Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez won the American League MVP Award, with every voter selecting him in a unanimous decision announced Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, according to the Houston Chronicle. The 29-year-old led the majors in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging during a season that followed a 2025 campaign cut to 48 games by hand and ankle injuries.
The Main Development
Alvarez topped the major leagues with a .316 batting average, a .432 on-base percentage and a .601 slugging mark, according to MLB.com. His 1.033 OPS beat the next-closest qualified AL hitter by 132 points. He also led the AL with 341 total bases, 109 walks and 77 extra-base hits, and his offensive WAR, per Baseball-Reference, reached 7.2.
The unanimous vote broke a run in which Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani had combined to win the previous five AL MVP awards. Judge appeared in just 66 games this season because of injuries, and Ohtani now plays in the National League.
Alvarez has not framed his season in terms of the numbers that carried him to the award. “I’m not really the type of player that focuses on numbers,” he said through an interpreter in July in the Astros clubhouse.
What It Means
Alvarez is the third Astros player to win an MVP award, joining Jose Altuve, who won it in 2017, and Jeff Bagwell, who won it in 1994. He is also the second primary designated hitter to capture the honor, after Ohtani.
Houston shortstop Jeremy Peña said teammates had ribbed Alvarez for downplaying his production despite his dominant numbers. After Alvarez hit his 40th home run in September, Peña offered a broader read on the year. “A lot of people, I’m not going to say they forgot about him, but they kind of did,” Peña said.
“I know that he took it personal. He took it upon himself to take care of his body this year and stay on the field, stay healthy. And he knows that when he’s healthy, he can put up MVP numbers.”
Season Context
Alvarez finished with career highs of 42 home runs and 106 RBIs across 158 games, adding 34 doubles and 105 runs scored. He finished second in the AL in RBIs and tied for second in home runs, numbers he posted despite a power drought in August. His recovery from the injury-shortened 2025 season also earned him the AL Comeback Player of the Year award, the AL Hank Aaron Award, a spot on the All-MLB first team and the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, which ended a five-year streak of Ohtani winning that honor, according to Bleacher Report.
Altuve, a three-time AL batting champion, called Alvarez the best hitter he has seen. “Pure hitter, he’s the best I’ve ever seen. Nobody better than him,” Altuve said during the summer.
Astros hitting coach Victor Rodriguez credited Alvarez’s preparation for his consistency. “It’s not by accident he is what he is,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a good hitter, a good natural hitter.
But he knows. He knows who he’s facing, he knows how to prepare accordingly to who he’s facing. He does his homework.”
Charlie Gonzalez, the Astros senior scouting advisor who first saw Alvarez at workouts in south Florida during the 2015-16 international signing period, said the 6-foot-4, 237-pound slugger’s ceiling was evident even then. “He had as lofty and as high a ceiling as any hitter that I knew of, that I had seen in my time,” Gonzalez said. “And the rest is just all Yordan. …
He’s a great kid, very passionate kid, works hard. Very, very happy for him.”
What’s Next
The MVP announcement came alongside a full slate of MLB awards revealed Thursday, including Pete Crow-Armstrong among the other honorees. Alvarez’s offseason now turns to preparing for the 2027 season.
Don't stop here
Every Score. Every Story. One Home.
Breaking sports, entertainment and news from across the Total Apex network, updated all day.
Get the Full Story →
