World Series: 5 biggest questions facing Astros, Nationals

4. Will the Astros bust out of their slump?

The Houston Astros got past the New York Yankees in the ALCS, but not everyone in their lineup had a great series. Some of them had an ALCS they would rather forget.

Yordan Alvarez is the most notable player who would like to put his performance against the Yankees behind him. Alvarez will likely be the unanimous choice for American League Rookie of the Year after slugging 27 home runs this season, despite not getting called up until June. But in the ALCS, Alvarez looked every bit like the rookie with only 87 big league games on his resume.

The powerful left-hander went 1-22 against the Yankees, a .045 batting average. Only three batters have ever had a lower batting average in that many at-bats in an LCS. His OPS of .170 was the third-worst in LCS history, behind only his Astros teammate Josh Reddick in 2017 and Rey Ordonez of the Mets in 1999. Yankees pitchers got him to strike out in half of his plate appearances across the six games. In Game 6, manager A.J. Hinch even pinch-hit for him late in the game.

Alvarez was far from alone among struggling Astros. George Springer hit .160, while Alex Bregman drove in only one run as the Yankees pitched around him. But it’s Alvarez who, according to Olney, will have the smallest margin of error in the World Series.

“The guy I have a lot of questions about going into the series is Yordan Alvarez,” he says. “Because he just looked like he completely expanded the strike zone. He was undisciplined in a way that we hadn’t seen all year. It’s gotten to the point where they pinch-hit for him in Game 6 the other night and I wonder if, in this series, A.J is going to be more open-minded to sitting him down.”

If Alvarez doesn’t turn things around, at least the Astros can sit him in Games 3-5 when the series shifts to Washington and the designated hitter won’t be in effect.