00:00Jordan Alvarez, this is, for me, Luke, is a super fascinating watch.
00:08And the more I dig, the more fascinating it is to me.
00:13We talked about Jordan Alvarez and the Triple Crown watch.
00:17I think it was Thursday or Friday.
00:20We broke down exactly where he was and how he was rolling.
00:24And the Triple Crown, it's only been done 12 times by 10 guys.
00:28Obviously, two guys did it twice.
00:32And that's in the entire Major League.
00:33That's not just AL and National League.
00:35That's in the entire, since 1920, I think it was, when RBIs became a thing.
00:40Is 1920 right?
00:41Did they start, I think it was 1920.
00:43That's a good question.
00:44I don't know.
00:44RBIs have been around a long time, over 100 years.
00:49But anyway, it's just so rare, Luke, that, I mean, I don't know why,
00:54but is this as fascinating to you as it is to me, or is it just too early to?
00:58No, I think we're there.
01:00I don't think that often you get a guy that's still making this strong of a case heading into August.
01:04So, you know, I think it's fair to have these conversations, because this doesn't happen every year.
01:10Deepest run since Miggy Cabrera won it for somebody to lead in the three categories.
01:16Wow, so exactly.
01:17That was the point I was just trying to make.
01:19Yeah, you had the data.
01:19Yeah, so, you know, we don't get this very often.
01:21So, yeah, I think it's fair to be having this conversation and keep the watchful eye on.
01:25Yeah, Otani didn't lead in all three categories, but he was competitive until early July.
01:31And I can't remember who the other one was, Tyler.
01:34I don't know if you remember, but somebody else had carried it to, like, July 24th and then fell off.
01:40Two guys jumped him in average.
01:43And so, Jordan Alvarez on the 25th was, or the 24th, 25th, somewhere in there,
01:48was the longest run since it was actually done.
01:51But here is where Jordan sits right now.
01:55Tell me which one of these things, Luke, you think is going to be the hardest for him to hold
01:59on to.
01:59Right now, Jordan Alvarez.
02:01By the way, Triple Crown is batting average, home runs, and RBIs.
02:07Leading in all three.
02:08You can go AL, you can go NL, and then the overall Major League Baseball has been done a handful
02:15of times.
02:15A handful of those guys that, it's been done 12 times, a handful of those guys, I think three or
02:20four, had done it.
02:21It wasn't just their conference.
02:23It was their overall Major League Baseball they wanted.
02:29All right, here's where Jordan Alvarez sits right now on the Triple Crown watch.
02:32Average.
02:33He's first in the American League at 323.
02:37Right?
02:37He's third in Major League Baseball overall, but it's a tight race, man.
02:42I think he was actually second in overall Major League Baseball the last time we reported it.
02:47But Otto Lopez with the Marlins, he's first with 328.
02:52And Luis Urias is second with 327.
02:59And then Jordan Alvarez is third with 323.
03:01But he is leading in the American League right now.
03:04Home runs.
03:06He's first in the American League and in Major League Baseball with 34.
03:11Kyle Schwarber has 33.
03:13Hunter Goodman with the Rockies has 31.
03:16And that Yankee turd, Ben Rice, has 31 as well overall.
03:21I got a message for those Yankee turds.
03:23RBIs.
03:24He's first in the AL.
03:26Ben Rice, same Yankee turd.
03:28He is behind Jordan Alvarez.
03:32And then he is second in Major League Baseball.
03:35By the way, he's at 77.
03:36He's second in Major League Baseball.
03:40Apparently, D.J. Abrams had a good weekend and made a little bit of a run, I think.
03:45So, which one of those do you think can he hold on to?
03:49And if he's going to lose one, which one do you think he loses to?
03:53That's a good question.
03:55My initial reaction for Jordan, all due respect to him, but normally I would say batting average
04:01because, I mean, he's a slugger.
04:02I shouldn't have to worry about the homers, but can he continue to hit at a 320-plus clip?
04:07However, when you look at just the American League, right now he has a 20-point advantage
04:11on anybody else.
04:13Only one, you know, the next closest is 303 in the American League.
04:16So he's got a pretty big cushion there.
04:18At this point in the season, could Jordan drop 25 points on the batting average?
04:22Of course, but, you know, that'd be a pretty bad two months for him the rest of the way.
04:26So, I guess we cross off batting average.
04:29Homers is the one I would feel the safest about, and yet, as you just referenced,
04:33like Ben Rice is sort of nipping at his heels there with homers.
04:3631-34, yep.
04:37Yeah, so he's right in that conversation.
04:40All this is to say, though, I think my biggest concern might be runs batted in,
04:44not so much because of Jordan, but RBI is like you can only drive yourself in
04:49or people that are on base.
04:50So I guess my concern would be, as the season wears on, how many opportunities will he continue
04:54to get to drive guys in because of the lack of depth in this lineup where,
05:00I don't have the numbers in front of me, but if you look it up, like specifically for the
05:03month of July, I think this has been a bit of a slow month for Jordan and RBIs.
05:08And I think there's a couple guys like tied with him for this month alone in RBIs.
05:13So my concern would be, like, how many opportunities will he have in the next two months
05:17because just Altuve's not having his normal year, the capital lineup's terrible, there's
05:22just not guys on, and you can only drive yourself in so often with homers, with solo homers.
05:27You need guys on base to be able to drive them in.
05:29Teams might not pitch to him as often with men on base.
05:32So it might end up being runs batted in, really, at no fault of his own.
05:37I'm with you 100% on that right there.
05:38I think from an average perspective, you mentioned him being a power hitter, being a slugger.
05:43Look, I just, I mean, I think he's the best all-around hitter in baseball.
05:47I mean, it's just, the crazy thing about Jordan to me that we probably, we all understand and
05:51we all love it, but we probably take for, like, his ability to hit, to drive bad pitches.
05:57Like, even when he gets fooled and there's off-speed that starts in the zone and then breaks
06:00out of the zone, his ability to steal, not only get solid contact, but drive that ball
06:06out of the park or drive it with an exit velocity that few can match kind of thing is wild.
06:13I'm with you on the RBIs because it has to do with, I think, the willingness to pitch
06:18to him, although it's shocked the hell out of us on this show that they do it at all,
06:23but I think the willingness to pitch to him as the season goes on is going to diminish.
06:27And I think the other thing is, too, we'll see what happens at the trade deadline, but
06:32boy, if the Astros do become sellers at the trade deadline and move a couple of big players,
06:36that's going to impact his ability to drive runs in as well, which that brings me to
06:41this, this conversation.
06:43We'll keep an eye on Jordan.
06:44I mean, I imagine from the stat perspective, every other day, we'll probably bring this
06:48to light and see kind of where he stands.
06:50I don't know that average and even home runs and RBIs are a daily tracker, but a couple of
06:57times throughout the week, I am absolutely fascinated with it.
06:59And the Astros have won five of the last six, Luke, but the trade deadline is a week away.
07:07And we've seen this thing turn, as it has for the better, in a week in a drastic way.
07:13I don't know what the next week is going to hold.
07:14It better be good.
07:15You've got the Angels for the next three.
07:17But I don't know what the next week's going to hold.
07:20I'm in hopes that the Astros are moving further and further away from being a seller at the
07:27deadline.
07:27I always want my Astros to stay in the hunt and chasing World Series, even when it's not
07:35the smartest thing.
07:36But the Jeremy Pena trade piece scares me.
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