Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays and Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs are among the finalists for the Most Valuable Player Awards in their respective leagues, MLB Network announced on Monday.
Caminero, who helped the Rays reach the World Series, is joined as an American League MVP finalist by Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals.
In the National League, Brice Turang of the World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers join Crow-Armstrong as finalists in balloting conducted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Caminero batted .276 with 42 homers and 101 RBIs, Alvarez led the majors with a .316 average to go with 42 homers and 106 RBIs and Witt batted .281 with 18 homers, 54 RBIs and 45 steals.
Crow-Armstrong tied for the major league lead with 45 homers and drove in 107 runs while batting .280. Turang hit .268 with 21 homers and 100 RBIs, while Ohtani batted .275 with 30 homers and 81 RBIs and went 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA in 14 starts as a pitcher.
Ohtani was hindered by multiple injuries over the second half of the season and didn’t pitch after July 3.
Right-hander Jacob Misiorowski of the Brewers is a heavy favorite among the NL Cy Young Award finalists. ‘Miz’ led the majors in ERA (1.80), WHIP (0.80) and strikeouts (252) while going 16-5. Left-handers Chris Sale (14-9, 2.16 ERA) of the Atlanta Braves and Cristopher Sanchez (18-7, 2.91) of the Philadelphia Phillies are the other finalists.
“The biggest thing was just believing in yourself and trusting people around you to help you with anything that happens in this game,” Misiorowski said on the MLB Network of his success.
In the AL, New York Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler posted the second-best ERA (1.95) in the majors and compiled a 14-6 record. The other two finalists are Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease (11-6, 2.40) and Cleveland Guardians left-handed rookie Parker Messick (12-9, 2.56).
Pat Murphy of the Brewers is a finalist as he seeks his third consecutive NL Manager of the Year Award. Milwaukee led the majors with 103 wins this season before Murphy guided the franchise to its first title. Atlanta’s Walt Weiss won 94 games and the NL East title in his first season as leader of the Braves. Don Mattingly of the Phillies is also in the mix after having a 79-55 record after his late-April promotion to manager.
Will Venable of the White Sox is among the AL Manager of the Year candidates after guiding Chicago to 84 wins and a postseason berth, following three straight seasons in which the franchise lost 100 or more games. Kevin Cash guided the AL champion Rays to 98 wins and the best record in the league, and Chad Tracy took over the Boston Red Sox in late April and led them to a 77-58 record and a postseason spot.
Sal Stewart of the Cincinnati Reds is the prohibitive NL Rookie of the Year favorite, with 32 homers and 111 RBIs and a .263 batting average. The other finalists are the New York Mets’ Carson Benge (.282-20-65) and the St. Louis Cardinals’ JJ Wetherholt (.242-17-51).
In the American League, Messick is a finalist after compiling a 1.06 WHIP while immediately becoming a force in the rotation. Kevin McGonigle of the Detroit Tigers batted .278 with 18 homers and 72 RBIs and drew 95 walks. Payton Tolle went 9-6 with a 3.03 ERA and 171 strikeouts for the Boston Red Sox.
San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller heads the NL candidates for the new Relief Pitcher of the Year Award. Miller saved 38 games, had a 1.67 ERA and struck out 16.6 batters per nine innings. Brewers closer Trevor Megill (2.63 ERA, 30 saves) and Philadelphia Phillies closer Jhoan Duran (1.82 ERA, 33 saves) are the other candidates.
In the AL, Louis Varland of the Toronto Blue Jays excelled as a first-time closer, posting 35 saves and a microscopic 1.27 ERA. The other two finalists tied for the major league lead with 41 saves — Tampa Bay’s Bryan Baker had a 1.44 ERA, and the Cleveland Guardians’ Cade Smith had a 1.95 ERA.
Each of the awards will be announced later this month. The Rookie of the Year awards will be announced Nov. 9, followed by the Manager of the Year awards Nov. 10, the Cy Young and Reliever of the Year awards Nov. 11 and the MVP awards Nov. 12.
