Houston Astros Announced Shocking Yordan Alvarez Decision Before Mariners Game

After dropping their Saturday contest to the Seattle Mariners, the Houston Astros will look to take the series from the M’s on Sunday Night Baseball. Houston currently has a 63-61 record and is two games ahead of the Texas Rangers for first place in the AL West.

Before the series finale, the Astros announced a fairly surprising decision regarding Yordan Alvarez.

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Yordan Alvarez in LF on Sunday

GettyHOUSTON, TEXAS – AUGUST 14: Yordan Alvarez #44 of the Houston Astros singles during the fourth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Daikin Park on August 14, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Yordan Alvarez is getting a VERY rare start in left field for the series finale against the Seattle Mariners.

Alvarez does not play great defense, and for the past few seasons, he’s exclusively been moved to the designated hitter role for the Astros.

Here is the full Houston Astros batting order for 8/16:

Astros 8/16: “J. Peña SS Y. Alvarez LF I. Paredes 3B J. Altuve DH D. Varsho CF C. Walker 1B L. Wade Jr. RF Y. Diaz C N. Allen 2B H. Brown SP”

There aren’t many changes to the Houston lineup, but the reason that Yordan is out in left field is that Jose Altuve is back in the order, but he’s the DH today, which puts Nick Allen at second base. As you can also see, Hunter Brown will get the start for the Stros, and Yainer Diaz is forming a battery with Houston’s ace.

Yordan is considered the frontrunner to win AL MVP with the monster offensive season he’s had thus far.

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Inside Yordan Alvarez’s MONSTER 2026 Season

GettyHOUSTON, TEXAS – JULY 31: Yordan Alvarez #44 of the Houston Astros bats during the second inning against the Texas Rangers at Daikin Park on July 31, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Yordan Alvarez has played in 122 games this season, and he is putting up a phenomenal campaign. He’s on Triple-Crown watch, and leads the AL in just about every major hitting category.

Here are his full 2026 stats, with the BOLD numbers indicating they lead the American League:

.321 average, 36 home runs, 88 RBI, 82 runs, 142 hits, OPS+ of 195, and 275 total bases

Yeah, there’s a reason he’s the frontrunner to win AL MVP, and perhaps one of the biggest storylines in MLB over the next month+ will be Yordan’s triple-crown chase.

He’s also added 5.5 bWAR and 86 walks to just 91 strikeouts over 442 at-bats.

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