Phillies are winning in 5 if these 3 Astros don’t have a big game
By Tim Boyle
2) Phillies are winning in 5 if Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez remains silent
Maybe the most feared hitter in the Astros lineup is Yordan Alvarez. He hit 37 bombs in the regular season while slashing .306/.406/.613. He is an absolute beast. He added a pair of home runs against the Mariners and was held at bay by the Yankees pitchers. The Phillies have taken it to a whole new level. Their pitching staff is giving Alvarez practically nothing.
Thus far, Alvarez is 1 for 11 with a pair of walks and 4 strikeouts. His .091 batting average is an ode to the days when pitchers would hit. It’s a small sample size for sure. However, Alvarez is doing nothing close to what he did in the 2019 World Series when he hit .412 for the Astros.
Struggling in the World Series is nothing new for Alvarez. You may recall the Atlanta Braves holding him back in the 2021 World Series. Alvarez was only 2 for 20 against them. He did walk 5 times, so at least it wasn’t a total waste of at-bats. One has to wonder if the results would have been different if Alvarez was a big contributor instead of an observer.
The Phillies have been smacking home runs since the series began. The Astros now need a big one from their biggest slugger.