Toro gets award, Hinch’s praise

Infielder Abraham Toro, named Tuesday as the Astros’ minor league player of the year for his work this season at Class AA Corpus Christi and Class AAA Round Rock, has impressed manager A.J. Hinch as a throwback type of player during his brief stint in the major leagues.

Toro, a switch-hitting infielder who was called up Aug. 22, has impressed at third base while playing 20 games with the Astros, hitting .239 with three doubles, two triples, two home runs, a stolen base and a .753 OPS.

“He puts his nose into every ground ball and is kind of a throwback-style player, always open for learning,” Hinch said. “His lefthanded swing has gotten really good. His righthanded swing has always produced fairly well in the minors.

“He’s an easy guy to root for. I don’t want to say he’s an overachiever, because I think that undermines his true talent. But he is establishing himself as somebody who is factoring into our future plans because of how he has pushed himself while not being that top prospect who got a lot of acclaim. It’s pretty fun to see.”

Toro, 22, played 98 games with Corpus Christi and 16 at Round Rock, combining for a .324 average with 31 doubles, four triples, 17 home runs, 80 RBIs and a .938 OPS. He was Corpus Christi’s player of the year, leading the Texas League in OPS, and hit .424 with a 1.112 OPS in his brief stay in Round Rock.

“It’s a good feeling,” he said. “I’m going with the pitches this year. Last year I was more of a pull hitter, and this year I’ve been able to go with the pitch, and that has helped me a lot.”

Since joining the Astros, Toro said, “I’m not trying to change the things that got me here.”

Righthander Cristian Javier was named minor league pitcher of the year. He climbed from Class A Advanced Fayetteville to Corpus Christi to Round Rock, recording a combined 8-3 record and 1.74 ERA with four saves and 170 strikeouts in 1132⁄3 innings.

Toro was picked in the fifth round of the 2016 draft. Javier was a nondrafted free agent who signed in 2015.