In baseball, there are some players who have an unexplained hidden advantage over certain teams. The Boston Red Sox know this well after years of watching Rafael Devers' utter dominance against the New York Yankees.
The Red Sox are not immune to being dominated as Devers did to their rivals. Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has done the same — nay, even worse — to Boston.
Thanks to the Red Sox, Alvarez has started the 2026 season off with a "bang," or two. He logged two hits in each of the first two games in the series, including two homers and a double. In the third game, he drilled a double and a single off Garrett Crochet, but the Sox's ace kept him in the yard.
Alvarez has batted .382/.477/.787 with a 1.264 OPS against Boston over 25 games. No hitter in MLB history has a higher OPS against the Red Sox than Alvarez, and he's in elite company — Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig rank second and third.
Yordan Alvarez, the best hitter against the Red Sox in MLB history, beat up on Boston in first sweep of the 2026 season
Thankfully, unlike Devers and the Yankees during the third baseman's time in Boston, the Red Sox only have to face Alvarez twice a year. He won't be a free agent until after the 2029 season so Boston has a fair few years before they need to worry about a division rival potentially signing the greatest Red Sox killer in history.
Boston has looked utterly anemic in the first games of the 2026 season. A team that was allegedly built on run prevention has done no such thing since its Opening Day victory against the Cincinnati Reds. The Red Sox were swept by the Astros, with much help from Alvarez, and they left the series with a -15 run differential.
Last season, the Astros and Red Sox were locked in a fight for a playoff spot until days before the end of the season. Boston ended up in the postseason while Houston stayed home for October. The Red Sox finished last season with a 4-2 record against the Astros — Alvarez didn't play in a single one of those games, as he was limited to just 48 due to injury.
The Red Sox were lucky to escape Alvarez last season, but didn't have the same fortunes this year. Boston has multiple new pitchers in its rotation from Sonny Gray to Connelly Early, and they may be better equipped to finally stop Alvarez.