Houston BBWAA Announces Annual Awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017
CONTACT: Astros Media Relations
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HOUSTON BBWAA ANNOUNCES ANNUAL AWARDS
Altuve, Keuchel, Peacock, Gurriel and Correa Among Recipients
HOUSTON, TX - The Houston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America has announced their annual awards for the 2017 season:
Astros MVP: IF Jose Altuve
Astros co-Pitchers of the Year: LHP Dallas Keuchel and RHP Brad Peacock
Astros Rookie of the Year: IF Yuli Gurriel
Darryl Kile Good Guy Award: IF Carlos Correa
Houston Area (non Astro) Player of the Year: IF Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks
Fred Hartman Long and Meritorious Service Award: Bob Watson
Additionally, the chapter also announced that Brian McTaggart of MLB.com will serve as the Chairman for 2018.
This is Jose Altuve's fourth Team MVP Award, after receiving the honors in 2013, 2014 and 2016. Altuve's season was one of the best in franchise history, as he earned his fifth All-Star selection and his third consecutive start. In the postseason, he hit .310 with seven homers and 14 RBI in 18 games, setting a franchise record for hits in a single postseason (22). His seven home runs tied the most by a second baseman in a single postseason in MLB history, and the fourth-most in a single postseason in MLB history among all players overall. Since the regular season concluded, Altuve has been named the AL MVP, a Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year, the Sporting News Player of the Year, the Baseball America MLB Player of the Year, the 2017 AL Hank Aaron Award winner and the winner of two MLBPA Players Choice Awards for the Major League Player of the Year and the AL Most Outstanding Player. He also took home his fourth consecutive Silver Slugger award.
LHP Dallas Keuchel won his second Team Pitcher of the Year Award, after winning it in 2015. Keuchel added another stellar season to his resume, going 14-5 with a 2.90 ERA (47ER/145.2IP) in 23 starts, on the way to being named to his second career All-Star squad. RHP Brad Peacock had a breakout season as one of the Astros most reliable arms out of the bullpen and the rotation, posting a 13-2 overall record. He set career highs in wins (13), innings (132.0), strikeouts (161) and appearances (34), while posting career best marks in opponent OPS (.615), strikeouts per 9.0 innings (10.98), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.82) and homers per 9.0 innings (0.68). This is his first BBWAA Team Award.
IF Yuli Gurriel, a 33-year-old rookie, had a spectacular first full season in the Major Leagues. Gurriel set franchise rookie records for doubles (43), total bases (257), extra-base hits (62) and slugging percentage (.485). He also broke the franchise rookie records for extra-base hits and doubles set by Hunter Pence (56 XBH, 30 doubles) in 2007, for total bases set by Joe Morgan (251) in 1965 and for slugging percentage set by Jeff Bagwell (.437) in 1991. Gurriel led all Major League rookies in batting average, ranking second among AL rookies in extra-base hits (62) and hits (158), and third in runs (69) and OPS (.817). He was also the third-hardest player to strike out in the AL, with a ratio of 9.10 plate appearances per strikeout.
The Darryl Kile Award, which has been awarded to IF Carlos Correa, is also called the "good guy award," in memory of the late Darryl Kile, a former Astros standout pitcher. It is presented to the player chosen as the most affable with teammates, fans and the press. The American League's starting shortstop in the 2017 All-Star Game had an excellent third season in the Majors. He set a franchise record for home runs by a shortstop with 24, and became the first shortstop in Major League history to reach the 20-homer mark in each of his first three seasons.
IF Paul Goldschmidt was named the Houston Area Player of the Year (non-Astro). He had another phenomenal season with the Diamondbacks in what was his seventh season with the club, hitting .297 with 36 home runs, 120 RBI and a .966 OPS. This marks his fourth time winning the Award (2013, 2015-17). In 2017 he was a named an All-Star for the fifth time, while also collecting Gold Glove and Silver Slugger honors. Goldschmidt played high school baseball at The Woodlands and in college for the Texas State Bobcats.
Bob Watson, this year's winner of the Fred Hartman Long and Meritorious Service to Baseball Award, has enjoyed a unique and remarkable career in Major League Baseball that has spanned six decades, reaching success at many different levels, including as a player, coach, general manager, MLB executive and more. Watson spent the first 13 of his 18 Major League seasons as a player with the Astros, and he currently ranks in the top 10 in franchise history in several offensive categories. His .297 career average with Houston is tied for second all-time with Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell. Watson hit over .300 four times in his career with Houston while driving in over 100 runs twice. Following his playing career, he was named Astros General Manager in 1993, becoming just the second African-American to hold this position in Major League history. In 1996, he was hired as GM by the Yankees and became the first African-American GM to win a World Series title that season. In May 2017, Watson was awarded the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.) prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.
-ASTROS-