VERDICT: JUDGE SECOND TO ALTUVE
Astros get best of Yankees again as 5-6 Altuve beats Judge for AL MVP
Jose Altuve got the best of Aaron Judge in the ALCS. Now, he’s beaten him out for American League MVP, too.
The Houston second baseman was named AL MVP on Thursday, less than a month after the Astros won the World Series, as Judge couldn’t finish off his historic season with more hardware after capturing the AL Rookie of the Year award earlier in the week.
In the end, it wasn’t close, as Altuve got 27 firstplace votes and 405 points, while the Yankees right fielder got just two first-place votes and 279 points. Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez got the other first-place vote and had 237 points, while the Angels’ Mike Trout, who has won the award twice, came in fourth.
Judge was unable to become just the third player to win both ROY and MVP in the same season, leaving just Ichiro Suzuki in 2001 and Fred Lynn in 1975 to have pulled off the feat.
Even Judge didn’t argue with the result, writing to Altuve on Twitter: “M-V-P!!! Nobody more deserving than you!!”
Altuve, who said during the playoffs he would “probably” vote for Judge for the award, insisted during a conference call that he didn’t think he would win, let alone by a wide margin.
“I was surprised not by the votes,” Altuve said. “I was surprised I won. I wasn’t expecting this. … I couldn’t believe it.’’
Despite leading the AL with 52 homers — breaking Mark McGwire’s rookie record of 49 set in 1987 — and topping the AL in runs (128) and walks (127), Judge was derailed by a second-half slump that began immediately upon his return from the All-Star Game in Miami, where he won the Home Run Derby.
From July 14 through Aug. 26, Judge went just 25for-142 with seven homers and 63 strikeouts and had an OPS of .678.
Though he declined to discuss it, the Yankees’ right fielder appeared to be affected by a left shoulder injury for much of that stretch.
Judge’s prolonged struggles at the plate helped Altuve make up for the fact he finished with fewer than half as many homers (24) and a lower OPS (1.049-.957).
Unlike Judge, Altuve’s production hardly wavered throughout the season and he led the AL in hits for a fourth straight season and batting average for a second consecutive year.
At 5-foot-6 and 6-7, respectively, Altuve and Judge became two of the most recognizable figures in the game this season.
With his latest achievement, Altuve — who was so small when he first tried out for the Astros in Venezuela, the team sent him home — admitted he has surpassed his own goals.
“I always dreamed about being a big-leaguer and World Series champion,” Altuve said on MLB Network after the announcement. “I’m not sure in my plans was being MVP.”
Altuve finished third in the voting a year ago and no one had a more stark turnaround than Judge, who struggled when he came up to the majors for the first time in 2016 before being sidelined by an oblique injury and only won the starting right-field job over Aaron Hicks this year at the end of spring training.
Because Judge is only 25 — and Altuve just 27 — the two could vie for more awards in the future, though the 26-year-old Trout could make that difficult if he’s able to remain healthy. This was the first time in his six full seasons in the majors the Angels outfielder failed to finish in the top two in voting, largely because an injured thumb helped limit him to 114 games.