There's still a lot of baseball to be played, but here are the frontrunners for the top individual awards
A sense of normalcy has returned to Major League Baseball after an abbreviated spring training and a late start to the regular season.
With rosters down to 26 players, after opening the season at 28, starting pitchers are pushing the 100-pitch mark again. Even offense has picked up after early complaints of a dead baseball.
Some of the fast starts will make an impact on All-Star Game rosters. How many will make a mark on the season-ending awards race? FrontPageBets takes a look at the hunt for the hardware.
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cy Young Award
Justin Verlander (+450) emerged as a top AL Cy Young candidate at 39, in his 17th season.
The 2019 winner made just one start the past two seasons for the Houston Astros after Tommy John surgery, but has returned with a 6-1 record, a 1.22 ERA and nine walks to 49 strikeouts. Will there be a toll to pay from pitching 51.2 innings thus far?
Chicago White Sox right-hander Michael Kopech (+3000) had just eight career starts before this season but is 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA in eight starts this season. But Kopech has never gone more than 134.1 innings in the minor leagues. New York Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes (+1200) is 3-1 with a 1.80 ERA after eight starts in a continuation of his 2021 emergence despite a low-90s fastball.
Alek Manoah (+800), a former first-round pick, is showing his promise with the Toronto Blue Jays, going 5-1 with a 1.62 ERA, while teammate Kevin Gausman (+500) has transitioned well into his first season in Toronto at 4-3 with a 2.25 ERA and a 13.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Most Valuable Player
Mike Trout (+450) looks intent on keeping the AL MVP Award within the Los Angeles Angels’ clubhouse, returning from a torn calf muscle to hit 12 home runs with an AL-best 1.129 OPS. Reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani (+210) is off to a solid start offensively (nine HRs, .788 OPS) and still can add his pitching prowess into the mix: 3-2, 2.82 ERA, 53 strikeouts.
The New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge (+350) is thriving in the early going with 17 HRs and a 1.078 OPS. Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (+1200) is doing well offensively (11 HRs, .816 OPS), with the ability to play high-level defense, but can he stay healthy?
A top-six finisher in MVP voting in four of the past five seasons, the Cleveland Guardians’ Jose Ramirez (+1600) is making noise again with 11 HRs and a 1.012 OPS.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cy Young Award
The San Diego Padres are known for their MVP candidates but right-hander Joe Musgrove (+1200) is putting a charge into the pitching side. The San Diego-area native is 5-0 with a 1.90 ERA and the Padres have won all eight of his starts. In a contract year, a mega payday awaits.
The Milwaukee Brewers’ Corbin Burnes (+325), the reigning NL Cy Young winner, remains the favorite with a 2.18 ERA in nine starts. The Miami Marlins have a pair of starters reaching great heights: Pablo Lopez (+1100) is 4-2 with a 2.04 ERA and Sandy Alcantara (+2000) is 4-2 with a 2.11 ERA.
St. Louis Cardinals righty Miles Mikolas (+5000) is 3-2 with a 1.96 ERA after nine starts, but his next outing will be his most since 2019. Los Angeles Dodgers righty Walker Buehler (+1100) is 6-1 with a 2.91 ERA and Atlanta Braves lefty Max Fried (+1500) is 4-2, with a 3.27 ERA, with neither hitting their stride yet following long 2021 postseasons.
San Francisco Giants lefty Carlos Rodon (+600) has given up more than two runs just once in eight starts and has a 2.14 ERA.
Most Valuable Player
Without Fernando Tatis Jr. to start the season for the Padres, Manny Machado (+225) has delivered with eight home runs, a 1.027 OPS and solid defense at third. Machado has been in the top 10 of MVP voting four times and finished third in 2020.
An elbow injury has the Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper (+1000) reduced to DH duties, but the reigning NL MVP is thriving at the plate with 10 HRs and a .975 OPS, including a recent series against the Dodgers when he had four doubles and three HRs among his 12 hits.
The Cardinals have seven HRs and a .986 OPS from Paul Goldschmidt (+2500) and nine HRs with an .896 OPS from Nolan Arenado (+600). The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts (+600), the AL MVP in 2018, started slow but has been on his game in May and has an NL-best 12 home runs with a .963 OPS.
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