Angels star Shohei Ohtani at the plate. Credit: Getty Images
The American League has held its own in terms of producing some stellar offenses and candidates for MVP. However, it feels like one superstar is ahead of the pack in the MVP race.
However, the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year are closer by comparison. That being said, here are three American League players in the thick of the various awards races.
Shohei Ohtani: DH/P, Los Angeles Angels (MVP)
All things considered, Shohei Ohtani is not just the American League MVP frontrunner. Ohtani is arguably the best player in baseball based on his numbers. The Angels star leads MLB and the AL in slugging percentage (.650) and extra-base hits (51).
His 147 times on base and the 10.8 home runs per at-bat are tops in the AL. Moreover, a case could make a case for him to be the Cy Young race. He has a 3.32 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 100.1 innings on the mound. However, being an MVP is the likely route thus far.
Framber Valdez: LHP, Houston Astros & Gerrit Cole: RHP, New York Yankees (Cy Young)
Without question, the race for the AL Cy Young is tight between Framber Valdez and Gerrit Cole. A case could be made for Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays. It is hard to pick as Valdez and Cole have had great seasons, respectively. The Astros lefty leads the American League with a 2.49 ERA. Cole is fifth at 2.79.
Also, Valdez is second in home runs per nine innings at 0.600. Looking at Cole, he has more strikeouts (118) than Valdez and wins with eight while Valdez has seven.
Josh Jung: 3B, Texas Rangers
The AL Rookie of the Year honors will be a nailbiter as Josh Jung has the current edge. Jung is in a heated battle with Masataka Yoshida of the Boston Red Sox and Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles.
The Texas Rangers’ third baseman is tops amongst AL rookies in HRs with 17 and has a slight lead over Yoshida in hits (90 to 89). While these numbers will change, the race between Jung, Yoshida, and Henderson will not. Henderson needs a strong second half of the season. He’s hitting just .237 with 11 HRs.
