Astros second baseman Jose Altuve has been named Sporting News 2016 Major League Baseball Player of the Year by a panel of 341 MLB players. SN has selected an MLB Player of the Year each season since 1936.

Since the inception of the Sporting News Player of the Year award in 1936, it has been a rarity for a second baseman to be named the best in the game. It took until 1960 for Bill Mazeroski to win the award at the keystone sack, then another decade and a half went by before Joe Morgan went back-to-back in 1975 and 1976. The only other second baseman to win was Ryne Sandberg in 1984.

Until now, that is.

Joining those three Hall of Famers is Astros star Jose Altuve, voted by his fellow players as the 2016 Sporting News Player of the Year.

Altuve may himself be on his way to Cooperstown, as through his age 26 season, he has 1,046 hits, a career line of .311/.354/.437 and 199 stolen bases. The only second basemen with more hits at such a young age were Hall of Famers Roberto Alomar, Bobby Doerr and Mazeroski. This award is not about Altuve’s career path, though. It’s about this season, and this season, he was spectacular.

SN AWARDS: AL Rookie of Year | NL Rookie of Year | AL Comeback Player of the Year | NL Comeback Player of the Year

Previously a slap-hitting leadoff man, Altuve moved into the No. 3 spot in the Houston batting order in 2016 and filled the role beautifully with a career-high 24 home runs to go along with a major league-leading 216 hits and his second American League batting crown in three years. One of six major leaguers in the 20-20 club this season, Altuve is the rare superstar who hardly strikes out — he whiffed just 70 times while drawing 60 walks in 717 plate appearances.

“His peers are watching the right things, because he’s a lot of what’s right in our game,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch told Sporting News. “His performance has been exceptional. He certainly had the best season I’ve ever been around, personally, in the game.”

Other players appearing on the SN team for the first time include Franciso Lindor of the Cleveland Indians and Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Boston Red Sox.

The power surge is particularly remarkable, because a lot of the time, when you see a hitter like Altuve crank up his home run numbers, it’s at the expense of something else. Instead, Altuve had his third straight 40-double season, smashed a career-best five triples and hiked his slugging percentage to .531, well over his previous career high of .459, set a year ago. His on-base percentage soared, too, as Altuve got on, thanks to those career-high 60 walks, at a.396 clip, bettering his .377 mark from 2014, the year of his previous batting title, when his average was three points higher.

MORE: See all the SN Players of the Year from 1936 to 2016

(Getty Images) https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/sporting_news/ef/f2/jose-altuve-041516-getty-ftrjpg_bsoxt2jjays811anow11kk5bt.jpg?t=483798028&w=500&quality=80 “I think a goal of his was to be more productive,” Hinch said. “I don’t think he only set out to focus on power. He’s very goal-oriented, and he usually accomplishes them. When he wanted to lead the league in hits, he did everything he could and led the league in hits. When he wanted to win a Gold Glove, he worked on his defense and he did that. I think he wanted to be a more productive hitter and run producer. The byproduct of that was a few more home runs, and the more confident he got, and the better pitches he got to swing at, the more productive he became. I’m more proud of him than I am surprised, because he put a plan in place, he worked to maximize his strike zone and he did a lot of damage.”

MORE: Sporting News NL All-Star Team | AL All-Star Team

Other players appearing on the SN team for the first time include Franciso Lindor of the Cleveland Indians and Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Boston Red Sox.

Altuve is the second player in Astros history to win Sporting News Player of the Year honors, joining Jeff Bagwell in 1994.

VOTING RESULTS

Voting by MLB players

1. Jose Altuve, Houston Astros-84

2. Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox-64

3. David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox-41

4. Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs-36

5. Daniel Murphy, Washington Nationals-26

6. Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels-22

7. Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies-20

8. Zach Britton, Baltimore Orioles-14

9. Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers-5

10. Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers-4

Brian Dozier, Minnesota Twins-4

11. Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles-2

Other-19