Yordan Alvarez has his first American League MVP award. The Houston Astros designated hitter won the 2026 honor unanimously in results released Nov. 12, collecting all 30 first-place votes and 420 points, according to USA TODAY. Source Source Source
Alvarez led MLB with a .316 batting average, a .432 on-base percentage and a .601 slugging percentage, USA TODAY reports. Those categories measure hits per at-bat, how often a hitter reaches base and total bases per at-bat, respectively. He also hit 42 home runs and drove in 106 runs. One leaderboard apparently wasn’t enough. Source
MLB says Alvarez won the AL batting title while playing a career-high 158 games. Source
Tampa Bay third baseman Junior Caminero finished second with 267 points, while Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was third with 188, according to USA TODAY. Caminero matched Alvarez’s 42 home runs. Source
Alvarez’s sweep of the three rate-stat categories wasn’t the traditional Triple Crown, though. That requires leading his league in batting average, home runs and RBIs; Baltimore’s Pete Alonso finished ahead of him with 43 homers and 113 RBIs, USA TODAY reports. The trophy shelf will have to cope with an MVP instead. Source
Alvarez becomes the third Astros player to win an MVP award, according to USA TODAY, joining Jose Altuve in 2017 and Jeff Bagwell in 1994. Bagwell’s award came in the National League. Source
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