2B Jose Altuve ended the regular season batting a career- and major league-best .346. He secured this season's batting title, his third in the last four seasons. He is just the third right-handed hitter in American League history (since 1900) to win three or more batting titles. The AL record for right-handed hitters is four titles, by Harry Heilman (1921, '23, '25, '27) and Miguel Cabrera (2011-13, '15).

There may not be two American League players who differ more standing side-by-side than the Houston Astros' Jose Altuve and the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge.Altuve is a diminutive 5-foot-6. Judge is a giant at 6-7. But when it comes to the AL Most Valuable Player Award, the difference could be measured in angstroms.The members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America are sending in their votes right now for all of the major 2017 awards. There are some that will be, or should be, unanimous picks.How do you not give Judge the AL Rookie of the Year? Same goes in the National League for Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Both were by far at the top of their classes when all was said and done.Below is our take on the deserving winners in each race. AL MVP isn't the only white-knuckler. In the AL, the Cy Young Award race between Boston's Chris Sale and Cleveland's Corey Kluber is tight, too. In the National League, the MVP, Cy Young and Manager of the Year are all worthy of great... [More]

2B Jose Altuve didn't play Tuesday after being hit the left forearm Monday by a pitch. He could be back in the lineup Wednesday. "He's sore from getting hit by a 95-mph fastball, but he's fine," A.J. Hinch said. "I knew he was going to sit a day or two here on this road trip, and it happened to be convenient he gets hit and is not going to play. He's fine. He obviously is dealing with some soreness, as anyone would that gets hit."

2B Jose Altuve left Monday's game in the eighth inning with a left foreman contusion after getting hit by a pitch. X-rays were negative. He's considered day-to-day. "He immediately knew that it wasn't broken," manager A.J. Hinch said. "He was coming out of the game anyway. It was unfortunate that he got hit. He'll be day to day and we'll see how he feels tomorrow." Altuve went 1-for-3 and leads the AL with 199 hits.

2B Jose Altuve hit his 24th home run in the fourth inning, matching his single-season high set in 2016. Altuve has nine homers since the beginning of August and ranks second on the club in home runs behind CF George Springer, who has hit 32.

2B Jose Altuve hit his 23rd home run of the season Saturday, a two-run shot in the sixth inning of an 11-4 loss to Oakland in the second game of a doubleheader. Altuve's homer was the 10th of his career against the A's, matching the most he's had against any team. He's also hit 10 homers against Texas and the Los Angeles Angels. Altuve is one shy of his single-season high for home runs of 24, which he set last season.

2B Jose Altuve with 2-for-5 with a double and a two-run homer in a 9-8 loss to Oakland on Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum. The home run was his ninth career blast against the A's, one of his personal high of 10 against Texas and the Los Angeles Angels. Altuve is batting an American League-best .352 with 37 doubles, 22 home runs and 74 RBIs. He has scored 97 runs.

2B Jose Altuve took a routine day off, and Marwin Gonzalez took his spot in the field. "He doesn't love (taking days off) early in the year, but he loves it in September," manager A.J. Hinch said. "I think these guys are definitely in need of a day off." Altuve, an American League MVP candidate, is hitting .351 with 21 homers, 72 RBIs and 31 stolen bases.

2B Jose Altuve finished with two steals and reclaimed the American League lead from teammate Cameron Maybin with 31. Altuve is the only player with 30-plus steals in each of the last six seasons and the first Astro to accomplish that feat since Cesar Cedeno (1972-77). Altuve is the first player with 20 homers and 30 steals in consecutive seasons since Carlos Gomez did so for the Brewers in 2013-14.

2B Jose Altuve had one hit, helping set up the Astros' only run Wednesday. He struck out twice, and his average dropped to .254. Altuve made a spectacular play on a sharply hit grounder.

2B Jose Altuve went 2-for-4 with a single and home run on Sunday. He's hitting .413 on the road this season (99-for-240), which would be the highest road average in the majors since Stan Musial hit .415 in 1948.

2B Jose Altuve returned to the lineup against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, two days after exiting in the sixth inning against the Washington Nationals with neck soreness. Altuve, who came into Saturday with the best batting average in the AL post-All Star break at .380, went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, snapping a 17-game hitting streak at Angel Stadium, the longest at the venue by a major league player since Joe Mauer had an 18-game streak from 2007-11.

2B Jose Altuve departed following the sixth inning with neck discomfort. Altuve finished 1-for-3 with a strikeout and a fly out to left field to close the sixth inning. He felt the discomfort throughout his final plate appearance and is day-to-day.

2B Jose Altuve finished 2-for-4 with a solo home run for his fourth multi-hit game in his last six starts on Friday. Altuve leads the American League with 50 multi-hit games and joins Jose Cruz (five) and Craig Biggio (six) as the only players in franchise history with at least five seasons with 50-plus multi-hit games.

2B Jose Altuve recorded his American League-leading 49th multi-hit game by finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI. Altuve is 26-for-52 in interleague play this season, tops in the majors. His average ranks as the second-highest in interleague play since it began in 1997.

2B Jose Altuve was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored Tuesday, a day after the second three-strikeout game of his career against Arizona RHP Zack Greinke. "He wasn't picking up his pitches," Hinch said, "and Greinke can put the ball where he wants. It is a reminder that Jose is human."

2B Jose Altuve rarely has a night like this. The AL batting leader, with a .361 average, struck out in his first three at-bats Monday against Arizona ace Zack Greinke -- his first three-strikeout game since 2014 and the fifth of his career. The only other time he'd done it against a single pitcher was against Matt Cain -- during the Giants right-hander's perfect game on June 13, 2012.

2B Jose Altuve scored the game's first run with a solo homer in the fourth inning, one of the only two hits the Astros had through five innings. He leads the American League in hits with 162 and in multi-hit games with 47. In 56 road games this season, Altuve is batting .420.

2B Jose Altuve collected two hits in five at-bats on Thursday night and has recorded hit in four straight games, which marks the 10th time in his career he had strung together such a streak. In his last seven games, Altuve is hitting .423 (11-for26) and has recorded four multi-hit games, including Thursday night's.

2B Jose Altuve went 2-for-4 with a homer and an RBI on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox. Altuve has 17 home runs this season and two in his last five games. He is hitting .365 on the season, and he leads the majors with 156 hits.