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The Cuban baseball player Yordan Álvarez hit his seventh home run of the season this Wednesday, in the Houston Astros' 3-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Daikin Park, and he continues to stay on track for his first season with 40 or more home runs in Major League Baseball.
The home run was a solo shot to right field in the third inning, with a exit velocity of 107.2 miles per hour, angle of 22 degrees and a distance of 375 feet, off a 78.5 mph slurve from pitcher José Quintana.
With seven home runs in just 19 games, Álvarez tied for second place in Major League Baseball in that category at the end of Wednesday's games.
The analyst Francys Romero, from beisbolfr.com, highlighted the historical significance of the start: "Since the year 2000, only three players born in Cuba have hit 7 HR in the first 19 games of a season: Yordan Álvarez (7, 2026), Adolis García (7, 2023), and Rafael Palmeiro (8, 2000)."
Palmeiro finished the 2000 season with 43 home runs. García wrapped up 2023 with 39. If Álvarez continues on this path, the numbers indicate a historic season.
FanGraphs projects the Cuban player for 54 home runs in a full season if he maintains his current pace of approximately 0.37 home runs per game.
Álvarez's statistics in these 19 games are outstanding in multiple categories: an average of .333, an OPS of 1.250, a barrel rate of 21.8%, and 85.7% of home runs classified as indisputable based on distance and exit velocity.
The start of 2026 contrasts sharply with the 2025 season, the most challenging of his career, when a fracture in the fourth metacarpal of his right hand and a severe sprain in his left ankle limited him to just 48 games and six home runs.
His return in August and September 2025 was promising: he batted .565 during rehabilitation with two home runs and six RBIs, a sign that his talent remained intact.
The week of April 7, 2026, had already foreshadowed what was to come: Álvarez won the American League Player of the Week award with a batting average of .471, three home runs, and eight runs batted in, leading the majors in on-base percentage (.578) and slugging percentage (.900).
Álvarez has accumulated 177 home runs in his Major League career, adding the seven from the start of this season to the 170 he had registered up to 2025.
His best previous season was 2022, with 37 home runs, 97 RBIs, and a batting average of .306, the year in which he won the Silver Bat in the American League and played a key role in the Astros' World Series championship.
Reaching 40 or more home runs in 2026 would not only be a personal record but also a milestone for a Cuban player in the modern era of Major League Baseball.
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