BASEBALL LENS
The Lens · Award Races

Three Races, Three Frontrunners You Can Already See

JUNE 18, 2026

Where the MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year races stand right now.

Award season talk starts early, and the leaderboards aren't leaving much suspense. Houston's bat, Milwaukee's arm, and a White Sox rookie are all running ahead of the field for now.

MVP watch

Best hitters by OPS, in each league.

Yordan Alvarez paces the hitters at a 1.070 OPS with 24 homers, a clear step ahead of the Yankees' Ben Rice at 1.001. Juan Soto is the one closing ground, his OPS up to .948 on a strong week.

American League
National League

Cy Young watch

Best starters by form — our 0–100 pitching score from ERA & WHIP — in each league.

Jacob Misiorowski owns the pitching conversation with a 1.34 ERA and a 0.74 WHIP. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the climber here, gaining five points of form to reach 87 on a 2.52 ERA and 0.84 WHIP.

American League
National League

Rookie of the Year watch

Top first-year hitters by OPS, in each league.

Munetaka Murakami leads the rookie bats at a .938 OPS with 20 homers, the power play of the group. San Francisco's Bryce Eldridge is the one to watch, up to .963 after a .057 jump this week.

American League
National League

Stats via the MLB Stats API. Colors, form scores and power rankings are Baseball Lens's own.