Altuve says he'd vote for Judge as MVP: 'In another life' I wanna be him

When the American League Championship Series kicks off Friday in Houston, two MVP candidates will square off in a battle reminiscent of David versus Goliath, as diminutive second baseman Jose Altuve's Houston Astros play hulking outfielder Aaron Judge's New York Yankees.

Prior to the game's 8 p.m. ET start time, Altuve was asked to provide some thoughts on his fellow MVP candidate. The Astros superstar surprisingly said he'd vote for Judge if he had a choice, and even explained how he'd like to live in the slugger's shoes in another life.

"He hits the ball way farther than anybody in the big leagues, all his homers. He plays good defense, he did everything to win the MVP in the regular season," Altuve told reporters, according to ASAP Sports. "But what I like the most about him is how humble he is. I met him in the All-Star Game and he couldn't believe he was there.

"If he wins the MVP, I think that it couldn't happen to a better guy, because he works really hard and I like the way he plays. He hits all his homers and he doesn't even - you know, never enjoy it. And I was like, Wow, this guy is so good and he's so humble about it. And maybe another life I want to be Aaron Judge and hit all those homers."

Astros manager A.J. Hinch disagreed with his own player and named Altuve as the MVP, according to Daniel Gotera of KHOU-TV.

While the two superstars may have had similarly impressive numbers during their brilliant regular-season campaigns, they are very different, both physically and from an experience perspective.

2017 stats

Altuve led the AL in hits and produced the highest batting average in the majors (.346), while Judge's 52 home runs sat second in the bigs behind only Giancarlo Stanton's 59.