The finalists have been announced for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America 2022 awards.
MLB’s four major end-of-season nominees were announced on Monday night for the Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player.
American League Most Valuable Player Award Nominees
Yordan Alvarez, DH,LF (Houston Astros)
Alvarez is perhaps unlucky that he has been picked this year as he is up against such tough competition.
The fearsome Houston slugger hit .306 with a .406 on-base percentage and a .613 slugging percentage ranking second all categories. He hit 37 home runs and drove in 97 runs.
Aaron Judge, OF (New York Yankees)
Judge set a new American League record with 62 home runs during a season-long race that fascinated the Baseball world.
He finished second in the AL Batting race, just missing a clean-sweep of every other batting record.
Shohei Ohtani RHP/DH (Los Angeles Angels)
Ohtani won the AL MVP award last season and is in a strong position to retain the title after another stellar year.
The Japanese two-way star hit .273 with 34 home runs, 95 RBI’s with the bat. On the mound he went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts.
National League Most Valuable Player Award Nominees
Paul Goldschmidt 1B (St. Louis Cardinals)
The St. Louis first baseman has finished in the top 10 of NL MVP balloting six times, including four in the top five, but is seeking to win the award for the first time.
Nolan Arenado 3B (St. Louis Cardinals)
Arenado has also never won the award, but has five previous top-10 finishes and this is the second time he has finished in the top three.
Manny Machado 3B (San Diego Padres)
Machado hit .298 with 32 home runs with 102 RBI’s and 100 runs scored. He has finished in the top five of MVP balloting three previous times and finished third in the 2020 ballot.
AL Cy Young Award
Dylan Cease RHP, (Chicago White Sox)
While Cease managed to build on his breakout year of 2021, going 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA and 227 strikeouts, he is going to struggle against the veteran favourite Justin Verlander.
Alek Manoah RHP (Toronto Blue Jays)
The 24-year-old went 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA, third best in the AL, and 180 strikeouts.
Justin Verlander RHP (Houston Astros)
The 39-year-old has led the AL in wins (18) and ERA (1.75) - the latter figure is the likely reason he will win his third Cy Young Award.
NL Cy Young Award
Sandy Alcantara RHP (Miami Marlins)
Alcantara went 14-9 and posted a 2.28 ERA throwing a lengthy six complete games, the most by any pitcher since Chris Sale in 2016.
Max Fried LHP (Atlanta Braves)
Fried had another excellent season with a 14-7 record and a 2.48 ERA and 170 strikeouts in his first All-Star Season and helped the Braves win their fifth NL East Divisional title.
Julio Urias LHP (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Urias stepped up when injuries hampered Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw and became their ace in an otherwise disappointing end for the Dodgers. Urias threw a 2.16 ERA and went 17-7 during the season.
Other awards
In the American League Rookie of the Year award, the favourite must be Steven Kwan, the Cleveland Guardians left-fielder.
The 25-year old batted .298 with six home runs and 19 stolen bases. He is up against Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners and Adley Rutschman of the Baltimore Orioles.
Related MLB News
The National League’s Rookie of the Year contenders are Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals, Michael Harris (Atlanta Braves) and Spencer Stryder, also of Atlanta.
The American League Manager of the Year contenders are Terry Francona of the Cleveland Guardians, who led the side to his fourth AL Central Division title and reached the postseason in six of his 10 seasons.
Baltimore Orioles were the biggest surprises of the season, with a winning record of 83-79 after a 110 loss in 2021 under Brandon Hyde.
Scott Servais of the Seattle Mariners is also in the top-three after guiding the Mariners to their first postseason since 2001, ending the longest playoff drought by any MLB side.
