As of September 5, Yordan Álvarez leads all of MLB with a 1.035 OPS and is in contention in every category that defines the Triple Crown: batting average (.317), home runs (37, tied with Junior Caminero), and RBI (94, tied with Pete Alonso). With roughly 25 games left, baseball hasn’t seen this feat pulled off since 2012.
A tie still counts — and that matters
ESPN’s Enrique Rojas clarified something a lot of fans don’t know: if Álvarez finishes the regular season tied for the lead in any of the three categories, the Triple Crown still belongs to him. The rule is simple — the title goes to the player who leads or ties for the lead in all three. Álvarez doesn’t need to pass Caminero in home runs or Alonso in RBI. He just needs to make sure nobody passes him.
In batting average, his cushion over Chandler Simpson (.312) is five points — the most comfortable of the three leads. That said, five points can evaporate in one rough week in September.
The competition in each category
- Home runs — Junior Caminero (37): The 23-year-old Dominican outfielder for the Rays hit two home runs on September 1 to pull even with Álvarez atop the American League. Caminero finished 2025 with 45 home runs and has threatened 40 in back-to-back seasons. He’s not backing down.
- RBI — Pete Alonso (94): In his first season with the Baltimore Orioles — on a five-year, $155 million deal — Alonso is deadlocked with Álvarez. Both have the lineup protection to keep driving in runs through the final month.
Three simultaneous races, 25 games to settle them all. This is as real as it gets.
How big is this, historically?
The last player to win a Triple Crown in MLB was Miguel Cabrera with the Detroit Tigers in 2012 — .330 average, 44 home runs, 139 RBI. He was the first Latino to do it. Álvarez would be the second Latino and the first Cuban in history to claim the title.
But there’s another layer. Álvarez isn’t just chasing the American League Triple Crown — he’s leading both leagues in all three categories simultaneously. That’s the overall Triple Crown, and it hasn’t happened since Mickey Mantle in 1956. Since RBI became an official statistic in 1920, only four players have done it: Rogers Hornsby (1925), Lou Gehrig (1934), Ted Williams (1942), and Mantle. Álvarez would be the fifth.
With a 1.035 OPS, he’s also the most damaging hitter per plate appearance in all of baseball right now. The AL MVP award is nearly his. The Triple Crown would be the exclamation point.
