Good health was key to Yordan Alvarez's MVP season

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez was healthy in 2026. Good thing, too. He was the No. 1 reason the Astros won the American League West title.     

Look at what he did in the batter's box: Alvarez won his first A.L. batting title by hitting .318 with 42 home runs, 106 RBIs and a 1.033 OPS in 158 games. Those numbers helped him become the unanimous A.L. MVP.  

Alvarez received all 30 first-place votes and 210 points from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, while Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero finished second with 267 points. Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. finished third with 188 points. 

“Incredible, Incredible,” Alvarez said through an interpreter during a conference call. "I wasn’t sure if I was going to win it. But now that I’m here, I’m just very happy." 

It seemed like yesterday that Alvarez missed most of the 2025 season because of a right-hand fracture and a sprained left ankle. He entered the ‘26 campaign with a chip on his shoulder and wanted baseball people to know that he is still a force in the game. 

"Everybody knows I had some injury struggles last year. Yes, that was on my mind. I was anxious to get back this season. Now we see where that ended up: the MVP award,” he said. "This year, …  I never really had any minor injuries or pains or soreness. I was able to maintain my health throughout the season and we saw what that amounted to – playing all the time and staying healthy."

Alvarez joined Jeff Bagwell (1994) and Jose Altuve (2017) as the only players in franchise history to win the top prize. Alvarez is also proud that he is one of four Cuban-born players -- Zoilo Versalles (1965), Jose Canseco (1988), José Abreu (2020) are the others -- to win the MVP.

“It’s incredible. Coming from where I came from -- basically, I came from nothing, so to be able to win this award and see the path that I’ve traveled, it is really emotional and exciting,” Alvarez said.       

Not many designated hitters have been named Most Valuable Player. Shohei Ohtani was the first to win it prior to Alvarez, who hopes his winning the award allows other DH's to win the top prize. 

“I know it’s unique to win it as a DH," Alvarez said. "Hopefully, with Ohtani last year and me this year, I hope we start setting a precedent where people start looking at the number of DH's and giving them the award.”        

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.