The Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA) announced Tuesday that Kris Bryant and Avisail Garcia earned the Cubs and White Sox 2017 Heart and Hustle awards.
This is the first time Bryant and Garcia have received this honor.
This award, which is the only MLB accolade that is voted on by former players, is given to one active player on each team who exhibits a strong work ethic and a deep passion and dedication for the game.
The MLBPAA forms 30 committees of Alumni players who have relationships to each team. As the end of the season draws near, all Alumni and active players will vote on a final winner out of the 30 current team winners.
The winner will be announced Nov. 14, 2017 at the 18th annual Legends for Youth Dinner in New York City. This event doubles as a fundraiser for free youth baseball clinics, which help more than 16,000 children at the 185 annual clinics.
Past winners include Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo in 2015 and White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier in 2016. Rizzo was also honored with the Heart and Hustle Award in 2016.
If Garcia wins, the White Sox will be the first franchise to have back-to-back Heart and Hustle Award winners since Torii Hunter and Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels won in 2011 and 2012.
Bryant is hitting .272 and is on paces for 38 home runs this season.
Garcia is batting .313 and has recorded the second most RBIs for the White Sox (54) this season.
The 30 individual team winners are as follows:
American League
Baltimore Orioles, Adam Jones
Boston Red Sox, Rick Porcello
Chicago White Sox, Avisaíl García
Cleveland Indians, José Ramírez
Detroit Tigers, Ian Kinsler
Houston Astros, Josh Reddick
Kansas City Royals, Eric Hosmer
Los Angeles Angels, Andrelton Simmons
Minnesota Twins, Byron Buxton
New York Yankees, Brett Gardner
Oakland Athletics, Yonder Alonso
Seattle Mariners, Nelson Cruz
Tampa Bay Rays, Logan Morrison
Texas Rangers, Elvis Andrus
Toronto Blue Jays, Kevin Pillar
National League
Arizona Diamondbacks, Paul Goldschmidt
Atlanta Braves, Nick Markakis
Chicago Cubs, Kris Bryant
Cincinnati Reds, Adam Duvall
Colorado Rockies, Charlie Blackmon
Los Angeles Dodgers, Justin Turner
Miami Marlins, J.T. Realmuto
Milwaukee Brewers, Hernán Pérez
New York Mets, Jay Bruce
Philadelphia Phillies, Freddy Galvis
Pittsburgh Pirates, Adam Frazier
San Diego Padres, Clayton Richard
San Francisco Giants, Brandon Crawford
St. Louis Cardinals, Jedd Gyorko
Washington Nationals, Anthony Rendon
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