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The MLB award season started on a positive note for the Astros. On November 9th, shortstop Carlos Correa and left-handed pitcher Dallas Keuchel won AL Outstanding Rookie and AL Outstanding Pitcher awards respectively while second baseman Jose Altuve won the first ever Majestic Athletic Always Game award at the 2015 MLB Players Choice Awards. This is the year of the Astros.
Correa, the AL Outstanding Rookie Award winner, made his debut on June 8th and has been an offensive force ever since. In 99 games, Correa batted .279 with 22 home runs and drove in 68 runs. His 22 home runs led all MLB shortstops and his 68 RBIs were second-most to the Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts. The 2014 AL Outstanding Rookie award winner, Jose Abreu, ending up winning the 2014 AL Rookie of the Year award. All stats from Baseball-Reference.
Keuchel, the AL Outstanding Pitcher award winner, has been a frontrunner for the AL Cy Young award for the majority of this season because of his record of 20 wins and 8 losses with a 2.48 ERA. Keuchel led the American League in innings pitched with 232 innings, wins with 20, and WAR for pitchers with 7.2. Keuchel also finished in the top five in WAR for all players and ERA. Keuchel, a 2014 Gold Glove award winner is also in the running for this year’s Gold Glove for pitchers. Last year’s NL Outstanding Pitcher award winner was Clayton Kershaw who ended up winning the NL Cy Young and MVP awards.
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Altuve won the first ever Majestic Athletic Always Game award. The description of this award, as written by the Major League Baseball Players Association, is, “Demonstrating grit, tenacity, perseverance and hustle; all for the benefit of his teammates and fans.” Altuve led the American League in at bats with 638, hits with 200, and stolen bases with 38. He also had a .313 batting average and an .812 OBP.
Keep a look out tomorrow for as the BBWAA announces the three finalists for each award on the MLB Network. The Astros are supposed to have three people up for awards, which is not usual for the Astros of recent memory. Correa is up for the AL Rookie of the Year Award, A.J. Hinch should be up for AL Manager of the Year, and Keuchel is up for AL Cy Young. Will they win, we are not sure, but make sure you check the schedule out below to know when to watch. (Via BBWAA Tweet)
Rookies, November 16;
Managers, November 17;
Cy Young, November 18;
MVP, November 19.
Next: Houston Astros Winter Trade Series: Catcher Jonathan Lucroy
Correa, Keuchel, and Altuve helped lead the Houston Astros to their first playoff berth in ten years with a record of 86 wins and 76 losses and the second American League Wild Card spot. The best is yet to come.