Yordan Alvarez

Yordan Alvarez is one of the most feared power hitters in baseball, anchoring the Houston Astros lineup as a premier DH.

Yordan Álvarez was born on June 27, 1997, in Las Tunas, in eastern Cuba, to parents Agustín Álvarez Salazar and Mailyn Cadogan Reyes. He grew up idolizing fellow Cuban star Yuli Gurriel and represented Cuba internationally as a teenager, helping the national under-18 team win a bronze medal at the 2015 World Cup in Japan. In 2016, at just 18 years old, Alvarez made the difficult decision to defect from Cuba, first establishing residency in the Dominican Republic and then Haiti — a path many Cuban players have historically had to take, given the near impossibility of leaving Cuba directly for professional baseball opportunities. While establishing residency in Haiti, Alvarez crossed paths with Gurriel, who was going through the same process, and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an international free agent in June 2016. He never played a game in the Dodgers' organization; within weeks, Houston acquired him in a trade for reliever Josh Fields — a deal that would prove to be one of the most lopsided in recent baseball history. Alvarez debuted with the Astros in June 2019 and won the American League Rookie of the Year award unanimously. Alvarez quickly developed into one of the most feared pure hitters in the sport, combining rare bat speed with power to all fields. He was named MVP of the 2021 American League Championship Series and delivered several iconic postseason home runs during Houston's run to the 2022 World Series championship. Perhaps most remarkably, Alvarez did not see his parents, mother, and younger brother play in person for six years after his defection — Cuba's restrictions on travel for defectors' families made visits nearly impossible — until Astros owner Jim Crane personally helped arrange visitor visas in 2022, allowing his family to watch him play a professional game for the first time.

Left-handed power hitter with exceptional plate discipline and clutch hitting ability

One of the most feared hitters in modern baseball, key figure in Astros championship success

• World Series champion (2022)
• 3x All-Star
• AL Rookie of the Year (2019)
• ALCS MVP (2021)
• Silver Slugger (2022)
• All-MLB First Team (2022)