Correa, Hinch, Keuchel Named BBWAA Award Finalists

HOUSTON, TX - The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) announced the finalists for their yearly awards tonight, naming shortstop Carlos Correa a finalist for the American League Rookie of the Year, manager A.J. Hinch a finalist for AL Manager of the Year and left-handed pitcher Dallas Keuchel a finalist for the AL Cy Young.

The winner of each BBWAA award will be announced live on MLB Network next week with the Rookie of the Year named on Monday (Nov. 16), the Manager of the Year on Tuesday (Nov. 17), the Cy Young on Wednesday (Nov. 18) and the Most Valuable Player on Thursday (Nov. 19).

Correa, who debuted on June 8 and was the youngest position player in the Majors this season, hit .279 (108x387) with 22 doubles, 22 home runs, 68 RBI, 14 stolen bases and an .857 OPS in his 99 games in 2015. Among AL rookies, Correa ranked first in home runs, slugging (.512) and OPS, while ranking second in RBI and on-base percentage (.345), and third in batting average (min. 400 PA). With 22 home runs this season, Correa set both the franchise rookie record for home runs and the franchise record for home runs by a shortstop.

Hinch guided the Astros to an 86-76 finish and a berth in the American League Division Series in what was his first year managing the Astros. Under the watch of Hinch, the Astros posted a 16-win improvement over the 2014 season (70-92), which is the largest improvement for a first-year manager in franchise history. Additionally, Hinch represented the Astros in the 2015 All-Star Game, serving as a coach on Manager Ned Yost's American League squad, becoming the first Astros manager to be selected to the All-Star Game since 2004.

Keuchel went 20-8 with three complete games and a 2.48 ERA (64ER/232IP) in 33 starts this season. He led all AL pitchers in wins, WAR (7.2), innings pitched (232.0) and groundball to flyball ratio (3.68), ranked second in ERA and opponent batting average (.217) and tied for third in complete games. A model of consistency throughout the season, he was the starting pitcher for the AL All-Star Team, earned three AL Pitcher of the Month Awards (April, May, August) and is a finalist for the Gold Glove at his position, with those results being announced tonight. In his two postseason starts, Keuchel went 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA (1ER/13IP).

In franchise history, the Astros have only had one BBWAA Rookie of the Year (Jeff Bagwell-1991), two Cy Young winners (Mike Scott-1986, Roger Clemens-2004) and three BBWAA Manager of the Year winners (Bill Virdon-1980, Hal Lanier-1986, Larry Dierker-1998). Houston has picked up two national BBWAA awards in the same year just once, in 1986, when Scott won the Cy Young and Lanier won the Manager of the Year. The last time any Major League team had three individuals win three of the four BBWAA awards in a single season was in 1993 when the White Sox were represented by Gene Lamont (Manager of the Year), Jack McDowell (Cy Young) and Frank Thomas (MVP).

This announcement continues a busy award week, as Gold Glove winners will be announced later tonight, for which the Astros have three finalists in Keuchel, second baseman Jose Altuve and catcher Jason Castro, while Silver Sluggers will be announced on Thursday. Last night, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPAA) announced their 2015 awards, naming Correa the AL Most Outstanding Rookie, Keuchel the AL Most Outstanding Pitcher and honoring Altuve with the Always Game Award. A full list of offseason awards involving 2015 Astros is below.

Jose Altuve
-MLBPA Players Choice Always Game Award
-Gold Glove finalist, second base

Jason Castro
-Gold Glove finalist, catcher

Carlos Correa
-MLBPAA Players Choice Award for AL Most Outstanding Rookie
-BBWAA AL Rookie of the Year finalist
-The Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year

Dallas Keuchel
-MLBPAA Players Choice Award for AL Most Outstanding Pitcher
-BBWAA AL Cy Young finalist
-Gold Glove finalist, pitcher
-The Fielding Bible Award, given to the best fielding pitcher in the Major Leagues
-The Starting Pitcher on the Sporting News AL All-Star Team

A.J. Hinch
-BBWAA AL Manager of the Year finalist

-ASTROS-