MLB Quarter-Season Award Winners: Why Aaron Judge Isn't AL MVP

This season marked the quarter-turn of the Major League Baseball season, so it's time to hand out some awards.

These awards aren't about projecting who will take home the trophies at year's end--they're for the player who would win our vote if the season ended right now. It's not as if they mean anything in the long run, but it's a fun exercise to see how things were through the first significant calendar point in the year, and how much they might wind up changing by the end.

So here are the three major category winners in each league, followed by their closest competition in the runner-up spots:

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NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani, LAD

Some would argue it would be more fun for anyone other than Ohtani to win Most Valuable Player. But the four-time winner is well on his way to adding a fifth, because to this point, he's also a front-runner for the Cy Young Award.

It's hard not to imagine Ohtani will regress a bit from his 0.97 ERA through six starts, but his .792 OPS on offense seems equally certain to revert to the mean. Either way, the fact that he's playing the role of two star players with one roster spot is the definition of "most valuable."

Runner-up: Matt Olson, ATL

AL MVP: Yordan Alvarez, HOU

It was a three-way race between Alvarez, Aaron Judge, and Ben Rice, and the latter two split the New York Yankees vote. The Houston Astros superstar, meanwhile, leads the group in hits by a wide margin at 48, and has the second-best OPS behind Rice in five more games.

If we're projecting the eventual winner, it's hard not to believe in Judge over the next 120 games. But this season has been a nice reminder that Alvarez, when healthy, is one of the few hitters who can compete with him.

Runner-up: Judge

NL Cy Young: Jacob Misiorowski, MIL

This was a weird one to judge. Ohtani might have won if he was currently qualified for the ERA title. Cristopher Sánchez's WHIP was too high. Chris Sale has been great, but he's made one less start than some guys. So when in doubt, we turn to the guy striking out the world.

Misiorowski's emergence as an ace to this point hasn't been a surprise, but the question is whether he can avoid a slump or an injury, as throwing 104 mph has its inherent risks. If so, he might be the second Brewers righty to win a Cy Young Award this decade.

Runner-up: Sale

AL Cy Young: Cam Schlittler, NYY

Schlittler is the leader in ERA among all qualified major league pitchers at 1.35, and he's only allowed 34 hits in his 53 1/3 innings of work. We thought his eight-inning start against the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs last season was a coming-out party, but now it looks as though it might have merely been a warm-up act.

Runner-up: José Soriano, LAA

NL Rookie of the Year: JJ Wetherholt, STL

This might be the closest race of them all. Sal Stewart was the Rookie of the Month before he hit a slump in early May, while Nolan McLean is putting up a sub-one WHIP through nine starts. And no one would be surprised if Konnor Griffin, the No. 1 prospect in the game, eventually gets in the mix.

However, Wetherholt has 2.0 bWAR, which is double anyone else we just mentioned. He deserves credit for being the best rookie defender at his position, and for helping the Cardinals be one of the surprise teams of the year.

Runner-up: Stewart

AL Rookie of the Year: Munetaka Murakami, CWS

One could easily make the argument for Detroit Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle, but Murakami needs to be rewarded for his 60-homer pace to this point. Questions linger about his ability to avoid a barrage of strikeouts, but the return on the Chicago White Sox's $34 million investment certainly looks promising.

Runner-up: McGonigle

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