MVP races appear over, others up for grabs

There are six weeks left in the regular season and the Baseball Writers’ Association of America has put together the committees that will be voting on its awards.

There may not be much suspense. Barring something unexpected, Shohei Ohtani will be voted Most Valuable Player of the American League for the second time and Ronald Acuña Jr. will earn his first MVP in the National League.

Ohtani leads AL position players in WAR, OPS, total bases, home runs, and walks, and it’s not close in any of those categories.

And, by the way, he’s 10-5 with a 3.17 ERA in 22 starts on the mound while averaging 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

It took Aaron Judge hitting 62 home runs and driving in 131 runs for a 99win, first-place team to beat Ohtani last season. Ohtani was a unanimous choice in 2021 and should be again.

There have been 19 unanimous MVPs. No player has ever accomplished that feat twice.

Acuña’s combination of power, speed, and strong defense for a Braves team with the best record in baseball is a compelling case. Freddie Freeman (2020) was the last MVP from Atlanta. For a full season, it goes back to Chipper Jones in 1999.

Matt Olson, Acuña’s teammate, has been tremendous, too. But he could well hit 55 home runs and drive in 145 runs and finish second.

It would not be outlandish to vote for Mookie Betts, who is having his best offensive season since his 2018 MVP campaign with the Red Sox.

Betts played all but six innings in the outfield that year. This year he has started 35 games at second base and 12 games at shortstop for the Dodgers, along with 66 in right field.

Betts has played well-above-average defense at second base and been roughly average at shortstop, which is particularly impressive considering he had not played there since 2013 in the Arizona Fall League.

Here’s a look at the other races. Keep in mind that voting must be completed after the regular season. Postseason games do not factor in.

Cy Young: Gerrit Cole finished in the top five of the voting five times between 2015-21 but has never won. In a season where the Yankees are struggling to stay over .500, this could be his year.

Cole’s 25 starts and 156‚ innings lead the AL, and he has a 2.76 ERA. That his strikeouts are down does not detract from what has been a dominant season for a flawed team.

Blue Jays workhorse Kevin Gausman deserves votes as he heads for his third consecutive season with 200-plus strikeouts. George Kirby is 4-1 with a 2.84 ERA since July 1 for the Mariners with opponents hitting .201.

Ohtani has been limited to five starts the last two months but will get votes. Framber Valdez (Astros) and

Sonny Gray (Twins) are helping drive their teams to the postseason.

Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen is the NL favorite for now. Blake Snell is having a strong season for the wayward Padres and should receive votes for the first time since he won the AL Cy Young with the Rays in 2018. But he has averaged only 5‚ innings per start.

Justin Steele (Cubs), Spencer Strider (Braves), Logan Webb (Giants), and

Zack Wheeler (Phillies) will get support.

Rookie of the Year: Masataka Yoshida has said his seven seasons playing in Japan should disqualify him for this reward. Nonetheless, he is eligible and has a good case. Red Sox teammate

Triston Casas is making a strong second-half charge.

Texas third baseman Josh Jung, who leads rookies in home runs and RBIs, is on the injured list with a fractured wrist and can’t help his candidacy. Orioles third baseman Gunnar Henderson has the most bWAR (3.5) by a lot.

Twins second baseman Edouard Julien also should get plenty of support.

Among the pitchers, Baltimore setup man Yennier Cano has been dominant, with Tanner Bibee (Guardians) and J.P. France (Astros) the best starters.

Arizona outfielder Corbin Carroll seems like an easy choice in the National League. At the moment, he’s as much of a lock as Ohtani is for MVP.

Three starting pitchers — Kodai Senga (Mets), Andrew Abbott (Reds), and Bobby Miller (Dodgers) — should receive votes. Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez has been impressive, too.

Elly De La Cruz of the Reds is the most exciting rookie but has been a league-average hitter.

Manager of the Year: This usually seems to go to the manager whose team outperformed its preseason predictions. But does that mean he actually managed particularly well or were the predictions lousy?

Bruce Bochy has been a difference maker in his first season with the Rangers. The Orioles’ Brandon Hyde, who finished second (to Terry Francona) last season, might do so again.

The NL is a good race. Dave Roberts has dealt with adversity and kept the Dodgers near the top of the league. Rob Thomson righted the Phillies, who were 34-34 in mid-June and are now firmly in command of a playoff spot.

Craig Counsell (Brewers) and David Ross (Cubs) also have persevered through challenges.

RISKY BUSINESS Whitlock not same since deal

Garrett Whitlock has a 4.40 ERA and four stints on the injured list since agreeing to a four-year, $18.75 million extension with the Red Sox at the start of the 2022 season.

After shining as a rookie in 2021, Whitlock has been a roughly league-average pitcher since, with more relief appearances (25) than starts (19).

The velocity on his sinker has dipped a worrisome 2.3 miles per hour since ’21. Whitlock also throws more of a sweeper this season than the conventional slider he had as a rookie. The sweeper has not been as effective based on the batted-ball data.

But the deal made sense for both sides at the time. Whitlock received financial security and the Sox locked down a player who appeared to be a big part of their future. That’s what you’re supposed to do.

It’s also a contract that could still be a good one for the Red Sox if Whitlock can get over his physical issues, which have included a pectoral strain, a hip impingement that required surgery, elbow neuritis, and elbow inflammation. Health has held him back, not ability.

“There’s still a lot there,” said a scout who has watched the Red Sox this season. “But you see flashes, not the consistency he had two years ago.”

There’s understandably a level of frustration that has set in as a result.

Whitlock allowed four runs in the eighth inning of a 6-2 loss at Washington on Wednesday.

A player who is generally one of the more friendly and engaging members of the team answered four questions after the game. His responses were a total of 39 words.

It was as down as he’s ever been while with the Sox.

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

▪ Rob Refsnyder played for the University of Arizona from 2010-12. It was there he met his wife, Monica. She was an All-American swimmer.

So conference realignment and the seeming demise of the Pac-10 has been a topic for them lately with the Wildcats leaving for the Big 12 along with Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah.

UCLA and USC have already jumped to the Big Ten. Cal and Stanford could end up in the ACC.

“It was an excellent baseball league,” Refsnyder said. “Playing UCLA, USC, Stanford, Cal, there were so many great games.”

With Arizona joining a league that (for the moment) includes Central Florida, Cincinnati, Iowa State, and West Virginia, Refsnyder wonders how that will work for baseball players, swimmers, volleyball players, and other athletes who don’t create the same revenue as football.

“We used to take Southwest flights to places with guys in the middle seats and get back in time for class,” Refsnyder said. “Are they going to play West Virginia now? It’s going to be hard.

“Most of the people in those sports aren’t going to be pros. They’re students.”

As colleges change conferences to chase television money for their football programs, sports such as baseball will suffer.

At some point, it would make sense for football to be a separate entity outside of the NCAA and for other sports to play regional schedules within more traditional conferences.

▪ The Athletics were 8-31 when they sold Triple A utilityman Pablo Reyes to the Red Sox for $75,000 on May 11.

It’s hard to imagine a player having less value than a 29-year-old who wasn’t deemed worthy of being on a team with a .205 winning percentage.

But Reyes has 0.7 bWAR and a .792 OPS through 42 games and 119 plate appearances for the Sox.

“The front office did a good job recognizing him as a good defender and a guy that can put good at-bats against lefties,” manager Alex Cora said. “But I think overall, what he’s done, whoever says that they saw it coming, they’re lying to you.”

The Sox were desperate for middle infield depth and tasked their scouts and analysts with finding a player they could put on the Triple A roster. A lot of fingerprints were on that transaction.

The group effort paid off. Sox coaches and staffers have since worked with Reyes to refine his skills and he’s become a valuable player.

“It’s confidence,” Cora said. “We’ve given him the chance to play. We were very patient when he got hurt. He stayed with us and stayed with the program. He got healthy and we’re finding at-bats and he’s running away with it.”

▪ Chris Martin on setting a good example for younger pitchers: “I’ve never knowingly been in that situation before. Now I realize I have eyes on me. I know part of my role is to do the right things and take responsibility.

“You can’t control everything when you do get hit, you need to be accountable.”

Kenley Jansen takes the same approach.

He turns 36 next month, has a

World Series ring, and will leave the game having made at least $151 million. But he’s still one of the first players on the field and regularly works out after games as part of his routine.

“It’s a great situation for us,” general manager Brian O’Halloran said. “Not just their performance but the tone they set.”

ETC. Giants’ Meckler makes his mark

Giants rookie Wade Meckler is the Daniel Nava of this season.

The center fielder weighed 75 pounds as a high school freshman at Esperanza High in Anaheim, Calif., and was 5 feet 8 inches, 145 pounds when he graduated.

Meckler landed at Oregon State as a walk-on but was cut after the 2019 season having gone 1 for 10 in 20 games. He refused to leave school, worked relentlessly to improve, and made the team in 2021.

Meckler had an .868 OPS that season, improved it to .933 in 2022, and the Giants took him in the eighth round.

A .472 on-base percentage over 92 minor league games earned the 23year-old a promotion to the majors on Monday, and his first hit came on Tuesday.

During that game, Giants manager Gabe Kapler was ejected for only the seventh time in his career when he argued with umpire Chad Whitson ona called strike on Meckler.

“He’s had to grind and fight every step of the way,” Kapler told reporters. “But really reacted on behalf of Meck, who deserved to be stood up for by all of us — all the players and staff.”

Extra bases

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman had what seemed to be a low-wattage trade deadline. But in retrospect he gave the team a big boost. Red Sox castoff Kiké Hernández hit .286 with a .768 OPS in his first 19 games. Infielder Amed Rosario, who was obtained from Cleveland for Noah Syndergaard, drove in 12 runs in his first 16 games. Joe Kelly had three strong relief outings before landing on the injured list. Lance Lynn, who came from the White Sox with Kelly, is 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA in four starts. Ryan Yarbrough allowed two runs over 10‚ innings in his first three long relief outings. The Dodgers also could get Walker Buehler into the rotation before the end of the season. He is coming back from a second Tommy John surgery and is close to a minor league assignment. But

Dave Roberts has said Buehler will only return if he is built up to start . . . Max Scherzer was 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in his first three starts for the Rangers. And now Nate Eovaldi is making his way back from the injured list, which should further strengthen the rotation as the postseason approaches . . . The Guardians selected Manny Ramirez for their Hall of Fame and will host a celebration at Progressive Field on Sunday. With any kind of luck he will actually show up . . . Padres infielder and DH

Matt Carpenter, who received a guaranteed $12 million in December, did not appear in a game from July 25-Aug. 14. He has not driven in a run since June 30 and has a .595 OPS through only 208 plate appearances — and that’s without any time on the injured list. San Diego is essentially playing with a 25-man roster as Carpenter is retained only because of his salary . . . The visiting manager’s office at Nationals Park has an anteroom with a couch, a small coffee table, and a bookcase. The shelves hold a collection of baseball tomes, which you would expect. But there also “Every Drop of Blood: The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln ”by Edward Achorn, along with “The Hockey Dad Chronicles” by Ed Wenck and “Big Russ and Me” by the late Tim Russert. Guess they’re prepared for any long rain delays . . . Is baseball becoming cool? LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, who has 7.7 million followers on TikTok and 4.3 million followers on Instagram, is reportedly dating Pirates prospect Paul Skenes, the righthander from LSU who was the first pick of the June draft. Skenes signed for $9.2 million. Dunne reportedly is the highest-paid female athlete in the NCAA, having signed NIL deals worth $3.2 million . . . Happy birthday to Tom Brunansky, who is 63. His 14-year career included 409 games with the Red Sox from 1990-92 and an additional 48 games in 1994. His highlight was a catch against the White Sox at Fenway Park to get the final out of Game 162 and clinch the AL East title in 1990. Jeff Reardon inherited a 3-1 lead and got two outs before two batters reached. Ozzie Guillen followed with a line drive down the line in right field. Brunansky raced over and lunged for the ball as he dived, making a catch that saved what could have been an inside-the-park, three-run homer. “A heart-palpitating victory,” wrote the great Nick Cafardo for the Globe. The Sox faced Oakland in the ALCS and were swept in four games. Brunansky hit .245 with 271 homers for his career. He returned to baseball in 2010 as a minor league coach with the Twins and was on the major league staff as hitting coach from 2013-16.