Written with the help of artificial-intelligence tools and checked by automated controls.
The All-Star Game break is a time to take stock. Following a first half of the season that has turned conventional wisdom on its head, FOX Sports has unveiled its 2026 mid-season rankings, and to say the least, not all the expected frontrunners have made the cut. Several US sports outlets, including The Athletic, CBS Sports and ESPN, have simultaneously released their own predictions, painting a picture of a much more competitive landscape than expected.
Shohei Ohtani, the inevitable choice
Shohei Ohtani is on course for a fifth MVP award, his third in a row since joining the Dodgers.
Let’s start with what hasn’t changed. Shohei Ohtani is on course for a fifth MVP award, his third in a row since joining the Dodgers. Despite niggles with his knee and bicep, the Japanese star boasts one of the best OPS in the league and a remarkable earned run average amongst pitchers who have thrown more than 50 innings. “As long as Ohtani stays fit, you can engrave his name on the trophy,” writes Rowan Kavner, an MLB reporter for FOX Sports, in his analysis, which has been echoed by several of his colleagues.
Hot on his heels, Pete Crow-Armstrong (Cubs) and Kyle Schwarber (Phillies), the MLB home run leader, are doing their best. But competing against a player who is simultaneously one of the best hitters and one of the best pitchers on the planet is virtually impossible.
Yordan Alvarez seizes his chance
In the American League, the door to the MVP award has swung wide open following Aaron Judge’s injury. The Yankee, suffering from a stress fracture in a rib, hasn’t played for over a month. Yordan Alvarez (Astros) didn’t need to be asked twice: the designated hitter leads all eligible players in OBP, slugging and OPS. Better still, he is in the running for the Triple Crown, trailing Yandy Díaz (Rays) by just a few points in batting average. Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals) and Junior Caminero (Rays) round off the top three contenders.
Jacob Misiorowski, the phenomenon rewriting the history books
The revelation of this first half has a name: Jacob Misiorowski. The Milwaukee Brewers pitcher leads all eligible starters in earned run average, strikeouts, WHIP and opponent batting average. An exceptional feat that few experts had anticipated at the start of the season, and one that puts the rookie at the top of the voting for the National League Cy Young Award.
In contrast, the defending champions are struggling: Tarik Skubal, who has undergone surgery, is sidelined, and Paul Skenes is going through a less impressive run of form. The second half of the season therefore promises to be thrilling, with the Misiorowski–Ohtani rivalry as the central theme and the eagerly awaited return of Judge, whose presence could completely reshuffle the MVP race in the American League as soon as play resumes.
The post-All-Star Game period: a real turning point in the season
This break comes at just the right time for both the frontrunners and the outsiders: it allows teams to rest their players, adjust their rotations and tend to minor niggles ahead of the final stretch. Managers, quoted by ESPN and CBS Sports, expect the second half of the season to separate the genuine contenders from those enjoying mere statistical blips. In the American League, Alvarez will need to prove himself over the next two and a half months against pitchers who will now have scouted him thoroughly. In the National League, Misiorowski will have to prove that his dominance in the first half was not a flash in the pan but rather the emergence of a future great. We’ll find out in the upcoming series, in a fixture list that will offer no respite to the current leaders.