Alvarez is the third in franchise history to get the award
Astros' Yordan Alvarez wins AL Rookie of the Year
Nov 11, 2019, 5:19 pm
Alvarez is the third in franchise history to get the award
Yordan Alvarez has won the 2019 AL Rookie of the Year Award
As expected, the MLB announced on Monday that the winner of the 2019 American League Rookie of the Year Award is Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros. It comes as no surprise, considering Alvarez's performance since being called up on June 9th of this season was powerful, to say the least. He beats out the two other finalists: John Means of the Baltimore Orioles and Brandon Lowe of the Tampa Bay Rays.
After dominating at the AAA level for the Round Rock Express where he led the minors in home runs (23) and RBIs (71) while hitting for a .343 average and 1.184 OPS over his 56 games before being promoted to the major leagues, he brought the same power to Houston's lineup. He wasted no time showing what he was capable of, notching his first career home run in his second at-bat at Minute Maid Park in his debut game.
Didn't take long for Yordan Alvarez to go yard. pic.twitter.com/rtBNPVT98L
— MLB (@MLB) June 9, 2019
He followed that by hitting home runs in four of his first five games and going on to slash .317 / .406 / .733 for a 1.139 OPS from his debut through the end of June, tenth best in all of the majors over that span. Though he finished the month with seven homers in just 60 at-bats, he also maintained his ability to drive in runs, notching 21 RBIs in his first sixteen games. He slowed down slightly in July, banging just five homers in 75 ABs to go along with 15 RBIs, though increasing his average to .333.
He picked the power back up in August and September, though, finishing the final two months of the regular season with a combined 15 home runs and 42 RBIs over 178 at-bats. That ended his regular season with 27 homers, 78 RBIs, a 1.067 OPS, and .313 average, a line that would have been decent for a full season, much less one that started in early June. One of the shining moments of his debut year came in the matchup with the Orioles on August 10th, a night when the Astros put up a franchise-record 23 runs, seven of which came off the bat of Alvarez on a three-homer night including a grand slam.
Yordan Alvarez. pic.twitter.com/6gmqKKilE8
— MLB (@MLB) August 11, 2019
Although not factored into the voting, Alvarez did contribute in the postseason for Houston, though not at the same level as his regular-season numbers. He had just one home run in the playoffs, a two-run blast in World Series Game 5 against the Nationals in D.C. to help Houston take that game 7-1. He had just one other RBI in October, in ALDS Game 1 against the Rays, giving him just three total along with the one homer to leave his postseason stat line as something to improve on.
Nonetheless, Alvarez's power is something that Houston will gladly put in their DH spot as long as he can continue to drive in runs and be a difference-maker in a game with one swing of his hefty bat. Yordan is the third player in franchise history to win the Rookie of the Year award, joining Jeff Bagwell, who took home the honor for the National League in 1991 and Carlos Correa, who also won in the American League in 2015. The future is bright for this left-handed slugger and the Houston Astros as a result.
Stephen Curry scored 31 points and the Golden State Warriors built a huge lead and held on to beat the Houston Rockets 95-85 on Sunday night in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series.
The seventh-seeded Warriors led by 23 in the third quarter, but second-seeded Houston cut it to 69-60 entering the fourth.
A basket by Amen Thompson with about 5 1/2 minutes remaining got the Rockets within four. Curry hit his fifth 3-pointer of the night a few seconds later to make it 82-75.
The Rockets cut it to four again with about 2 1/2 minutes left on a 3 by Fred VanVleet. This time Moses Moody hit a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 run that made it 91-80 and sent fans streaming for the exits.
Game 2 of the best-of seven series is Wednesday night in Houston.
It was the 100th career playoff coaching victory for Golden State’s Steve Kerr, who moved into a tie with Larry Brown for sixth-most playoff wins.
Curry was 12 of 19 from the field, hitting 5 of 9 3-pointers. Jimmy Butler added 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in his playoff debut for the Warriors after joining them in a trade from Miami in February.
The Rockets, who returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2020, got 26 points from Alperen Sengun in his first career postseason game. But VanVleet and Jalen Green struggled, making just 7 of 34 shots.
VanVleet was 2 of 13 from 3-point range on a night Houston made just 6 of 29 3-pointers and was 11 of 20 on free throws.
The Warriors got a spot in the playoffs with a 121-116 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night in the Play-In Tournament.
They got yet another playoff victory over the Rockets after eliminating them four times from 2015-19.