This week was Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, where the best of the best in baseball play in an annual exhibition for Our National Pastime. Before the second half of the 2025 season begins, it’s time to acknowledge MLB’s best by giving out some halfway awards. When the season culminates on September 28th, the final awards may change…or will they? Let’s see who’s been dominating 2025!
American League Halfway to Home MVP: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
It’s truly hard not to give this award to Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. He’s kept the M’s in the playoff race as the second Wild Card team behind the Yankees. The only person in the history of baseball who hit more home runs at the All-Star break than Cal Raleigh is Barry Bonds in 2001. For the uninitiated, Bonds set the single-season home run record that year with 73.
And yet…Aaron Judge is once again having one of the greatest hitting seasons in baseball history. Before a slump in June, Judge was flirting with hitting for a .400 average. The last player to hit .400 was Ted Williams 84 years ago in 1941. For starters, Judge has hit 35 home runs, and no, it’s not 38, but it’s pretty close. Judge leads Major League Baseball in wins above replacement at 7.0, has the most hits at a staggering 125, and runs scored at 85.
Despite the slump in June, Judge is still leading baseball with a .355 average. He also leads baseball in on-base percentage, slugging, on-base plus slugging percentage, and total bases. The Yankees’ right fielder is also a weekly web gem, robbing home runs and throwing lasers to throw out runners. Since re-signing with the Yankees before the 2023 season, Judge has arguably been the best player in baseball, and still, he feels underrated.
National League Halfway to Home MVP: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs
Before diving in, two things must be acknowledged: this is not a sign of Shohei Ohtani fatigue. Ohtani is a once-in-a-century player, and that cannot be disputed as Ohtani slowly finds his way back to the pitcher’s mound, where he sits among MLB’s best. Ohtani, as long as he is playing baseball, will always be considered an MVP candidate. The other thing to acknowledge: Pete Crow-Armstrong has one of the coolest jerseys in baseball, for the sheer fact that he has a long last name.
At 23 years old and only in his second full season in the Show, Crow-Armstrong has separated himself from the batch of guys like Gunnar Henderson, Elly De La Cruz, and Julio Rodriguez who are seen as the next batch of baseball’s youngest superstars. He leads the National League in wins above replacement, due to his prowess in front of the ivy wall in Wrigley Field.
Amazingly, Pete Crow-Armstrong is only 23 years old and in his second full season. If his current trajectory keeps up, baseball fans in Chicago will be thrilled by his play for years and years to come.
American League Halfway to Home Cy Young Award: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
There are very few times in the history of baseball when a pitcher is so dominant by the time the All-Star Game comes that it feels like it’s a wrap for the rest of the year. Pedro Martinez’s dominance in 1999 and 2000, Doc Gooden’s killer 1985 season, and Bob Gibson’s 1968 campaign are among the first that come to mind when considering the greatest seasons a pitcher has had.
At this point in the season, it’s Tarik Skubal’s award to lose. Last year’s Cy Young winner is continuing to prove to everyone that he is, in fact, the best pitcher in baseball. Skubal is 10-3 for the year, with a WHIP of 0.83, and an astounding K/BB ratio of 9.56 strikeouts for every walk. Skubal also has a 2.23 ERA.
The highlight of Skubal’s season so far was his complete game “Maddux” shutout when he blanked the Cleveland Guardians in under 100 pitches (94) and struck out 13 batters. The 13 K’s were the most ever by a pitcher in the history of baseball, surpassing 12 K’s thrown by Carlos Carrasco in 2014, Cliff Lee in 2011, and Sandy Koufax in 1964.
If fans weren’t paying attention to Skubal last year, passing Sandy Koufax in anything should put the casual fan on notice.
National League Halfway to Home Cy Young Award: Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies
It was recently announced that 35-year-old Phillies ace Zack Wheeler is looking to retire after his current contract with the team ends. Fans may question if Wheeler really will retire after the 2027 season, but fans can agree that Wheeler has been among the most consistent pitchers in the game since he arrived at Citizens Bank Park in 2020.
There is one pitcher, however, also residing in Pennsylvania that is giving Wheeler a run for his money, and that’s Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes.
If one is to compare the Tale of the Tape, Wheeler leads the league in wins above replacement for pitchers at 4.8. Skenes leads the league in ERA at 2.01. Unfortunately for Skenes, he doesn’t have the wins. That’s not his fault, as he has to pitch similarly to the way Jacob deGrom pitched during his time on the Mets, and that is giving up no runs and praying that someone, anyone, hits an RBI. Unless Skenes is moved to an elite team or the Pirates gain a competent ownership and front office, Skenes is doomed to the same fate as deGrom and Felix Hernandez.
Wheeler gets the edge for this year unless the Pirates have a second half for the ages.
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