Yordan Alvarez and Pete Crow-Armstrong swing in opposite directions, earn Players of the Week honors

Major League Baseball’s Players of the Week awards on Monday landed on two hitters moving in very different directions. Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez was named American League Player of the Week for the second time this season and fifth time overall after posting a.476/.577/.810 slash line with two home runs and nine RBIs over 26 plate appearances in the award week. The Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong, meanwhile, captured National League honors for the first time in his career after a six-game run that included four homers, two stolen bases, and a.440 batting average (11-for-25).

Alvarez’s weekly production was notable, but it fit a broader pattern that has defined Houston’s early offense. Through the season, he leads the American League in home runs (22) and RBIs (48), and he carries a 1.080 OPS, the highest mark among MLB qualifiers. The release also framed the pace as a rebound, pointing to a 2025 season in which Alvarez appeared in just 48 games and posted a.797 OPS, before returning to full productivity this year.

The “Triple Crown” wording in MLB’s announcement is a report as much as it is a headline. Alvarez’s power and run production already place him in the most important part of the equation, especially with his walk-heavy week reflecting the on-base profile that can sustain pressure against advanced pitching. The Triple Crown ultimately requires leadership in batting average as well as homers and RBIs, a standard that can swing quickly over a long season, but the statistical foundation Alvarez is laying is at least consistent with that chase.

Crow-Armstrong’s Player of the Week came after a slower beginning to his season, and it showed how quickly a player’s offensive profile can change when contact quality improves. MLB credited him with homering four times and stealing two bases in six games last week, along with a 1.401 OPS in 27 plate appearances. At the start of the turnaround, the release noted, his OPS was only.673 through 54 games, a far cry from the output he’s producing during this hotter stretch.

That recent surge is supported by the longer look at his form: MLB reported that Crow-Armstrong has hit safely in each of his past 12 games, totaling five home runs and a 1.201 OPS over that span. The award also arrived alongside a milestone moment, with MLB’s Cubs video noting he reached 50 career home runs and walked it off in the ninth inning against the Athletics. For the Cubs, the honor marked the second Players of the Week selection of 2026, with Nico Hoerner winning the award for the week ending April 19.

What follows now is less about trophies awarded this week and more about how each streak holds up under the grind that comes next. Alvarez’s case will be driven by whether he can keep both the power and the run creation while maintaining an OPS profile at the top of the league. For Crow-Armstrong, the emphasis will shift to whether this 12-game stretch becomes a new baseline and whether Houston’s and other American League pitching adjustments can be answered with consistent production. Either way, Monday’s awards underscored the same theme in different forms, one powered by dominance from Opening Day, the other by a late-week explosion after an early stumble.