Cuban Professional baseball player Yordan Ruben Alvarez is a designated hitter and left fielder for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball.
Making his debut in 2019 for the Astros, since then, Alvarez has received the nickname “Air Yordan” by his fans.
The baseball player stands at a towering six feet and five inches, weighs 225 pounds, bats left-handed while throws right-handed.
Before he earned a name in America, Alvares played two seasons for the team Las Tunas in the Cuban National Series. His Cuban career ended when he defected from the country in 2016.
Alvarez left for Haiti and established residency there. While in Haiti, the player signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an international free agent.
Though the Dodgers had initially signed him, the Houston Astros acquired Alvares via trade from the Los Angeles team later in 2016.
Soon after his professional debut in 2019, Alvares was unanimously named American League Rookie of the Year.
This recognition was due to Alvarez posting the highest slugging percentage, not just that year but in history. His slugging percentage was .655.
Since then, Alvarez has won many awards and recognitions. They are as follows:
- All-Star (2022)
- ALCS MVP (2021)
- All-MLB Second Team (2019, 2021)
- AL Rookie of the Year (2019)
Here Are Some Facts And Stats About Yordan Alvarez
| 25 |
| $1.5 Million |
| Athlete |
| Cuba |
| June 27, 1997 |
| Las Tunas, Cuba |
| June 9, 2019 |
| Houston Astros |
| 5 |
| 92 |
| 2019 – Present |
Learn About Yodan Alvarez’s Parents
Yordan Alvarez was born to his parents, Agustin Eduardo Alvarez Salaza and Mailyn Cadogan Reyes, in Las Tunas, Cuba.
Alvarez has a brother, Yonder Alvarez Cadogan. The family recently made the news on August 23, 2022, when Alvarez’s parents finally got to see their son play professionally since leaving Cuba.
Alvarez’s father reported that the contest at Minute Maid Park, where the Houston Astros played against the Minnesota Twins, was the greatest moment of his life as he finally got to see his son play after a long time.
For it wasn’t just young Alvarez but the whole family that had defected from Cuba to Haiti, and as soon as they did, their son left for America after being signed.
Since then, the family didn’t get to spend time together but supported Alvarez from afar. When he got signed, Alvarez only visited his parents twice and tried to get them their visas for several years.
When they finally saw him play, Alvarez’s mother could not hold back her tears. Seeing her son be the first at-bat and his stellar performance throughout made her feel immensely proud.
What Is Yordan Alvarez’s Ethnicity?
Yordan Alvarez was born in Las Tunas and belongs to Cuban ethnicity; he is one of the more popular afro-Latino people in MLB.
Alvarez started his career in his hometown team of Lenadores de Las Tunas in the Cuban National Series. He played for two seasons.
In his second season, 2014-2015, Alvares ranked second on the Lenadores by batting .352, hitting one double and one home run over 125 plate appearances and 40 games.
Alvares’s Cuban career would abruptly end after their family defected from Cuba to Haiti.
The story of how Alvarez ended up with a professional baseball career is quite interesting. The young baseball player met his future teammate and fellow Cuban Yuli Gurriel and his future major leaguer brother, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., in Haiti.
The three traveled to West Palm Beach in Florida, where the Astros built their new spring training site. While there, Alvarez met and befriended Astros scout Charlie Gonzalez.
Gonzalez lobbied for club officials to sign the Cuban player, but they declined as they had already signed Gurriel for $47.5 million, for which they had incurred penalties.
However, their interest in Alvarez led to the Los Angeles Dodgers signing him as an international free agent in June 2016 for $2 million.
Read more about MLB athletes here: Giancarlo Stanton’s Parents’ Roots Make Him An African-American Excellent Baseball Outfielder
What Is Yordan Alvarez’s Religion?
Well-wishers of Professional baseball player Yordan Alvarez are curious about his religion. However, he has not made his religious beliefs public.
Though it can be inferred that he might be Christian, given his ethnic background, that would be a simple guesstimation.
Alvarez has always been a man of few words who lets his work speak for him. From a humble start as an international free agent, Alvarez soon became one of the Astros’ greatest assets.
After being signed by the Dodgers in June 2016, they traded him to the Astros months later for Josh Fields because they needed relief pitching.
Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers President of Baseball Operations, would later acknowledge just how big a mistake they had made by trading Alvarez.
The reasoning behind Friedman’s statement is that even while in the Minor leagues, Alvarez’s talents shone through within a year, and he was already playing in the All-Star Futures Games.
Alvarez was already ranked among the top prospects in the minor leagues by the 2018 season. From the vantage point of 2022, Alvarez has achieved a lot in his career, and as he is only 22, he has much more to do.