Yordan Álvarez Hits 11th Homer as Teammate Carlos Correa Compares Him to Barry Bonds

April 23, 2026

Cuban designated hitter Yordan Álvarez of the Houston Astros continued his historic 2026 MLB season on April 22, launching his 11th home run of the year — a 422-foot, two-run blast off starter Tanner Bibee — to seal a 2-0 Astros victory over the Cleveland Guardians.

With the home run, Álvarez leads all of Major League Baseball in home runs (11), RBIs (26), hits (33), extra-base hits (19), total bases (74), on-base percentage (.466), slugging percentage (.779), and OPS (1.245). The Las Tunas-born slugger also extended his hitting streak to 9 consecutive games and his on-base streak to 18 games.

The performance has drawn comparisons to one of baseball's all-time greats. Astros shortstop Carlos Correa offered the loftiest praise yet: "2026 Yordan is the closest thing I've seen to Barry Bonds." Correa highlighted that Álvarez's dominance comes not just from his power, but from his elite plate discipline — drawing walks, rarely striking out, and consistently finding pitches to drive, all hallmarks of Bonds at his peak.

Álvarez himself remained composed about his remarkable output: "I just want to find a good pitch and connect on the pitch and things are turning out for me right now. I'm not surprised with my results. That's why I work so hard," he said after the game.

With the milestone, Álvarez became only the second player in Astros franchise history to hit 11 home runs within the first 26 games of a season, matching a mark set by Lance Berkman in 2002. After a 2025 campaign limited to 48 games due to injury, Álvarez is back at his dominant best — and his American League MVP candidacy is already taking shape with just weeks of the season played.