Daily dose of Yordan (Game 162)

Today's statline: 1-3, 2B, K

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Yordan originally started the game on the bench with Baker probably wanting to rest him in preparation for the postseason, but he ended up coming in as a defensive switch of all things in the 6th innings. Apparently Baker said he would be swapping Brantley's old man legs sometime in the game for Yordan in a tweet I didnt see, either way an interesting way to begin the last regular season daily dose of Yordan.

At bat 1 (bottom of sixth): 2 pitch groundout to second

The at bat started with Yordan watching a fastball inside and low that caught the bottom of the zone, he then got another low fastball, this one a bit higher than the first, and pulled it to the right side. Like countless well hit Yordan ground balls however, this one was also right to the shifted infield, and the second baseman made the routine throw to first for the out. Altuve would move up to third on the play, although it wouldn't matter, as Tucker hit a two-run bomb to score him later in the inning.

At bat 2 (Bottom of seventh): 6 pitch strikeout swinging.

Facing Sergio Romo with two runners on, Yordan took a changeup that looked to be off the plate, but was called a strike anyways for strike one. He then watched consecutive offspeed pitches low and away to put him ahead 2-1, and then fouled off a fastball in a similar spot as the first pitch to even the count at 2-2. After taking another outside changeup, this time way off the plate, to make the count full, Yordan was given the green light on 3-2 but swung and missed pretty badly on a slider down and away. While it may have been a bit concerning to see him miss like that on what is normally his money zone, he was put in a pretty bad situation with the first pitch, and this probably should have been a walk. This may come back to haunt them, as the A's ended up tying the game in the ninth down 3. Thankfully Yordan will get a chance for a walk off, we'll see if he can conjure up any magic then.

At bat 3 (Bottom of ninth): 3 pitch double to left

Facing Lou Trivino in the bottom of the ninth with a runner on, Yordan took two offspeed pitches, one that caught the outside part of the zone for a strike and one low for a ball. Then Trivino threw him a fastball middle-middle in the zone that Yordan absolutely crushed, launching it deep opposite field for a near home run. Castro made a great read on it and went all the way to third on the stand up double. While it may have been nice to end the DDoY on a high note with a walk off double in the final game, alas, it wasn't meant to be, as Castro stayed at third thanks to a decent recovery by the outfielder. He would score immediately later on a Yuli walk-off single, ending both Yordan (and the Astros) season in style. Great job by Yordan before him though, to seek out a hittable mistake from the pitcher and do damage on it to keep the line moving in a scenario where you only need to score one run.

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This marks the last regular season daily dose of Yordan, but fear not, as there are (at least) 3 more ALDS DDoYs on the way, with detailed postseason coverage and pitch analysis. Also will be doing a preview of Yordan vs the division series opponent White Sox, that should be out in a couple of days. Thanks to everyone for a great year, it was an amazing experience to interact with the members of this community and bond over our shared love of Yordan Alvarez. Job's not finished however, let's hope Yordan (and the Astros) finish the 2021 season strong.