The 2024 season has reached the All-Star break which even though not game-wise is considered the halfway point it’s time to take a look at how things stand and awards. If the season ended today the American League playoff picture would be
Cleveland Guardians 58-37
Baltimore Orioles 58-38
Seattle Mariners 52-46
New York Yankees 58-40
Minnesota Twins 54-42
Boston Red Sox 53-42
The Guardians and Orioles would both have byes while the Red Sox would face the Mariners and the Twins would face the Yankees in the Wild Card matchups. In the National League, the playoff picture would be
Philadelphia Phillies 62-34
Los Angeles Dodgers 56-41
Milwaukee Brewers 55-42
Atlanta Braves 53-42
St. Louis Cardinals 50-46
New York Mets 49-46
The Phillies and Dodgers would both have the byes and the Mets would face the Brewers and the Braves would face the Cardinals. Now who are the players that deserve awards for their first half?
First Half Awards
American League MVP: Aaron Judge – New York Yankees
Judge got off to a slow start but since then he has taken off and hasn’t slowed down. In 96 games he has a slash line of .306/.433/.679 with a 1.112 OPS; he has 24 doubles (9th in MLB), one triple, 34 home runs 1st in MLB), 85 RBI (1st in MLB), 73 runs scored, five stolen bases (13th in MLB), and 72 walks (2nd in MLB). He is seventh in batting average, and first in OBP, SLG, and OPS.
National League MVP: Shohei Ohtani – Los Angeles Dodgers
Ohtani hasn’t missed a beat moving to the National League in 94 games he has a slash line of .316/.400/.635 with a 1.036 OPS; he has 23 doubles (11th in MLB), four triples, 29 home runs (2nd in MLB), 69 RBI (6th in MLB), 75 runs scored (2nd in MLB), 23 stolen bases (4th in MLB), and 51 walks (6th in MLB). He is fourth in batting average, seventh in OBP, second in SLG, and second in OPS.
American League Cy Young: Tarik Skubal – Detroit Tigers
Skubal entered the season as a Cy Young favorite, and he’s proved why in the first half. In 19 starts he is 10-3 with a 2.41 ERA (5th in MLB), a 2.57 FIP (6th in MLB), a 0.88 WHIP (3rd in MLB), and 140 strikeouts (6th in MLB) in 116 innings (14th in MLB).
National League Cy Young: Chris Sale – Atlanta Braves
Sale has been healthy this season and in 18 starts he is 13-3 with a 2.70 ERA (13th in MLB), a 2.23 FIP (1st in MLB), a 0.95 WHIP (8th in MLB), and 140 strikeouts (5th in MLB) in 110 innings. He is first in MLB in wins.
American League Rookie of the Year: Mason Miller – Oakland A’s
Miller has been a bright spot for the struggling A’s. In 33 appearances he is 1-1 with 15 saves, a 2.27 ERA, a 1.67 FIP (3rd in MLB), a 0.86 WHIP (18th in MLB), and 70 strikeouts (1st in MLB) in 39.2 innings.
National League Rookie of the Year: Paul Skenes – Pittsburgh Pirates
Skenes was a top prospect and he’s showing why since getting the call. Through 11 starts he is 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA (2nd in MLB), a 2.57 FIP (6th in MLB), a 0.92 WHIP (3rd in MLB), and 89 strikeouts in 66.1 innings.
American League Manager of the Year: Alex Cora – Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox were expected to finish at the bottom of the American League East but Cora has this team playing great baseball and they are in a wild card spot as the break and are only 4.5 games back of first place in the American League East. No one saw this coming and what they’ve done not only with hitting but with pitching is something to see if it can be sustained in the second half.
National League Manager of the Year: Carlos Mendoza – New York Mets
Like Cora no one expected the Mets to do anything this season and here they are at the break in the final playoff spot they went 16-8 in June and this month they are 9-5 and in their last ten, they are 7-3. That’s due to Mendoza and the way he’s been able to get this team to focus as they look to reach the postseason for the first time since 2022.
