis Arraez, Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner.
Álvarez’s dominance is not limited to the regular season. In the playoffs, where the pressure is maximum, Alvarez remains an elite hitter. His .295 average and .949 OPS in 58 postseason games, added to his 61 hits and 27 extra-base hits, are proof of his ability to shine in the most critical moments.
Based on the statistics and metrics states above their should be no argument that the sweet-swinging Álvarez bar none is the most complete Latino hitter in the game and will be a force to reckoned with for plenty more years or as long as father time allows him to be dominant.