(SportsRadio 610) - Seven Astros have been named finalists for the 2021 All-MLB team: 2B Jose Altuve, OF Yordan Alvarez, SS Carlos Correa, 1B Yuli Gurriel, RHP Lance McCullers Jr., RHP Ryan Pressly and RF Kyle Tucker.
Beginning Wednesday and continuing through Friday, November 19 at 4 p.m. CT, fans may vote for their 2021 All-MLB choices at mlb.com/allmlb once every 24 hours. In addition, the ballot will be available in Spanish at lasmayores.com/todomlb.
Fans voting on MLB.com and a decorated panel of media members, broadcasters, former players and other officials throughout the game will have equal say in determining the first-team and second-team choices who comprise the 2021 All-MLB Team.
Altuve, 31, batted .278 with a career-high-tying 31 home runs, 83 RBI and a career-high 117 runs. He also ranked 3rd in the AL in runs and tied for fifth in the AL in multi-hit games (49). The second baseman earned his seventh All-Star selection, which matched the club record set by Craig Biggio. In the postseason, Altuve’s 21 runs are tied with Carlos Beltran (2004) for the most in a single postseason in MLB history. Additionally, his five postseason home run in 2021 gives him 23 for his career, which is second all-time in MLB history.
Alvarez, 24, hit .277 with 33 home runs, 104 RBI and an .877 OPS. In the AL, he ranked 8th in RBI, 9th in OPS and 10th in SLG. (.531). Alvarez also became the youngest Astros player to have a 30-homer season and the second-youngest in club history to record a 100-RBI season. This postseason he was named the 2021 ALCS MVP after he batted .522 with a home run and 6 RBI.
Correa, 27, batted .279 with a career-high 26 home runs, 34 doubles, 92 RBI, 75 walks and an .850 OPS in a team-high 148 games this season. In the AL, he ranked seventh in runs (104) and ninth in OBP. (.366). Correa also became the first shortstop in franchise history to score 100 runs in a season. Earlier this week, he earned his first Gold Glove Award after leading all Major League players in Defensive WAR at 2.9.
Gurriel, the AL batting champion, batted .319 with 83 runs, 31 doubles, 15 home runs, 81 RBI and a career-high 59 walks. He became the second player in Astros history to win the batting title, joining Altuve in 2014, 2016-17. He is also the second Cuban-born player to win a batting title, joining Tony Oliva in 1964-65, 1971. In the AL, he ranked second in OBP (.383), tied for fifth in multi-hit games (49) and tied for fifth in hits (169). Gurriel also won his first career Gold Glove award this season.
McCullers Jr., 28, had his best season as a professional, reaching a career-high in wins (13), starts (28), innings (162.1) and strikeouts (185), while also posting the best ERA (3.16) and opponent batting average (.205) of his six-year career. Among qualifying AL pitchers, he ranked first in opponent batting average, first in opponent OPS (.628) and second in ERA (3.16). He also posted the lowest home runs per nine innings (0.72) ratio and the highest ground ball percent (56.9) in the AL.
Pressly, 32, had the best season of his career, recording a 2.25 ERA with 81 strikeouts, 0.97 WHIP and a .208 opponent batting average. He set a career-high in ERA and saves (26). Pressly’s 92.9% save percentage ranked tied for third all-time in Astros franchise history for a season. Among AL relievers, he ranked second in save percentage, fourth in saves, eighth in WHIP and ninth in ERA.
Tucker, 24, recorded the best season of his young career, batting .294 with 30 home runs, 92 RBI, 37 doubles, three triples and 83 runs with a .917 OPS. In the AL, he ranked third in SLG. (.557), third in OPS, tied for fifth in doubles, and ninth in batting average. Tucker was also named the AL Player of the Month for Sept.-Oct. He became the third Astros player in franchise history to record a 30-homer season before turning 25 years old, joining Alex Bregman and Alvarez.
Since May 1, he led the AL in batting average (.320), SLG. (.600), OBP (.387) and OPS (.986).