AL peers vote Correa Rookie of the Year
Shortstop the sixth Astros player to take home Sporting News honor
HOUSTON -- Astros shortstop Carlos Correa on Monday was named the Sporting News American League Rookie of the Year, which is voted on by AL players.
Correa, who made his Major League debut June 8 and was the youngest position player in the Majors this season, hit .279 with 22 doubles, 22 home runs, 68 RBIs, 14 stolen bases and a .857 OPS in 99 games. He led all AL rookies in home runs, slugging (.512) and OPS, while ranking second in RBIs and on-base percentage (.345), and third in batting average.
Correa set both the franchise rookie record for home runs and the franchise record for home runs by a shortstop.
In voting by a panel of 176 AL players, Correa finished with 98 votes, easily ahead of second-place finisher Francisco Lindor of the Indians (30). Miguel Sano of the Twins was third, with 13 votes. Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. received a pair of votes, putting him in seventh place.
"It makes it really special," Correa told MLB.com. "The players are the ones out there grinding it out with you, against you and the ones watching you play and the pitchers are the ones trying to get you out. For me to be able to win this award, it's humbling. It means they appreciate what I did out there this year. It's a great feeling to be able to be voted for by all the American League players for this award. It really means a lot. It's truly a blessing."
The 21-year-old Correa is the leading candidate to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. It will be announced Nov. 16.
In Game 4 of the AL Division Series against the Royals, Correa became the youngest player in AL history to hit at least two homers in a game. He also joined Joe DiMaggio (1936) and Mickey Mantle (1952) as just the third player in Major League history age 21 or younger to hit third in the starting lineup of a postseason game.
Video: Correa becomes sixth youngest to homer in postseason
Correa is the ninth player in franchise history to win the Sporting News Rookie of the Year and the first since outfielder Willy Taveras won the National League Award in 2005.
In addition to Correa and Taveras, four Astros players have won the Sporting News NL Rookie Player of the Year: Jeff Bagwell (1991), Jeffrey Leonard (1979), Greg Gross (1974) and Joe Morgan (1965). The Astros have had three pitchers win the NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year: Roy Oswalt (2001), Al Osuna (1991) and Tom Griffin (1969).