Yordan Alvarez needed a bigger trophy case. The Astros slugger took home five awards Wednesday night at the 2026 MLB Awards in Las Vegas: the American League Hank Aaron Award, AL Comeback Player of the Year, the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, the Rod Carew AL Batting Title and a spot on the All-MLB First Team at DH, according to Major League Baseball.
The awards were handed out at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Nov. 11, one day before the biggest one of all. On Nov. 12, Alvarez added the biggest one, winning the 2026 AL MVP in a unanimous vote with all 30 first-place votes from the BBWAA, ahead of fellow finalists Junior Caminero of the Rays and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals, per the BBWAA.
The Five Awards at a Glance
- AL Hank Aaron Award: Given to the best offensive performer in each league. Chosen by fan voting plus a panel of Hall of Famers and past winners. It is his first.
- AL Comeback Player of the Year: Voted on by the 30 MLB.com club beat reporters. He beat out Shane McClanahan, Gerrit Cole and Mike Trout, among others.
- Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award: Ballots are cast by club beat writers, broadcasters and public relations departments. It is his first, and the first ever for an Astros player.
- Rod Carew AL Batting Title: Earned with a .316 average, the best in the Majors.
- All-MLB First Team, DH: Chosen 50% by fans and 50% by a panel of experts. It is his sixth All-MLB selection.
Hank Aaron Award: The Best Bat in the American League
Alvarez and the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong were named the 2026 Hank Aaron Award winners, ending a run by repeat winners Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, per MLB.com. Commissioner Rob Manfred, Harold Reynolds and Billye Aaron, Hank Aaron’s widow, presented the award, with Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and 2006 winner Ryan Howard on stage.
“It means a lot to me,” Alvarez told MLB Network’s Siera Santos while accepting the award, according to MLB.com. “Especially because I wear the [uniform] No. 44. And I’ve been working pretty hard for this moment. It’s very special for me to see my name on this award.”
Alvarez joins Jose Altuve (2017) as the only Astros to win the award, and he is the second Cuban-born winner after Jose Abreu in 2020, per the MLB press release. MLB.com noted that even in August, his weakest month by wRC+, he was 33% better than a league-average hitter, and May and August were the only months he finished with an OPS under 1.000.
Comeback Player of the Year: From 48 Games to 158
This one tells the story of the last two years. Alvarez played in only 48 games in 2025. He missed 100 games after fracturing his right hand on May 2, then a left ankle sprain ended his season on Sept. 15. In 2026 he played a career-high 158 games, per MLB.
He is just the second Astro to win Comeback Player of the Year, joining Justin Verlander, who won it during the 2022 World Series season. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler won the NL award.
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Outstanding DH: Ending the Ohtani Streak
Astros Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell presented Alvarez with the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, and joked that he might have been the worst DH in baseball history, per MLB.com. Bagwell had 14 strikeouts and nine hits in 51 career plate appearances at DH.
Alvarez is the first DH not named Shohei Ohtani to win the award since 2020. Ohtani had won it five straight times. As a designated hitter alone, Alvarez played 134 games and hit .305 with a .422 on-base percentage, a .575 slugging percentage, 34 home runs and 83 RBIs. Among DHs, he led the Majors in batting average, total bases and on-base percentage, per the MLB press release. He also started 24 games in left field.
Batting Title and All-MLB First Team
Alvarez won the AL batting title at .316, making him the third different Astros hitter to win one, after Altuve (2014, 2016 and 2017) and Yuli Gurriel (2021). MLB.com noted he is just the third player since 1970 to win the AL batting title while hitting at least 40 home runs, joining Aaron Judge (2025) and Miguel Cabrera (2012 and 2013).
The All-MLB nod made history. Alvarez is the first player ever to earn All-MLB honors in six different seasons: First Team in 2022 and 2026, and Second Team in 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024, per the MLB press release. Only Ohtani has more total All-MLB awards. Alvarez was the only Astro picked for either team this year.
The Season Behind the Hardware
Alvarez was in the Triple Crown hunt for long stretches of the year before Baltimore’s Pete Alonso passed him in home runs and RBIs with a hot finish. Here is what he put up in 2026:
- Slash line: .316/.432/.601, leading the AL in all three
- OPS: 1.033, the only qualified hitter in the Majors over 1.000
- Home runs: 42, tied for second in the AL and a career high
- RBIs: 106, second in the AL and a career high
- Walks: 109, most in the Majors, including 33 intentional walks to break Bagwell’s club record of 27
- Total bases and extra-base hits: 341 and 77, both AL highs
- Runs and hits: 105 runs and 179 hits
- AL Player of the Month: Twice (March/April and July)
He is also just the fourth player in franchise history to reach 40 homers, 100 RBIs, 100 walks and 100 runs in a season, joining Bagwell, Lance Berkman and Alex Bregman. He had his share of big moments too, including a franchise-record six RBIs in one inning on June 12 in Kansas City and a two-homer game capped by a walk-off shot against the Rays at Daikin Park on July 4, per MLB.com.
Then Came MVP, and Next Up the Silver Slugger
One night after these awards, Alvarez was named the unanimous AL MVP, joining Bagwell (1994 NL) and Altuve (2017 AL) as the only MVPs in Astros history. Read the full story on his MVP win. He is also a finalist for the AL Silver Slugger at DH, which MLB.com says will be announced on Tuesday. His trophy case already includes the 2019 AL Rookie of the Year, the 2021 ALCS MVP and a 2022 World Series ring.
LFG Houston’s Take
The Comeback Player award might be the one that means the most. After a 2025 season that was mostly spent on the injured list, the big question was whether Yordan could stay on the field for a full year. He answered it with a career-high 158 games, and the rest of the hardware followed. When he is healthy, there may not be a better pure hitter in baseball, and five trophies in one night back that up.
Details and quotes via MLB, MLB.com, MLB.com, MLB and MLB.com.
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