The Astros have had a strong run recently in the American League Rookie of the Year Award voting, with seven top-five finishers in the last eight years. That includes two winners, shortstop Carlos Correa in 2015 and designated hitter Yordan Alvarez in '19, and a second-place finish by pitcher Luis Garcia in '21. Last year, shortstop Jeremy Peña finished fifth in AL Rookie of the Year voting before winning the Most Valuable Player in the AL Championship Series and World Series, which trumped any regular-season honors. The other Astros top-five finishers were pitcher Cristian Javier (third in 2020), first baseman Yuli Gurriel (fourth in '17) and reliever Chris Devenski (fourth in '16). The Astros have three rookies -- pitchers Hunter Brown and J.P. France and catcher Yainer Diaz -- who could appear on some AL Rookie of the Year ballots this fall, but the competition is stiff. Astros candidates: |
Diaz (1.0 bWAR): Diaz didn't play much in the first half of the year with the Astros carrying three catchers, but his numbers have improved with more playing time. Entering Tuesday, he led AL rookies in slugging percentage (.512), was fifth in batting average (.274), home runs and OPS (.804) and sixth in extra-base hits (30). He also has thrown out 11 runners attempting to steal, which ranked tied for seventh in the AL. Brown (1.4 bWAR): There was a lot of Rookie of the Year buzz around Brown, the Astros' former No. 1 prospect, entering the season, and he's had a solid, though up-and-down, rookie year. He led AL rookie pitchers in innings (123 1/3) and strikeouts (137) entering Tuesday, with a 4.23 ERA. France (2.4 bWAR): An unexpected entry into the Rookie of the Year fray, France entered Tuesday tied with Cleveland's Tanner Bibee for the most rookie wins in the AL with nine, to go along with a 2.74 ERA in 103 innings. He's 7-0 with a 1.85 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in his last eight games (seven starts) and is currently the Astros' most consistent starter. |
League-wide candidates: OF Masataka Yoshida, Boston (1.6 bWAR): If there's a knock on Yoshida, it's that he's 30 years old. Although there are no age limits, some voters may shy away from voting for him because he's a four-time NPB All-Star and won two Pacific League batting titles in Japan before signing a five-year deal with Boston. He entered Tuesday slashing .300/.357/.468 with 12 homers, 56 RBIs. 3B Josh Jung, Texas (2.4 bWAR): The former first-round pick by the Rangers was perhaps the favorite before he underwent surgery on Aug. 9 to repair a fractured right thumb, winning AL Rookie of the Month honors in April and May. He should return in late September, but if not, his numbers are good enough: He's slashing .274/.323/.489 with 22 homers and 67 RBIs. IF Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore (3.5 bWAR): Henderson posted a .621 OPS through the first 13 games of August, which has dinged his overall chances a bit. Still, he's slashing .237/.322/.459 with 19 homers and 55 RBIs for the team with the best record in the AL and leads all the front-line Rookie of the Year candidates with a 3.5 WAR. He was the June AL Rookie of the Month. RHP Tanner Bibee, Cleveland (2.7 bWAR): Bibee entered Tuesday tied with France for the most rookie wins in the AL, was second behind Brown in rookies innings pitched (108 2/3) and strikeouts (106). His 2.90 ERA would rank third of any pitcher in the AL if he had enough innings to quality for the league leaders. |
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Last week, Astros closer Ryan Pressly achieved another career milestone when he reached 10 years of Major League service time. That's significant for a player because he becomes fully vested in the MLB pension plan. Fewer than 10 percent of Major League players hit that mark. Pressly's teammates rewarded him for the achievement, calling a team meeting while the team was in Baltimore last week and presenting him with a pair of custom-made Lucchese boots. The boots featured the Astros logo on the front of one boot and a Twins logo on the front of the other. The backs of the boots featured the All-Star Game logos in 2019 and 2021. "I wear boots probably about 99 percent of the time," Pressly said. "It's pretty special to get something like that. I don't think I'll ever wear them, obviously. It will be something I have in my man cave and hopefully a lot of people ask about them when they come over to the house and stuff." |
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Outfielder Joey Loperfido, the Astros' No. 6 prospect, was promoted to Triple-A Sugar Land on Monday. A seventh-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft out of Duke University, Loperfido began the year at High-A Asheville and was promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi after only eight games. "It's exciting," he said. "I found out after the game on Sunday. It's a great clubhouse of guys in Corpus and [I] heard nothing but great things about Sugar Land. Obviously, any time you can move two levels in a season it's going to be exciting. I'm excited to kind of finish out this last stretch of the year up here for sure." Loperfido, 24, was slashing .293/.382/.543 with 22 doubles, 20 homers, 23 steals and 62 RBIs in 93 games overall, including a .940 OPS at Double-A. A left-handed hitter, he's played first base, second base, left field and right field and could be an intriguing option for the Astros late in the season. |
Elsewhere on the farm… • Corpus Christi right-hander Ryan Gusto was named Texas League Player of the Week on Monday. He struck out a career-high 11 batters in 5 1/3 hitless innings Thursday and has permitted one run or fewer in five of his last seven outings. He had a 1.74 ERA and a 0.74 WHIP during that stretch, with 34 strikeouts, 14 hits and nine walks in 31 innings. • With his dad, former Astros closer Billy Wagner, watching in person, Astros prospect Will Wagner had quite a day Sunday, going 5-for-5 with a double, home run and three RBIs in Corpus Christi's 11-9 win over Frisco. It was the second five-hit game of the season for Wagner, who missed two months of the season following surgery to remove the hook of the hamate bone on his right hand. • Astros outfield prospect Quincy Hamilton's season is over after surgery to repair a sports hernia/groin tear -- injuries he may have played with all season. Recovery is 6-8 weeks. A fifth-round pick in '21 from Wright State, Hamilton slashed .250/.350/.442 with 13 homers and 50 RBIs combined at Corpus Christi and Sugar Land. |
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