On June 9, 2019, Yordan Álvarez began his Major League career. Since then, no left-handed hitter has posted a higher wRC+ than the Cuban slugger.
Álvarez owns an impressive 165 wRC+, ahead of stars such as Juan Soto (158), Shohei Ohtani (157), Freddie Freeman (141), and Bryce Harper (141). The stat wRC+ is one of the most important offensive metrics in modern baseball because it measures a player’s total offensive production and compares it to the league average.
In this statistic, 100 represents league average. Yordan’s 165 means he has been 65% better offensively than the average MLB hitter since making his debut. Few statistics capture a hitter’s overall impact better. And in an era that includes Soto, Ohtani, Harper, and Freeman, the leader among left-handed hitters has been Yordan Álvarez.
Career Comparison
Yordan Álvarez Juan Soto
BABIP .318 .300
wRC+ 165 158
wOBA .405 .402
ISO .281 .251
WAR/162 6.0 6.3
Key Takeaways:
Yordan Álvarez vs Juan Soto
- Higher wRC+ (165), indicating slightly greater offensive production relative to league average.
- Higher wOBA (.406), showing more overall offensive impact.
- Much higher ISO (.281), reflecting superior power production.
- Higher BABIP, suggesting he consistently hits the ball with exceptional quality.
Overall Conclusion
While Soto owns a narrow advantage in overall value, Yordan Álvarez has been the more dangerous offensive force, leading in every major hitting metric shown. The gap is not large, but based on this comparison, Yordan has been the better pure hitter, while Soto has provided slightly more all-around value.
In other words:
Better hitter: Yordan Álvarez
More complete player: Juan Soto
Overall: Two generational left-handed bats whose career production has been remarkably similar, with Yordan holding the edge offensively and Soto holding a slight edge in WAR.