Astros: MVP, Cy Young awards preview, predictions

Three Astros players are finalists to win the MVP and Cy Young awards.

The Astros already have a Rookie of the Year winner in Yordan Alvarez, which was largely just a formality after the impressive year he had. What comes next will be figuring out if the Astros can sweep the Rookie of the Year, MVP and Cy Young awards, and there’s a chance it could happen.

It’s all but guaranteed that an Astros player will win the Cy Young — the question is which one. Both Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole have strong cases, stronger than fellow finalist Charlie Morton. It’s just not clear whether Verlander or Cole has the edge, so either of them could conceivably win.

The MVP race has some real intrigue as well. Alex Bregman has a legitimate chance to win, made possible by Mike Trout missing the last few weeks of the season. But even with the fewer games, Trout still could win since he was just so darn good for the rest of the year. The voting will likely come down to those two, with Marcus Semien likely coming in third.

The Manager of the Year award, with results to be announced on Tuesday, does not feature AJ Hinch as a finalist. The Cy Young award results will come out on Wednesday, with the MVP results following on Thursday.

Keep in mind that the votes for these awards were submitted before the playoffs started, so only the players’ regular season results are taken into account. The postseason struggles of Bregman and Verlander, and the postseason dominance of Cole, do not factor in at all.