MLB Award Race

Race for the Award

Written by: Eric Shaw

With the All Star break coming around the corner, I think it’s a great time to start looking at early predictions for some awards. The All Star Game will be held on Tuesday, July 13th at Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. Let’s take a look at our top contenders for the AL MVP.

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This season has been one for the record books already! And some plays have not disappointed. Guys like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Mike Trout and Byron Buxton. But with injuries from both Trout and Buxton, the MVP has been a little different. My top three contenders in no particular order are Vlad Jr. Xander Bogaerts and Shohei Ohtani.

As of June 27th, Vlad Jr. sits at the top of the MLB in home runs with 26. And is third in batting average with a .339. Vlad with an even stronger second half of the season could make a run for the triple crown as he sits in third for hits with 92 total hits, only putting him five behind first place Nick Castellanos. But giving Vlad a run for his money is two way star Shohei Ohtani. Baseball has not seen a two way player that dominates since Babe Ruth. Ohtani has a 3-1 record with 82 punchouts and a 2.58 ERA. And from the plate Shohei is only two behind Vlad in home runs with a total of 24. Shohei Ohtani is also third in runs batted in with a total of 56.

The National League has a couple contenders for MVP, but one stands out more than the rest. With amazing seasons so far from Fernando Tatis Jr and Ronald Acuna Jr, as of right now I can see both of them losing to one person. Jacob DeGrom. He has had one of the most dominant seasons of all time to this point. DeGrom in twelve starts has a 7-2 record with an earned run average of 0.5. Yes, you are reading that right. Jacob DeGrom in 72 innings has only allowed four earned runs and only walked ten batters. DeGrom has 117 strikeouts this year already. And not to mention, Jacob DeGrom has been electric at the plate. He has a batting average of .407 with eleven hits and six runs batted in. DeGrom has more RBIs than earned runs this season. Even with great seasons from both Tatis and Acuna, if DeGrom stays around these numbers, there is no chance he loses the MVP, and with an MVP with, he will also win the Cy Young award.