MLB midseason awards: Expert picks for MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, more at 2026 halfway point

Every team here in the 2026 Major League Baseball season has now surpassed 81 games, and that means we're just about halfway through. Among the many fun things we can do to reflect on what we've seen to this point in the year is take stock of which players are leading in each awards race. Let's do that!

>We'll name every Baseball Writers' Association of America award, in addition to Comeback Player of the Year. Take note that this is the first season in which the BBWAA will award a Reliever of the Year, so that's on here. Let's go.

>Bobby Witt Jr. leads the league in WAR and would be a perfectly reasonable choice, as long as you don't mind that the Royals superstar is on one of baseball's worst teams. Alvarez, though, has been so ridiculous with the bat that I'm overlooking his lack of defensive prowess. He leads the AL in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, total bases and is tied for first in home runs. The Astros are in contention and they wouldn't be if not for Alvarez carrying this offense.

>Yes, it's relatively boring at this point to pick Ohtani, but I'm a staunch critic of voter fatigue. If a player is the most valuable, he's the most valuable. It doesn't matter if he wins the award for 10 straight seasons. It should go to the most valuable player and that is Ohtani. We're talking about one of the league's best power hitters leading the league in OBP while also being 8-2 with a 1.58 ERA in 79 ⅔ innings on the mound. Don't take this for granted. It remains remarkably special what he's doing.

>Schlittler was torched by the Tigers on Tuesday night, but his lead in ERA was so huge that he stayed in first place. It's now 2.08. He isn't far off the lead in innings pitched and is second in strikeouts to Dylan Cease, too. One terrible outing does not erase the body of work from Schlittler this season and that body of work says he's been the best pitcher in the AL.

>This is a ridiculously loaded field. Chase Burns and Chris Sale have been utterly fantastic and Ohtani deserves mention as well. It is still a two-man race at the very top, though, between Misiorowski and Cristopher Sánchez. It's close, but I'm running with Miz. To have a 1.45 ERA and 0.77 WHIP with 146 strikeouts in 99 innings is just insane.

>The injury to Munetaka Murakami made this selection much easier. McGonigle has played in 83 games compared to 57 for Murakami and that's a lot of extra value. It's too bad, because Murakami has 20 homers and 41 RBI in his limited action. McGonigle, though, has been an all-around force all season, making this a pretty obvious selection.

>The general guideline for WAR is 2-plus is considered a regular starter, 5-plus is considered All-Star-caliber and 8-plus is an MVP candidate. Wetherholt sitting at 3.7 in 78 career games is excellent. He's above average in all three parts of the triple slash line and has 12 home runs along with nine stolen bases. Throw in his above-average defense at second base and you get a great all-around player, hence the nice WAR figure.

>The White Sox lost 121 games two years ago and more than 100 games last season. Here in 2026, we're past the halfway point and they sit in first place and in a strong playoff position. Venable hasn't exactly been blessed with a lights-out pitching staff, either, so he's had to pull a lot of the right strings and has mostly found success in doing so.

>To be clear, I do not think just changing managers is what fixed what was ailing the Phillies. There are several reasons why things turned around so drastically. Still, give Mattingly credit here. The Phillies were 10 games under .500 when he took over and now they are approaching first place in the NL East. It's been an incredible turnaround and Mattingly would take home the hardware as a result.

>An interesting stat that can show how great a reliever has been is win probability added. Varland sits second in the majors among pitchers, trailing only Misiorowski. He has 17 saves and five holds without a blown save and sports a sparkling 0.98 ERA. He's also struck out 64 hitters in 46 innings. This is Varland's sixth MLB season and he'll make his first All-Star team this time around.

>Miller is third in WPA behind Misiorowski and Varland. He's also a perfect 21 for 21 in save chances with a 0.78 ERA and 0.84 WHIP. He's struck out 66 hitters in 34 ⅔ innings and he's the answer to the question: "Who is the best reliever in baseball?" right now. The Padres' bullpen is holding them together through an injury-hampered rotation and lackluster offense and Miller is the leader of the bunch.

>Injuries kept Alvarez to just 48 games played last season. Given that I named him the AL MVP, he has to win this award, too.

>Yes, Wheeler pitched in 24 games last season, but he missed the final month and the playoffs and needed surgery due to thoracic outlet syndrome. He started this season on the injured list, but quickly regained his form. Through 12 starts this year, he's been outstanding. He's 8-1 with a 2.03 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 74 strikeouts in 75 ⅓ innings. He'd even be in the Cy Young mix if it weren't such a crowded field.