So who's taking home the personal hardware in this bastardized season?
I think Shane Bieber has had the AL Cy Young wrapped up since the second week of the season. He leads MLB in wins, ERA and Ks, and also tops the AL in WAR. The only question left is whether leading the hitless wonders to a playoff spot is enough to give him serious consideration for AL MVP. Lance Lynn might have the best argument for runnerup, but only some true homerism in the BBWAA can rob Bieber of a unanimous win.
Unless there's a groundswell of "pitcher for MVP" vote, the AL MVP now looks like it's Jose Abreu's to lose. He's leading the majors in hits, total bases and RBI, the AL in SLG and WAR among position players, and is near the top in multiple other categories. He also has the storyline of the veteran leading a young upstart team to a division title (despite a less than desirable pitching staff). Maybe DJ LeMahieu gets some votes. Trout would have needed to dominate the league this year with the Angels hopelessly out of it after about 10 games, but that hasn't happened.
The NL awards still seem to be up in the air. I heard early talk favoring a rejuvenated Yu Darvish, but while he hasn't really tailed off, he also never separated from the pack. I think it will be hard to vote against Max Fried if he finishes the year undefeated with a sub-2.00 ERA. His BB/K numbers aren't particularly impressive, but he's the only qualifying pitcher in baseball to not allow a home run and he leads all NL pitchers by 0.5 in WAR. Trevor Bauer had a couple of poor outings after putting up video game numbers in his first four starts, and old school voters won't care for his 4-4 record when other candidates are comparable in the rest of the categories. Kershaw and his MLB-leading WHIP could also split the "come back" storyline with Darvish.
Fernando Tatis Jr has led the NL in storylines and will probably get some votes for MVP, but he only needs to look to his right to see Manny Machado is having a considerably better season. In the end, Tatis probably takes enough votes away from Machado to eliminate San Diego's candidates. Mookie Betts might have the best argument regardless, with a share of the league lead in home runs and WAR, while also carrying the storyline of the top off-season acquisition meeting all expectations. However, Freddie Freeman has a legitimate chance to take the slash-rate triple crown in the NL.
I think Shane Bieber has had the AL Cy Young wrapped up since the second week of the season. He leads MLB in wins, ERA and Ks, and also tops the AL in WAR. The only question left is whether leading the hitless wonders to a playoff spot is enough to give him serious consideration for AL MVP. Lance Lynn might have the best argument for runnerup, but only some true homerism in the BBWAA can rob Bieber of a unanimous win.
Unless there's a groundswell of "pitcher for MVP" vote, the AL MVP now looks like it's Jose Abreu's to lose. He's leading the majors in hits, total bases and RBI, the AL in SLG and WAR among position players, and is near the top in multiple other categories. He also has the storyline of the veteran leading a young upstart team to a division title (despite a less than desirable pitching staff). Maybe DJ LeMahieu gets some votes. Trout would have needed to dominate the league this year with the Angels hopelessly out of it after about 10 games, but that hasn't happened.
The NL awards still seem to be up in the air. I heard early talk favoring a rejuvenated Yu Darvish, but while he hasn't really tailed off, he also never separated from the pack. I think it will be hard to vote against Max Fried if he finishes the year undefeated with a sub-2.00 ERA. His BB/K numbers aren't particularly impressive, but he's the only qualifying pitcher in baseball to not allow a home run and he leads all NL pitchers by 0.5 in WAR. Trevor Bauer had a couple of poor outings after putting up video game numbers in his first four starts, and old school voters won't care for his 4-4 record when other candidates are comparable in the rest of the categories. Kershaw and his MLB-leading WHIP could also split the "come back" storyline with Darvish.
Fernando Tatis Jr has led the NL in storylines and will probably get some votes for MVP, but he only needs to look to his right to see Manny Machado is having a considerably better season. In the end, Tatis probably takes enough votes away from Machado to eliminate San Diego's candidates. Mookie Betts might have the best argument regardless, with a share of the league lead in home runs and WAR, while also carrying the storyline of the top off-season acquisition meeting all expectations. However, Freddie Freeman has a legitimate chance to take the slash-rate triple crown in the NL.