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Will This Astros Player Be Face of Their Franchise in 2028?

Originally posted on Houston Astros on SI | By Brad Wakai | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 12:00 PM ET

What the Houston Astros have done for the better part of the last 10 years has been incredible.

Putting together a modern day dynasty in the American League with an AL record seven straight appearances in the American League Championship Series to go along with two World Series championships, this franchise has been the gold standard across the sport.

Even when they aren't expected to compete at the highest level -- like this season -- they have shown their ability to just win games, as currently evident by them holding the top spot in the AL West in search of yet another division title.

What makes this year even more impressive is that they've done it without Yordan Alvarez, their superstar slugger who has been out since May 5 because of a hand injury that was later diagnosed as having a fracture.

The good news is that Alvarez is scheduled to start his rehab assignment on Tuesday, so that signals he could be making his long-awaited return at some point before the end of the regular season to give the Astros a key weapon for the stretch run.

And the hope is when he does come back, he'll remind everyone that he's one of the greatest hitters in the sport.

Yordan Alvarez Predicted To Be Face of Astros in 2028

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It's hard to doubt the prowess of Alvarez when he has the bat in his hands based on what he's done throughout his career, but he did not get off to a good start this year when he was healthy, putting up a career-worst slash line of .210/.306/.340 with just three homers and 18 RBI across 29 games.

However, the injury history of the slugger combined with this poor performance has not stopped Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report from believing that Alvarez will be the face of the franchise in 2028.

"2025 has been a season to forget for Yordan Alvarez. But from 2021-24, only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani had a better OPS than Houston's slugger with a .958 mark. Kind of have to hope/assume that he'll be back to his old self after this hand fracture heals up, mashing his way through the three years left on his deal. Because if it's not Alvarez as Houston's star in 2028, the options sure are limited for what is arguably the least talent-rich farm system in the sport right now," he wrote.

That makes sense. Carlos Correa is back, but he's declining. Same with Jose Altuve. Christian Walker will be gone by 2028 and he's had a rough start to his tenure. Isaac Paredes was great in his first season with Houston, but it's hard to imagine he'll be better than Alvarez if the slugger returns to form.

Because of that, Alvarez is really the only choice when it comes to who fans and analysts will point to as the face of the Astros, something that he likely would have been considered the last few years if the established stars of Altuve, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker weren't on the roster.