Judge, Goldschmidt Among Expected Award Winners

MLB has announced its awards finalists for the 2022 season. Three players officially have a chance to win each award, but there’s a clear favorite for the MVP and Cy Young in both the American and National League.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Houston Astros outfielder Yordan Alvarez and two-way Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani are up for the AL MVP award. The NL MVP award comes down to San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado and St. Louis Cardinals corner infielders Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado.

For the AL Cy Young award, Astros ace Justin Verlander, Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease and Toronto Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah are in the top three. Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias and Max Fried of the Atlanta Braves are NL Cy Young finalists.

The Cy Young winners will be announced on Nov. 16. The MVP winners will become known on Nov. 17.

Here are predictions for the 2022 MVP and Cy Young awards for the AL and NL .

AL MVP

Ohtani followed up his 2021 MVP campaign with another historic season as a two-way player. Only one of the greatest seasons of all time could prevent Ohtani from winning the award again. That’s exactly what Judge did by breaking Roger Maris’ AL home run record and putting up the most impressive stat line since Barry Bonds.

Judge’s 62 home runs are only part of his MVP case. The Yankees star led the majors in on-base percentage (.425), slugging percentage (.683) OPS+ (211), RBI (131) and runs (133). When the Yankees went into their late-summer tailspin, it was Judge who carried them to an AL East title. The Angels missed the playoffs and finished 26 games behind the Yankees in the standings, giving Ohtani almost no chance to receive more votes than Judge.

Prediction: Aaron Judge

NL MVP

Goldschmidt’s edge isn’t as big as Judge’s, but the Cardinals first baseman is an extraordinarily heavy favorite to win the NL MVP award. The veteran led the NL in slugging percentage (.578), OPS (.981) and OPS+ (180). Goldschmidt was second in on-base percentage (.404) and third in batting average (.317). He was the best player on a division winner that exceeded preseason expectations.

Some voters might have gone with Machado because the Cardinals have two MVP candidates. Machado’s MVP case goes beyond the numbers, though his .298/.366./.531 splits are among the league’s best. With Fernando Tatis Jr. out for the whole season, Machado stepped up and led the Padres to their most wins in 12 years.

Prediction: Paul Goldschmidt

AL Cy Young

It’s hard to choose which aspect of Verlander’s Cy Young campaign is the most impressive. It might be the fact that Verlander missed essentially all of 2020 and 2021 because of Tommy John surgery. Verlander returned to the mound at 39 years old, and his league-best 1.75 ERA was the AL’s best since Pedro Martinez’s 2000 Cy Young season. Verlander also led the AL with 18 wins and a 0.83 WHIP for the AL’s best team.

Cease finished second with a 2.20 ERA, and Manoah’s 2.24 ERA was good for third in the AL. Cease had 227 strikeouts, giving him 42 more than Verlander. Manoah’s Cy Young case is driven by his 25 quality starts and 21.2-inning edge on Verlander. Neither candidate likely got enough support to stop Verlander from adding more hardware to his mantle.

Prediction: Justin Verlander

NL Cy Young

This might be the most difficult award to predict, though one pitcher is the clear favorite. Alcantara was baseball’s top workhorse, leading all pitchers with 228.2 innings and six complete games. No other starter had more than 205 innings or three complete games. Alcantara’s 2.28 ERA ranked second in the NL.

A case can be made that the award should go to Urias, who was the top starter on a historic regular-season team. The Dodgers finished 42 games ahead of the Marlins in the standings. While Los Angeles dealt with injuries to key members of the rotation, Urias led the NL with a 2.16 ERA. His 175 innings pitched probably weren’t enough to overtake Alcantara in the race.

Prediction: Sandy Alcantara