Jose Altuve, Giancarlo Stanton Named MVP Award Winners

Jose Altuve was named the 2017 American League Most Valuable Player, while Giancarlo Stanton picked up the NL MVP.

The Astros' José Altuve was named the 2017 American League Most Valuable Player, and the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton won the National League MVP.

Altuve led the league in batting average (.346) and hits (204). He put up his fourth straight 200-hit season while posting career highs in average, OBP and slugging. The 27-year-old was a model of consistency throughout the season–never finishing a month with an OPS lower than .832. Month to month, Altuve hit: .326 in April, .313 in May, .354 in June, .485 in July, .304 in August and .291 in September.

An All-Star for a fourth consecutive season, Altuve led the American League in WAR (8.3) and logged his sixth straight 30-steal season. Along with All-Stars Carlos Correa and George Springer, Altuve formed one-third of a powerful lineup that carried the Astros to a 101-61 record and a World Series title.

Although the playoffs are not taken into consideration for the MVP award, the Venezuelan second baseman hit for a .310 average with seven home runs and 14 RBIs in 18 games throughout the postseason.

Altuve edged out the Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge in what turned out to be a two-man race. Judge, the American League Rookie of the Year, became just the fifth player ever to hit 50 or more home runs (52), score 120 runs and draw 120 walks in a season. The Yankees star also drove in 114 RBIs while posting a WAR of 8.1 and an OPS of 1.049.

Altuve picked up 27 of 30 possible first-place votes to win his first MVP, with Judge picking up two.

Cleveland's José Ramirez finished in third place after hitting the most extra-base hits in the MLB this season (91) and playing second and third base for the AL Central champions.

Stanton received 10 of 30 possible first-place votes to pick up the first MVP award of his career. Stanton narrowly edged out Reds first baseman Joey Votto, getting 302 points while Votto collected 300. Stanton set the Marlins' franchise record in home runs (59), RBIs (132), slugging percentage (.631) and extra-base hits (91) while hitting 30 of his league-leading 59 home runs in a 48-game stretch across July and August. The 28-year-old finished with an NL-leading WAR of 7.6 and scored 123 runs while posting an OPS of 1.007.

Votto also got 10 first-place votes, after leading the majors in times on base, walks and OBP (.454), which was 40 points better than the next-closest NL hitter. Votto posted a league-leading OPS of 1.033 and was No. 1 among all first baseman in Defensive Runs Saved. The 34-year-old if a five-time All-Star and won the MVP award in 2010.

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt finished third in the vote. He posted a slash line of .297/.404/.563 with 36 home runs and 120 RBIs. He was the only first baseman in the league with 10-plus defensive runs saved and 10 or more stolen bases.​