BBWAA Awards finalists 2022

The finalists for MLB’s four major end-of-season awards — Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player — were revealed on Monday night.

Monday, Nov. 14: Jackie Robinson Rookies of the Year
Tuesday, Nov. 15: Managers of the Year
Wednesday, Nov. 16: Cy Young Awards
Thursday, Nov. 17: MVP Awards

Here’s a breakdown of the three nominees for each award in the American League and National League.

Yordan Alvarez, DH/LF, Astros

Alvarez was one of the elite hitters in the American League again this season. The Astros’ lefty slugger batted .306 with 37 home runs and 97 RBIs, and he and Aaron Judge were the only hitters to post an OPS over 1.000. Alvarez’s 1.019 OPS and 187 OPS+ (league average is 100) were both second best in the Majors, behind only Judge. He also added some memorable home runs in the postseason for the World Series champs.

Aaron Judge, OF, Yankees 

Judge’s historic season makes him the MVP favorite. He hit 62 home runs to surpass Roger Maris’ longstanding mark of 61 and set a new American League home run record. Judge also nearly won a Triple Crown, leading the AL with 131 RBIs and finishing second with a .311 batting average.

Shohei Ohtani, RHP/DH, Angels

The reigning AL MVP followed up his historic two-way 2021 with another superstar season in ’22. Ohtani became the first player in the World Series era to qualify for both the batting and pitching league leaderboards. He had 34 home runs, 11 stolen bases and 95 RBIs as a hitter and went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts as a pitcher.

Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, Cardinals

Goldschmidt chased a Triple Crown in the NL for a long stretch, eventually finishing with a .317 batting average, 35 home runs and 115 RBIs while leading the National league in slugging (.578) and OPS (.981). A two-time MVP runner-up and three-time finalist before 2022, Goldschmidt is looking for the first MVP Award of his 12-year career.

Nolan Arenado, 3B, Cardinals

Arenado and fellow MVP finalist Goldschmidt were arguably the best teammate duo in baseball in 2022. Arenado batted .293 with 30 home runs and 103 RBIs while playing his usual superstar defense at third base, winning his 10th consecutive Gold Glove Award. But can he add his first career MVP Award to it? He’s been a top-five finisher three times and a top-10 finisher five times but has never won.

Manny Machado, 3B, Padres

Machado batted .298 with 32 home runs and 102 RBIs in his second straight All-Star season for the Padres. He led the NL in Wins Above Replacement — his 7.4 WAR, per FanGraphs, was just ahead of Arenado’s 7.3 and Paul Goldschmidt and Freddie Freeman’s 7.1. With the Padres missing fellow superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., Machado led them to the postseason. A three-time top-five MVP finisher, he’s looking to win the award for the first time.

Dylan Cease, RHP, White Sox

The 26-year-old Cease built on his breakout 2021 with an even better 2022 for the White Sox, going 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA (second in the AL to Justin Verlander) and 227 strikeouts, one more than he had last year. Cease’s season included a record-setting streak of 14 straight starts allowing no more than one earned run from May 29 to Aug. 11.

Alek Manoah, RHP, Blue Jays

After his great rookie season in 2021, Manoah was even better as a sophomore. The 24-year-old right-hander went 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA — third best in the AL — and 180 strikeouts. Manoah went 4-0 with a 0.88 ERA in September to lead the Blue Jays to an AL Wild Card berth.

Justin Verlander, RHP, Astros

The ageless Verlander had yet another dominant season for the Astros as a 39-year-old in 2022 — his first season back from Tommy John surgery, no less. Verlander won the MLB ERA crown with a 1.75 mark, and he led the AL with 18 wins. He added 185 strikeouts to bring his career total to 3,198, the most among active pitchers. Verlander is looking for his third career Cy Young Award, which would make him just the 11th pitcher to win three times.

Sandy Alcantara, RHP, Marlins

Alcantara was the type of workhorse you rarely see in baseball anymore. The Marlins’ ace threw six complete games — the most by any pitcher since Chris Sale in 2016 and more than any other team had in 2022. Alcantara went 14-9 and posted a 2.28 ERA in a Major League-high 228 2/3 innings. He pitched seven or more innings in 13 consecutive starts from May 11 to July 15, the longest such streak by any pitcher since the 2014 season.

The ace of the 2021 World Series champs was just as good in 2022 — maybe even better. Fried went 14-7 with a 2.48 ERA and 170 strikeouts in his first All-Star season, and he was instrumental in leading the Braves past the Mets for their fifth straight NL East title, with a 2.21 ERA in nine starts in August and September.

Julio Urías, LHP, Dodgers

With Los Angeles missing Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw for large chunks of the year, Urías was rock steady as the ace of the best team in baseball in the regular season. The 26-year-old…