MLB 2024 Award Rankings for MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year in AL, NL

Around this time last year, MLB's major award races were lacking in drama. All but one was pretty much sewn up, and even that was decided in a rout.

Things are a little different in 2024, though.

Out of the races for the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards in the American League and National League, at least two—arguably, three—are up for grabs. This isn't to say there aren't favorites, but it's close.

As such, it's a good time to pause for a snapshot of where all six races stand.

DraftKings betting odds came in handy here, but they don't do the best job of capturing who's rising, who's falling and other forces that could influence the voting in the end.

So, the idea here is to illustrate how the top five for each award should look right now.

Naturally, we'll start with the rookies.

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1. OF Colton Cowser, Baltimore Orioles

Age: 24

2024 Stats: 113 G, 402 PA, 18 HR, 7 SB, .247 AVG, .326 OBP, .452 SLG

DraftKings Odds: -320

Cowser looked like he was going to dominate the AL Rookie of the Year race in April, but then came a sustained skid. In 67 games between April 23 and July 14, he managed just a .595 OPS.

Since the All-Star break, though, he is batting .320 with six home runs. He's reclaimed the rookie lead for homers, as well as the unofficial honor of the best rookie hitter in the AL.

The AL Rookie of the Year is Cowser's to lose again...for now.

2. RHP Luis Gil, New York Yankees

Age: 26

2024 Stats: 23 GS, 121.2 IP, 80 H (11 HR), 141 K, 60 BB, 3.25 ERA

DraftKings Odds: +400

The slump that Gil was mired in for a minute there seems to be over, as his last six starts have yielded a 2.81 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 32 innings.

His MLB-leading 60 walks remain a red flag, though, and he's not so much "hot" as "not cold anymore." Even his last six starts have contained some bumps, and he still has a 5.16 ERA for his last 11 outings overall.

Gil still has a shot at the ROY, but he'll need to stop teetering if he wants to pull it off.

3. RF Wilyer Abreu, Boston Red Sox

Age: 25

2024 Stats: 93 G, 322 PA, 13 HR, 7 SB, .267 AVG, .335 OBP, .500 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +2800

After fading into the background in the middle of the season, Abreu is now as hot as anyone on the Red Sox. Since July 9, he bears a 1.014 OPS and seven homers.

Relative to other rookie position players, Abreu's ROY candidacy is otherwise bolstered by his defense. He's been a genuine surprise out in right field, where he's among the league leaders in Defensive Runs Saved.

His Achilles' heel is that the Red Sox don't trust him against left-handed pitching. Nor should they in light of his .523 OPS in left-on-left matchups.

4. C Austin Wells, New York Yankees

Age: 25

2024 Stats: 83 G, 292 PA, 9 HR, 1 SB, .257 AVG, .347 OBP, .426 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +900

Wells is also a strong defender, namely in the way that involves getting strikes for his pitchers. Only three catchers place ahead of him in Framing Runs.

Meanwhile, he has moved into the cleanup spot in the Yankees' batting order amid a warm stretch that has seen him post a .982 OPS since July 11.

The looming question is how Wells' playing time will be impacted by Jose Trevino's return off the injured list. Maybe not much, but he won't be playing every day as he has been.

5. RHP Mason Miller, Oakland Athletics

Age: 25

2024 Stats: 37 G, 31 GF, 43.2 IP, 20 H (3 HR), 73 K, 15 BB, 2.06 ERA

DraftKings Odds: +7500

This last spot should, arguably, belong to Ceddanne Rafaela, but let's grant that A) Mason Miller was an All-Star and B) he's been off the IL for a week now and C) he still has the gas that made him a sensation in the early months of 2024.

Miller is a long shot to win the award at this juncture, but he'll remain a candidate to place in the voting as long as the gas stays where it is.

1. RHP Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

Age: 22

2024 Stats: 15 GS, 92.0 IP, 68 H, 9 HR, 115 K, 20 BB, 2.25 ERA

DraftKings Odds: -240

The question with Skenes isn't so much whether he'll win the NL Rookie of the Year, but whether he'll win the NL Cy Young Award.

We'll get to that, but let's first reiterate that the ROY is indeed his to lose. His 3.7 WAR puts him comfortably ahead of all rookie pitchers. And even after allowing a career-high four runs on August 10, he still has the majors' best ERA since his debut on May 11.

Also in Skenes' possession is a place in history as one of only two pitchers to begin their careers with at least 115 strikeouts and no more than 20 walks through 15 starts.

2. CF Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres

Age: 21

2024 Stats: 118 G, 446 PA, 17 HR, 13 SB, .288 AVG, .321 OBP, .481 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +165

Skenes is making it nearly impossible to catch him in the ROY race, but you have to credit Merrill for trying.

He was solid enough in the first half to get tabbed as an All-Star, and he's only gotten hotter with a 1.017 OPS and 15 extra-base hits in the second half. He is also doing fine work in center field, where he's racked up five Outs Above Average for the Padres.

If Merrill keeps all this up, he might at least deprive Skenes of unanimous Rookie of the Year honors.

3. LF Jackson Chourio, Milwaukee Brewers

Age: 20

2024 Stats: 107 G, 397 PA, 14 HR, 16 SB, .272 AVG, .318 OBP, .429 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +5000

It's another Jackson, and this one is about as hot as the first one.

Chourio's OPS got as low as .623 back on June 22, but he's ripped off a .916 OPS since then. And it couldn't have come at a better time for the Brewers, who may be without Christian Yelich for the rest of the year because of a back issue.

Otherwise, Chourio's 12 Defensive Runs Saved put him among the game's top outfielders. On paper, he's not far off from being a clone of Merrill.

4. SS Masyn Winn, St. Louis Cardinals

Age: 22

2024 Stats: 112 G, 461 PA, 9 HR, 10 SB, .275 AVG, .325 OBP, .410 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +15000

Then there's Wynn, who casually leads all rookie position players with 3.9 WAR.

That he nonetheless feels lost in the shuffle comes down to how his profile is too defense-oriented. He co-leads shortstops with 12 Defensive Runs Saved, but his .735 OPS doesn't leap off the page.

Still, just because Winn isn't going to win the ROY is no excuse to leave him out of the conversation entirely.

5. SS Tyler Fitzgerald, San Francisco Giants

Age: 26

2024 Stats: 60 G, 195 PA, 14 HR, 12 SB, .313 AVG, .369 OBP, .626 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +5000

Should this last spot belong to Shōta Imanaga? Arguably yes, but he's not helping his cause by being so dud-prone. He's surrendered at least five runs in four of his last 13 outings.

With Fitzgerald, it feels like the NL has its version of Gary Sánchez making a late entry into the chat for the AL Rookie of the Year in 2016. Small sample size and all, but he's been a sensation in racking up a 1.194 OPS and 13 homers since July 9.

1. LHP Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers

Age: 27

2024 Stats: 24 GS, 149.1 IP, 109 H (13 HR), 180 K, 29 BB, 2.53 ERA

DraftKings Odds: -500

Not much doubt about this one, is there?

Beyond leading his AL brethren in strikeouts, Skubal leads all MLB pitchers in ERA and both rWAR and fWAR. As he's also averaging 6.2 innings per start, his Cy Young candidacy is about as pristine as it gets.

One could also say that the lefty is hot right now, but when hasn't that been the case in 2024? Skubal's ERA hasn't been higher than 2.92 at any point.

2. RHP Corbin Burnes, Baltimore Orioles

Age: 29

2024 Stats: 24 GS, 149.2 IP, 122 H (16 HR), 137 K, 35 BB, 2.71 ERA

DraftKings Odds: +320

The one source of concern for Burnes this year is his strikeout rate, which is a career low at 8.2 per nine innings.

Even still, both his ERA and WHIP (1.049) are down relative to 2023, when he finished in the top 10 of the NL Cy Young Award voting for the fourth time in as many years. Of course, he won the award in 2021.

Just as Skubal's ERA has never been over 3.00 at any point, neither has Burnes'. So, if he was hotter than he is right now—i.e., a 3.63 ERA since June 22—the AL Cy Young Award race would be subject to more debate.

3. RHP Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners

Age: 27

2024 Stats: 24 GS, 154.2 IP, 108 H (17 HR), 149 K, 27 BB, 2.91 ERA

DraftKings Odds: +3000

Gilbert had a rough one opposite the Red Sox on July 29, allowing seven runs while getting only eight outs. At this stage of the Cy Young race, starts like that hurt.

Yet he still has an MLB-low 0.873 WHIP going for him. And on either side of that seven-run stinker are four starts in which he's allowed a total of two earned runs over 26.2 innings.

Gilbert is a long shot to overtake Skubal, but he at least has a shot to overtake Burnes, which in itself would be a solid accomplishment.

4. RHP George Kirby, Seattle Mariners

Age: 26

2024 Stats: 25 GS, 144.2 IP, 140 H (16 HR), 143 K, 17 BB, 3.42 ERA

DraftKings Odds: +4000

What Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo have done this season is also deserving of praise, but it's Kirby who's had the best year of any non-Gilbert Mariners starter.

His strikeout-to-walk ratio is "chef's kiss" material, and he basically never loses control. Only three of his starts have featured multiple walks, and he stopped at two in all three.

The catch is that Kirby isn't trending in the right direction. After a hot July, he lasted only five innings in his first start of August and got whupped for 11 runs (six earned) in his second.

5. RHP Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals

Age: 34

2024 Stats: 25 GS, 159.2 IP, 135 H (14 HR), 135 K, 39 BB, 3.04 ERA

DraftKings Odds: +2500

Lugo leads all starters in innings pitched, and that ERA is good enough to place in the top 10. His peripherals have always looked like a looming threat, though, and the trap has been sprung lately.

After posting a 2.06 ERA through 19 outings, his last six assignments have seen him cough up a 5.73 ERA. That's with a one-run complete game and eight innings of one-run ball in another start mixed in, which gives you an idea how rough the other four were.

1. LHP Chris Sale, Atlanta

Age: 35

2024 Stats: 22 GS, 134.2 IP, 101 H (8 HR), 177 K, 30 BB, 2.61 ERA

DraftKings Odds: -150

Sale placed in the top six of the AL Cy Young Award voting annually between 2012 and 2018, but those days seemed over amid his battles with injuries over the next five seasons.

It's therefore cool to see the lefty doing [waves hands] this. His 2.61 ERA is the best in the National League, and ditto for his rate of 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

Sale's relative shortage of starts and innings are weak links, but he can outrun those for as long as he stays scorching. Over his last 11 starts, he's racked up a 2.15 ERA and fanned 95.

2. RHP Hunter Greene, Cincinnati Reds

Age: 25

2024 Stats: 24 GS, 143.1 IP, 93 H (11 HR), 162 K, 53 BB, 2.83 ERA

DraftKings Odds: +1500

While Sale has a comfortable lead on his fellow NL starters in fWAR, Greene has that advantage for rWAR.

Part of that is owed to a correction for Great American Ball Park, but the part certainly isn't the whole. Greene is having an excellent season by basically every measure, and it's only gotten better as he's pitched to a 1.08 ERA over his last eight assignments.

Frankly, Greene should have better odds of winning the NL Cy Young Award. It looks like a real race between him and Sale, to be decided by who finishes the hottest.

3. RHP Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies

Age: 34

2024 Stats: 23 GS, 142.2 IP, 100 H (15 HR), 156 K, 43 BB, 2.78 ERA

DraftKings Odds: +140

Honestly, one feels for Wheeler.

Arguably, he should have won the NL Cy Young Award over Burnes in 2021, and the effort he's putting forth this year is good enough on paper. The only time his ERA has been out of the 2.00s was back on April 14, when it hit 3.00.

Wheeler just has the rotten luck of being up against more sensational candidates, which is an all-too-familiar story for him. First it was Burnes in 2021, and then Blake Snell in 2023.

4. RHP Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres

Age: 28

2024 Stats: 25 GS, 142.2 IP, 99 H (16 HR), 181 K, 45 BB, 3.41 ERA

DraftKings Odds: +3000

Is this a little high for Cease? Perhaps it is, given that even his 3.41 ERA is 1.21 runs higher than his career-best mark from two years ago.

He does lead MLB in strikeouts, though, and that no-hitter from July 25 is but one part of a sustained hot stretch. The righty's ERA for his last six outings is a microscopic 0.80.

There's a faint whiff of 2015 Jake Arrieta going on here, so don't rule out Cease emerging victorious if the guys he's pursuing do him the solid of stumbling.

5. RHP Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

Age: 22

2024 Stats: 15 GS, 92.0 IP, 68 H, 9 HR, 115 K, 20 BB, 2.25 ERA

DraftKings Odds: +800

While Skenes is worth including in the NL Cy Young conversation, the notion that he could actually win it is a bit much. He may not pitch so many as 150 innings by the end of 2024.

Still, the sheer awesomeness of the run he is on is undeniable. And if the guys he's chasing happen to get hit by a Freeze Ray all at the same time, then Skenes pulling a Fernando Valenzuela may yet come to pass.

1. CF Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

Age: 32

2024 Stats: 120 G, 538 PA, 43 HR, 6 SB, .333 AVG, .467 OBP, .707 SLG

DraftKings Odds: -1400

Who should win the AL MVP is something we can debate, but there doesn't seem to be any question that Judge is heading into the home stretch as the heavy favorite.

It doesn't hurt that he's following a proven model. He won the 2022 AL MVP on the strength of a 62-homer outburst. He has a shot at topping 60 homers again this year, only this time with a career-high 1.174 OPS.

Judge only has two homers to show for his last 10 games, but even in these he's hit at .485 with a .630 OBP. That stampede-like sound you hear is pitchers running scared.

2. SS Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals

Age: 24

2024 Stats: 121 G, 532 PA, 24 HR, 25 SB, .349 AVG, .397 OBP, .612 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +550

Yours truly stumped for Witt as the right choice for the AL MVP last week, and I stand by it.

He is right there with Judge in both the rWAR and fWAR races, and he's undeniably the more well-rounded player of the two. His hitting, baserunning and defense have also gone toward a good cause, namely making a surprise contender out of the Royals.

Witt is nonetheless the underdog in this race for now, and that may not change unless Judge cools off.

3. RF Juan Soto, New York Yankees

Age: 25

2024 Stats: 118 G, 544 PA, 34 HR, 5 SB, .307 AVG, .438 OBP, .615 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +3500

It's not through any fault of his own that Soto isn't leading the AL MVP race.

Only once before in a full season has his OBP gone as high as .438, and he's now only one home run away from tying his personal best of 35.

So, it's kind of a bummer that Judge and Witt are there to block Soto from the lead in the AL MVP race, though one assumes neither he nor the Yankees are too salty about it.

4. 3B José Ramírez, Cleveland Guardians

Age: 31

2024 Stats: 118 G, 510 PA, 31 HR, 27 SB, .281 AVG, .335 OBP, .543 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +10000

It must be a year ending with a number, because there's Ramírez making his case for the AL MVP in relative obscurity again.

He's finished in the top 10 of the voting in six of the last seven years, and he's applying basically the same strategy in 2024: Lots of power and speed, combined with a steady supply of clutch hits for a Cleveland team playing above expectations.

Ramírez has come out of the All-Star break with a fiery bat, posting a 1.015 OPS with eight homers. Even if he's still unlikely to win, you have to admire the tenacity of his push.

5. SS Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles

Age: 23

2024 Stats: 119 G, 541 PA, 30 HR, 14 SB, .288 AVG, .373 OBP, .552 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +2500

Henderson ranks behind only Judge, Witt and Soto in rWAR, so he, arguably, belongs behind only the three of them in this discussion.

But his candidacy has clearly stagnated. He's homered only four times in his last 40 games, with a .765 OPS since July 11 serving to further illuminate the wall he's hit.

1. DH Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers

Age: 30

2024 Stats: 118 G, 540 PA, 37 HR, 35 SB, .295 AVG, .383 OBP, .617 SLG

DraftKings Odds: -1800

The NL MVP race looks like a "Thanks for Playing" affair for anyone not named Ohtani, who might as well just start calling himself a three-time MVP winner already.

Even the DH penalty isn't stopping him from leading all NL players in rWAR and fWAR. He also leads in home runs, total bases, slugging percentage and OPS.

It's not to be overlooked that Ohtani carried the Dodgers during Mookie Betts' two-month stay on the injured list. In that 45-game span, he posted a 1.042 OPS with 16 long balls.

2. 2B Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks

Age: 30

2024 Stats: 114 G, 496 PA, 30 HR, 6 SB, .298 AVG, .369 OBP, .561 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +750

"You talk about MVP—Most Valuable Player,'' Diamondbacks pitcher Ryan Thompson recently told Doug Haller of The Athletic. "If you take Ketel off our team throughout the whole year, where would we be?"

It's a fair question, especially in relation to times of more recent vintage. The Snakes are 30-10 since June 29, and it's Marte who's driven the bus with a 1.091 OPS and 13 homers.

Being up against Ohtani is no easy assignment in the best of times, though, and these aren't the best of times for Marte's left ankle. He's day-to-day with a sprain.

3. SS Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds

Age: 22

2024 Stats: 119 G, 516 PA, 21 HR, 59 SB, .263 AVG, .346 OBP, .493 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +6000

This is where we start getting into the also-rans of the NL MVP race, though De La Cruz is having a fun season that is only getting better.

His 59 stolen bases put him 24 ahead of any other player, and it's been a long time since his average sunk to .234 on June 21. He's hit .308 over his last 43 games.

Even if he doesn't get it done this year, all this should have the Reds strongly believing that their shortstop has an MVP somewhere in his future.

4. 1B Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies

Age: 31

2024 Stats: 105 G, 463 PA, 26 HR, 5 SB, .281 AVG, .371 OBP, .542 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +4000

Harper got off to a strong start in his pursuit of a third MVP, but then things got sidetracked.

He hit the injured list with a hamstring strain in late June, and one wonders if he came off before he was truly ready. Upon his activation on July 9, he managed only a .585 OPS over his next 19 games.

Harper is 15-for-40 with two homers since then, however. Even if it's not enough to save it, it's nice to see him trying to breathe life into his MVP candidacy.

5. SS Francisco Lindor, New York Mets

Age: 30

2024 Stats: 120 G, 548 PA, 23 HR, 24 SB, .263 AVG, .336 OBP, .465 SLG

DraftKings Odds: +7500

Somebody has to go in this fifth spot, and Lindor is a good choice simply by merit of his likelihood for a second straight 30-30 season.

Still, that outcome isn't as sure of a thing as it used to be. His homer on Wednesday was his first since back on July 25.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.