Astros: Abraham Toro and Cristian Javier named top Minor League players

The Houston Astros have named Abraham Toro as their 2019 Minor League Player of the Year and Cristian Javier the Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Before the Astros game on September 21st at Minute Maid Park, Abraham Toro and Cristian Javier will be honored for their hard work and rise through Houston’s Minor League system. They’ll be awarded as the Astros top performers of the 2019 Minor League season.

Toro has already been rewarded for his efforts in one of the best ways possible, by being called up by the Astros back on August 22nd. He has appeared in 20 games, starting 15, since his promotion and has performed admirably.

He started out a little slow batting .200 with one extra-base hit in his first seven games. But since then he slashed .262/.311/.500 with one home run, three doubles, and two triples. In total, he’s hitting .239 and has scored 12 runs and knocked in eight.

The 22-year-old had an outstanding 2019 season split between AA Corpus Christi and AAA Round Rock. The Canadian born infielder played in 114 games, 98 at the AA level and 16 in AAA before being called up to Houston.

Toro’s slash line in the Minors was .324/.411/.527 with an OPS of .938. He had 17 homers, 31 doubles, and four triples accounting for 82 runs and 80 RBIs. He was also named Corpus Christi’s 2019 Player of the Year.

"“It’s a good feeling,” Toro said. “I’m going with the pitches this year. Last year I was more of a pull hitter, and this year I’ve been able to go with the pitch, and that has helped me a lot. I’m not trying to change the things that got me here.” via David Barron of the Houston Chronicle"

Cristian Javier rose rapidly through the Astros Minor League system this year. He started out with the Class A+ Advanced Fayetteville Woodpeckers before advancing to AA Corpus Christi after just seven games, then playing his final two games of the season at AAA Round Rock.

In those 26 games total, he ended with a record of 8-3 and an impressive 1.74 ERA. The 22-year-old native of the Dominican Republic racked up 170 strikeouts in his 113.2 innings of work and kept his opponents’ batting average down to .130.

Toro and Javier are on the Astros top ten prospect list coming in at 6th and 10th respectively. These two players are going to be exciting to keep track of next season and I have a feeling we might see them here in Houston a lot more in 2020.