As of Sunday, the Astros have played only three games of the 2021 regular season. But we know something for sure: Pitchers are afraid of Yordan Álvarez. With his early performance at the plate, the Cuban slugger has cleared any possible doubt about his health and is haunting opposing hurlers.
Despite the small sample size, Rival pitchers want to stay out of the danger zone when they face Álvarez and they’re approaching him differently compared to 2019, when he destroyed the opposition and won the AL ROY unanimously.
Two years ago, Álvarez saw 46.1% of his total pitches away in the zone.