AL WILD CARD SERIES: WHITE SOX VS ASTROS

September 29, 2026

Yordan Alvarez

Daikin Park

Houston Astros

Pregame Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right. Who has the first question for Yordan?

Q. We saw obviously how cautious pitchers were with you toward the end of the season. Do you feel like it might even be more like that in the playoffs, and if so, how do you have to try to balance that also with trying to do damage?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: I'm going to focus on what I can control. We have a lineup full of very talented players, so I think we're all going to focus on controlling the stuff that we can control out there.

Q. A lot of talk leading up to this game has been about how the opposing team can slow you down. If you were an opposing team, what do you think could be done to slow you down?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: I don't really want to talk about that. A lot of people didn't want us, the Astros, in the playoffs because they know we can be a problem in the playoffs. So that's stuff that I don't really want to talk about.

Q. You've talked a lot this season about how happy you are that you've been healthy all year. Did you do anything different this off-season in your training or -- anything you did this off-season to make sure you stayed on the field all year?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: Yes, I did a lot of stuff different that worked. Part of that is I changed my diet, and I also had a trainer that traveled with me on the away trips to the different cities that we went to. So, yeah, there was a couple of things I did different.

Q. Is there one specific food you gave up this winter that you miss the most?

YORDAN ALVAREZ: Possibly, yes, but I don't want to go into details about that.

Q. (Question in Spanish.)

YORDAN ALVAREZ: I don't think it's a secret last season. It was a season that I missed a lot of games. I was just trying to go out there and just try to give the best of me. But, yeah.

Q. (Question in Spanish.)

YORDAN ALVAREZ: There's a lot of personal stuff that stays within the clubhouse, but I've made sure to tell all the different guys that if they have any questions, any concerns, that they're more than willing to -- they're more than open to come to me, and I think the young players have done a real good job of coming up to me, and not just me, but also Altuve.

Q. (Question in Spanish.)

YORDAN ALVAREZ: You know, all throughout the season there was a lot of confidence in the clubhouse that we were going to make the playoffs. We were always positive that we were going to. There was never any fear that we were going to miss out on the playoffs. Obviously, the path got a little rough there, but obviously, after the last game, we celebrated but knowing that it was going to start -- it was a brand-new start to the playoffs and that we were going to part from there.

Q. (Question in Spanish.)

YORDAN ALVAREZ: This is the playoffs. They're a young team. As a player, we're going to study the pitcher. We haven't seen him. The only thing we can study is the hitters that he has faced already. This is the playoffs. It's all about that one at-bat and just going at-bat per at-bat and making sure that it counts.

Q. (Question in Spanish.)

YORDAN ALVAREZ: As a team those last two games, I think, were very helpful to carry that over to the playoffs. About the batting title, personally for me it's something that I've -- I feel very proud of myself. It's something that has crossed my mind always about winning a batting title. So I would say that I would be proud of myself in the personal way.

THE MODERATOR: Yordan, thanks for coming in.