The American League has some players with some impressive stat lines, but who is deserving of these way too early accolades? The month of June has nearly passed, so the MLB season is almost halfway over. It's only fitting to debate who would win these awards if the season ended today.
Most Valuable Player: Aaron Judge-Yankees
Judge is on pace to become the first player to win the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player since Ichiro in 2001 if he keeps hitting the ball the way that he is. Judge is tied with Corey Dickerson for the lead in batting average in the American League at .333.
Judge also leads the league in home runs (27), runs batted in (62), runs scored (70), walks issued (55), and slugging percentage (.704) by a whopping one hundred points.
Judge could become the first to win a triple crown since Miguel Cabrera did in 2012, and only the second player to ever achieve the feat in the American League since 1967. The Yankees are leading their division thanks to a large contribution from their right fielder.
Cy Young: Chris Sale-Red Sox
This might be the closest race to date. Sale has an impressive mark of 10-3 and leads the majors with 155 strikeouts. He is holding batters to .200, showing he was worth the package of prospects the Red Sox gave up for him. Sale is deserving at the end of this month, but it's too close to say he will get the award.
Ervin Santana is holding batters to an American League-leading .196 while boasting a 10-4 mark. Sale's earned run average is at 2.77 while Santana is right there with a 2.80. Santana may have only 81 strikeouts but has been durable with 106 innings pitcher to help pace the Twins into division contention. The Royals have Jason Vargas who leads the league with a 2.29 ERA but has pitched about ten innings less than Sale and Santana, and batters are hitting .247 off of him.
Rookie of the Year: Judge-Yankees
It's a shame they share the league together because Andrew Benintendi of the Red Sox is having a great rookie campaign. The 22-year old outfielder has a .275 batting average to go with ten home runs and 40 RBIs. Again, when you compare those numbers to Judge, it is hard to not give him the award.
Coach of the Year: Paul Molitor-Twins
To go from potential hot seat at the beginning of the season to challenging for a division title says a lot about the manager. The Twins wanted to see progress in year three of the Molitor regime. They got their wish with a 40-36 record as the Twins are just one game back behind the Indians. A.J. Hinch of the Astros deserves credit as well as Houston has the best record in the MLB at 53-26.
