It wasn’t so much a matter of “if,” as it was a matter of “when.”
The Houston Astros’ No. 3 prospect Yordan Alvarez was called up from Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday night and plugged into the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles. And surprise, surprise, Alvarez hit an absolute bomb in his debut.
Alvarez punished a 1-0 pitch in just his second big league at-bat, sending a long liner well over the left-center field wall.
Alvarez absolutely ripped apart pitching in the minor leagues before getting the call to majors, which was delayed partly because of incredibly confusing “Super Two” designations and also because the Astros have been one of the best teams in baseball.
The 21-year-old Cuban belted 23 home runs in Triple-A and batted .343. His average bloated as high as .415 on May 15 before pitchers essentially stopped pitching to him, and Alvarez once even left his bat in the dugout when he knew he was getting the intentional pass.
With the ascension of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in Toronto and Michael Chavis making noise in Boston, people may be sleeping on Alvarez as one the best rookie sluggers in the American League.
They might not be sleeping for long.
