American League Rookie of the Year: Carlos Correa
By Matt Veasey
The staff here at TBOH bringing you Philadelphia Phillies coverage year-round was polled for their choices on the biggest awards in Major League Baseball for the 2015 season, and the consensus as the American League Rookie of the Year was Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa.
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The 1st overall pick in the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft by Houston was named the AL Rookie of the Year on five of the six staff ballots submitted. A native of Puerto Rico, Correa rose incrementally through the Astros’ farm system over the last four years, making stops at every level before making his MLB debut on June 8th of this past season.
The 21-year old appeared in 99 total games, and helped drive the Astros to their first postseason berth in a decade. Houston finished in second place in the AL West, just two games behind the division-winning Texas Rangers. The Astros finished a game ahead of another AL West rival, the Los Angeles Angels, to capture the 2nd AL Wildcard berth.
In the AL Wildcard Game, Houston defeated the New York Yankees, advancing to an ALDS matchup with the Kansas City Royals. They extended the eventual world champions to the full five games, very nearly winning that series.
Correa had a regular season slash line of .279/.345/.512 in 432 plate appearances, with 22 home runs, 68 RBI, 52 runs scored, and 14 stolen bases while amassing a 4.1 WAR value. In the postseason, he had a huge 4-4 performance in Game 4 vs. the Royals with a pair of homers. However, he went just 3-20 in Houston’s five other playoff games, with no production.
The Astros did not play the Phillies at all this past season, and with the two teams not scheduled to face one another until likely the 2017 regular season, it will be awhile before fans at Citizens Bank Park get to watch this exciting youngster in a live South Philly performance.
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