Is Yordan Alvarez the Best Left Handed Hitter in Baseball?
Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros (Associated Press)
The Houston Astros have made the ALCS for six consecutive seasons. In that timeframe, only one hitter has a wRC+ over 150 for them: Yordan Alvarez. Since Yordan was a rookie in 2019, he has a career number of 166 wRC+. Not only a .295 career hitter, he’s also third in baseball in wOBA since his debut (behind Judge and Trout). He might be limited to the occasional left field start defensively, but no one can question the punch of his bat. Bregman, Altuve, and Tucker have all been the core of today’s Houston team for years, but not one them are even close to the offensive production or real feel that Yordan has. I watched Yordan single handedly destroy the Mariners last postseason, before going deep twice in Game 1 of the ALDS this year against the Twins. The threat he poses is demonstrated by his BB rate% in October, 13.6%.
Houston Astros hitters 2018-2023 (Fangraphs)
How does Yordan compare against the other premier left handed hitters in the last five years? Since his rookie season, he’s first in the league in wOBA, ISO, SLG, and w RC+. Here’ a comparison of his past three seasons vs the other top left handed hitters in baseball.
LH Hitters in MLB 2021-2023 (Fangraphs)
The 6’5”, 230 pound Air Yordan even has more impressive hitting numbers than superstars like Shoehi and Juan Soto, with Freddie and Bryce marginally behind the top three. Shohei has more home runs and a higher ISO in the last three years, but Yordan has a higher wOBA and wRC+. The main difference here is Yordan strikes out much less than Shohei (20.7% to 25.9%), while he’s hit .291 over the last three seasons. Bryce and Freeman have hit for higher average than Yordan but their power numbers aren’t even close. Finally, Juan Soto has a high BB % and low K%, but both his power and batting averages are substantially lower. Of course, when comparing Yordan to everyone here, I am not looking at fielding ability (or pitching). Purely from a hitting perspective, Yordan has clearly been the best left handed hitter in the league in the last few years and it’s not that close. Don’t expect it to change anytime soon either, just look at the ZIP projections for Alvarez.
Alvarez ZIPS Projections (Fangraphs)
Yordan is only 26 and Fangraphs projects his power and average to stick around into his thirties. It’s hard to imagine someone topping Alvarez offensively from the left side of the plate in the next few years, but Ohtani and Soto are probably the best bets. We’re likely to see the best version of Freeman and Bryce Harper at this point, but we might still see Juan Soto and Shoehi take it up another gear in 2024 or 2025. For now, Yordan will retain the title of best active left handed hitter in baseball and the best we’ve seen in awhile (since Barry Bonds).
*Stats are as of 10/8/23