Houston Astros: Yordan Alvarez is third player in team history to win ROY

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez has won Rookie of the Year honors, becoming the third in franchise history to do so. What’s the skinny?

Houston Astros fans — the offseason is officially underway with all the happenings that come along with it. We’ll be keeping a watchful eye on how the front office shapes this roster for 2020 as well as any news that may surface in regard to anything enhancing the fan experience.

Let’s certainly hope that we hear a lot on both aforementioned fronts because it’s paramount that they’re kept in mind for the betterment of the Houston Astros brand itself.

In addition to the Houston Astros franchise-record breaking season of 107 wins to boot, there are four players that are up for seasonal awards because of their outstanding performance out on the diamond. Anytime you have that many players getting the nod for a nomination goes to show that one is doing something right with having the right mix of dominant talent to compete mightily in the MLB.

So who’s up for an award? As you probably know by now — unless you’ve been under a rock — Alex Bregman is up for the AL MVP, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole are up for the AL Cy Young; and finally, Yordan Alvarez was nominated for the AL Rookie of the Year Award.

We finally know who has won the ROY and that distinction belongs to Air Yordan. MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reported that the voting tallies were unanimous for him and there’s no question that he should be recognized for his efforts.

Alvarez becomes the third Houston Astros player to win this prestigious award, following Carlos Correa (2015) and Jeff Bagwell (1991).

That’s fantastic company to be among and Alvarez has forever cemented at least a tidbit in franchise history with him being able to win this award.

This was truly one of the ingenious moves that Jeff Luhnow made to acquire him. A simple swap back in 2016 with solid reliever Josh Fields for some guy from Cuba named Yordan seemed like a reach back then but little did we know that Yordan would morph into the player that he is today.

He’s not perfectly refined just yet but he should use this award a referendum to improve his

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hitting when it’s clutch time to which I have no doubt that he will. After an incredible season that took off almost immediately when he made his debut against the Baltimore Orioles June 9, the rest has been history, especially with him hitting a homer in his first Major League appearance.

The playoffs were a different story though and that’s what I speak of in the previous graph. Yordan struggled to find a rhythm all throughout the postseason but I do think that’s all part of the process of transitioning to the majors. You can tell his frustration, especially with him throwing his bat in the dirt, cracking in half after a strikeout. But better times are coming and I think it’s just a minor setback.

All that happened in the postseason doesn’t take away the greatness that he exuded throughout those finite months from June to September and that’s what this award is all about.

Next. Astros: Pitching should be a top priority at GM Meetings. dark

Congrats Yordan — and hopefully you’ll be up for winning the AL MVP Award in the future! I’ll be waiting!

Alvarez, 22, put up a slash line of .313/.412/.655 along with 27 homers, 78 ribbies and 26 doubles through 369 plate appearances in 87 games last season. He also batted .241/.323/.345 along with one homer and three RBIs through 65 plate appearances in the postseason.

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