PLAYERS CHOICE
MLB players honor Jose Altuve with Most Outstanding Award
Jose Altuve of the Astros might be named MVP later this month. But he picked up some other hardware on Thursday.
Altuve had a monster season for the Astros, winning the batting title with a .346 average, 24 HRs, 81 RBIs and 32 SBs. He hit .310 in the playoffs and led the Astros to their first-ever World Series title.
The second baseman is a seven-time All-Star and the 27-year-old has 1,250 career hits.
Altuve won his fourth consecutive Silver Slugger Award on Thursday, and will catch Craig Biggio if he can do it one more time.
Aaron Judge of the Yankees, considered Altuve’s main competition for MVP, was named AL Rookie of the Year by the players. Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers, the team the Astros beat to win their title, won the NL Rookie Award.
Corey Kluber of the Indians won the AL Outstanding Pitcher Award; Max Sherzer of the Nationals won the same award in the NL. Giancarlo Stanton won the NL Most Outstanding Award.
The AL MVP Award will be announced on Nov. 15. Altuve and Judge are considered the front-runners.
George Springer won his first career Silver Slugger Award on Thursday, after finishing the season with a .283 average, 34 HRs, 85 RBIs, and 112 runs. Springer's 5 home runs also tied the all-time single World Series record.
One other Astro is up for an award: manager A.J. Hinch (to be announced Nov. 14).
