Astros: Kyle Tucker wins AL Player of the Month for Sept-Oct

Astros’ Kyle Tucker wins AL Player of the Month for September to October.

On Monday, the Houston Astros announced that Kyle Tucker won the American League Player of the Month for September and October. The left-hander becomes the first Astros’ player to pick up the award this season.

This is the first Player of the Month award for Tucker, as the 24-year-old led the AL in OPS (1.130) and was second in OBP (.438) and SLG (.692). Over that span, the left-hander was slashing .346 with 10 doubles, one triple, eight home runs and 19 RBI.

After a sluggish start to the 2021 season, Tucker is now leading the AL in OPS (.986), batting average (.320), OBP (.387) and SLG (.600) since May 1. On the season, Tucker slashed his way to .294/.359/.557 line with 30 home runs, which was third among all Astros’ players. The left-hander also totaled 92 RBI, 37 doubles and was only caught twice on stolen base attempts (14/16).

The Astros even pointed out Tucker’s defense this season, as he stands as one of the best right fielders in the game. The righty has an MLB-best .948 Zone Rating and a fourth-best fielding percentage (.992).

For the month, Tucker was also fourth in stolen bases (10), fourth in batting average (.346), seventh in hits (36) and 10th in home runs (8). Tucker is the first Astros’ player to receive Player of the Month since Alex Bregman in August of 2019.

The Astros’ outfielder also ranked No. 26 by MLB.com on their Top 50 players in the MLB list.  Carlos Correa (ninth), Jose Altuve (14th), Yordan Alvarez (28th) and Yuli Gurriel (32nd) all made the list as well. There is a case for Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley and Lance McCullers Jr., who were all snubbed from the list.

Along with Tucker, St. Louis Cardinal Tyler O’Neil was named the NL Player of the Month. The two are likely the most underrated outfielders in baseball.

*These numbers were provided by the Houston Astros’ press release.