The Houston Astros are going back to the World Series. Sunday night the Astros wrapped up their four-game sweep of their New York Yankees in the ALCS, punching their ticket to the Fall Classic. It is their fourth American League pennant in the last six years. Houston will take on the Philadelphia Phillies when the World Series begins Friday, Oct. 28.
Rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña, who was tasked with replacing Carlos Correa this season, was named ALCS MVP after a dominant four-game series in which he went 6 for 18 (.333) with two doubles and two homers. He drove in four runs. Most notably, Peña hit the game-tying three-run home run in the third inning of Sunday's series-clinching Game 4.
Peña is the fifth rookie to be named Championship Series MVP, joining Mike Boddicker (1983 Baltimore Orioles), Livan Hernandez (1997 Florida Marlins), Michael Wacha (2013 St. Louis Cardinals), and Randy Arozarena (2020 Tampa Bay Rays).
As rookies tend to do, Peña had a streaky regular season with some dominant stretches and some stretches in which the learning curve was evident. He authored a .253/.289/.426 batting line with 22 home runs and stellar defense, which works out to 4.8 WAR. Julio Rodríguez is likely to win AL Rookie of the Year, though Peña will get votes.
The Astros selected Peña out of the University of Maine with their third round pick in the 2018 draft.
