HOUSTON — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above is from Gerrit Cole's postgame interview following Game 7 of the World Series.
It comes as a surprise to absolutely no one who watched the 'Stros play all season, but several Astros were named finalists for some of the most prestigious awards in the game.
- MVP: Alex Bregman
- Cy Young Award: Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole
- Rookie of the Year: Yordan Alvarez
The winners will be announced next week.
- Nov. 11: Rookie of the Year winners
- Nov. 13: Cy Young Award winners
- Nov. 14: MVP award winners
Alvarez is going up against Tampa Bay Rays infielder Brandon Lowe and Baltimore Orioles pitcher John Means.
Alvarez, 22, put up a historic season. He set the MLB record for OPS for a rookie (1.067) and led all rookies in extra-base hits (53), on-base percentage (.412) and slugging percentage (.655). He hit .313 with 27 homers and 78 RBI. He set the Astros rookie homer record, topping Carlos Correa's 22 homers in 2015. Alvarez was named the Rookie of the Month in the American League from June to August.
Bregman is going against Oakland A's infielder Marcus Semien and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout for the AL MVP award. Bregman led the AL with 8.4 WAR (wins above replacement) and walks (119). He was second in OBP (.423), third in OPS (1.015) and slugging percentage (.592), tied for third with 41 homers, scored the fourth-most runs (122), had the fifth-most RBI (112) and was sixth in strikeout rate (12%).
Bregman became the fifth player in MLB history to had 41 homers, 119 walks and 37 doubles in a season while striking out less than 83 times, joining Barry Bonds (1993), Ted Williams (1949), Lou Gherig (1936) and Babe Ruth (1924, 1921).
Cole and Verlander are going up against former Astros pitcher Charlie Morton, who spent the 2019 season with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Cole led MLB with 326 strikeouts, led the AL in ERA (2.50) and opponent OPS (.579). He was named the AL Pitcher of the Month in June, July and September.
Verlander led MLB with 21 wins, opponent batting average (.172), WHIP (0.80) and innings pitched (223).He tossed his third career no-hitter on Sept. 1 against the Toronto Blue Jays. His 0.80 WHIP was the third-best mark in baseball's modern era, since 1900.