The Box He Stayed In

The Workout

Astros scout Charlie Gonzalez watched a teenage Yordan Alvarez take a 95-mph pitch up near his Adam's apple during a private workout. Alvarez did not bail out on the next pitch as most young hitters would. He stayed in the box, calm, balanced, and Gonzalez saw a left-handed swing that reminded him of Fred McGriff. He pushed the club to sign him.

The Dodgers signed him first — $2 million as an international free agent in June 2016. Alvarez was born in Las Tunas, Cuba, and played two seasons in the country's National Series for the Las Tunas team. He defected from Cuba in 2016, traveling via the Dominican Republic to establish residency in Haiti. The Astros acquired him for reliever Josh Fields in August 2016, before he had appeared in a minor-league game. He debuted on June 9, 2019, and won the Jackie Robinson AL Rookie of the Year.

Eight seasons, all in Houston. He is a 6-foot-4, 237-pound designated hitter, left-handed. He won the ALCS MVP in 2021 and a World Series ring in 2022, and he has been an All-Star four times. His parents, Agustín Eduardo and Mailyn, and his younger brother Yonder did not see him play in person until August 2022, when they came to Minute Maid Park. Alvarez spent the top of the first inning scanning the stands for their faces. He felt extremely nervous and anxious during his first at-bat after years apart and grounded out, later describing the reunion as meaning everything to him.

July 10

On that date, Alvarez hit his 200th career home run. He has 779 games, 850 hits, and a .301 average behind him. The swing Gonzalez saw in that workout has produced 204.

He has 34 home runs in 102 games this season. He is 29.

Reporting: Los Angeles Times, Houston Chronicle, MLB.com, Wikipedia. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.