Yordan Alvarez

Alvarez has few peers in Major League Baseball; Juan Soto is perhaps the only player on his level in terms of zone management and overall hitting skills. Alvarez's Statcast page is comical, as he led MLB in average exit velocity, hard-hit percentage, xwOBA, xBA, xSLG and barrel percentage. Alvarez drew 78 walks while striking out only 106 times in 561 plate appearances during the regular season. Despite playing in only 135 games and stealing only one base, Alvarez finished as a top-10 roto hitter in 2022. We still have to worry about his knees, although his absences last season weren't directly related. The 25-year-old is under contract with the Astros long term and maintains outfield eligibility in fantasy leagues entering 2023.

Alvarez bounced back in a big way in 2021, significantly raising his 2022 stock and painfully reminding Dodgers fans they once gave him up for Josh Fields. Alvarez and his old-man knees hit the fountain of youth as he destroyed baseballs to all fields and finished the season 38% better than the league average by wRC+. Only Mike Trout, Fernando Tatis and George Springer have a higher Isolated Power (SLG-AVG) over the past three seasons. The only statistical flaw to his game is a void of steals, but he excels in run production and has a career .290 average in nearly 1,000 plate appearances. The added bonus of qualifying as an outfielder for the first time in drafts will only push up his price in drafts, but Alvarez is worth every penny. Players often reach another level in their third full pro season; if Alvarez does that, he wins the 2022 AL MVP because his next level could look like Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s 2021 season.

Many players were hit hard by the pandemic in 2020, both in terms of how it affected their availability and in how it impacted their performance, and Alvarez was part of that group. His 2019 domination of baseballs set high expectations for the reigning Rookie of the Year, but COVID-19 led to him missing all of summer camp and the first three weeks of the season. He came back for all of nine plate appearances before being sent to the IL with a knee injury which eventually required season-ending surgery. Alvarez said he had dealt with the knee pain since the summer of 2019, but you would never know it statistically. There have been a few videos this offseason showing Alvarez on the treadmill during rehab, which is a good sign. Designated hitters still need their legs as the foundation of their swing, so Alvarez's recovery should be monitored closely. Adjust your risk/reward scale accordingly.

Alvarez was worth the wait for those who stashed him while he abused the Pacific Coast League to the tune of a .343/.443/.742 slash line over the first two months. Upon getting called up, the 22-year-old quickly became a foundational piece in Houston's lineup, claiming AL Rookie of the Year honors on the back of a 178 wRC+ that ranked fourth among all hitters following his June 9 promotion. Both the eye test and the Statcast metrics supported the notion that Alvarez is already one of the game's premier power bats, and his exceptional plate approach and ability to handle lefties (.307/.389/.649 in 131 plate appearances) should make him an annual batting title contender, too. Alvarez will only be eligible in a utility spot in most leagues to begin 2020, but like peak David Ortiz and Nelson Cruz before him, he's one of the few players whose lack of positional versatility shouldn't be viewed as a handicap.

There is an inevitable disconnect with where Alvarez ranks on real-life lists and fantasy-specific prospect rankings. He won’t provide much defensive value, likely getting starts in left field, at first base and at DH. What he will do, however, is hit for power and average. After putting on a clinic against Texas League pitchers (.290 ISO, 168 wRC+), he was promoted to Triple-A one week after his 21st birthday in late June. His BABIP fell from .377 to .315 after the promotion, accounting for the dip in average. However, he maintained an impressive all-fields approach (39.5 Pull%, 33.6 Oppo%) and actually upped his walk rate from 10% to 12.2%. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Cuban slugger makes such hard contact that his true talent BABIP is probably much closer to his Double-A mark. He hit above .300 against same-handed pitching at both stops, so a future platoon seems unlikely. The Astros have no reason to rush him, but he will likely force the issue this summer.

While Alvarez is a first-base-only prospect who is unproven above Low-A, he should still be viewed as a high-end asset. He has monstrous raw power, yet primarily accesses it to the opposite field, much like Domingo Santana. This rare tendency is the result of an extremely advanced all-fields approach. He rocketed the ball all over the Midwest League (.449 BABIP, 207 wRC+) en route to a midseason promotion to High-A, where the lefty-hitting slugger hit 35.8 percent of his hits to right field, 27.9 percent to center field and 36.3 percent to left field. Alvarez’s walk rate was cut in half against more advanced pitching, but his strikeout rate also dropped from 25.9 percent to 16.3 percent. Despite measuring in at 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, he has average speed, but that figures to tick down as he matures. It will be tough to crack the Astros’ lineup in the coming years, but Alvarez has the offensive ceiling to do so, which should excite owners in even the shallowest of dynasty leagues.