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May is fully underway now with so much excitement around the baseball world!

This week, we’ll dive into players of note around the league, award races, and introduce some exciting developments.

We’ll have an announcement in the very near future on an awesome event next weekend in New York…so stay tuned!

Players of Interest Around MLB

It can often be hard to keep up with how players around the entire league are performing when up to 15 games a day are played every day.

Let’s take a look around the league at players who have excelled or disappointed of late, plus some you may not have even heard of yet.

Stock up, stock down. Our new biweekly series features a trio of players with their stock rising quickly, and a trio going the opposite direction.

Chase Burns appears to be blossoming into an ace for Cincy right before our eyes lately. The 23-year-old flamethrower has reined in his command, while striking out guys and keeping the ball on the ground at an elite rate. When Hunter Greene returns, this could become the most electric duo of right-handed starters in baseball.

On the other end, Willy Adames has taken a big step in the wrong direction, along with most of his teammates. Things have been really rough for Adames, who will need to turn it around to avoid by far his career-worst season.

Ildemaro Vargas, Kyle Harrison, Cam Smith, and other breakout names. You may not hear about these guys everywhere, but we’ve got you covered here. Vargas has been unreal as a 34-year-old breakout player, while Kyle Harrison is proving to be another Brewers’ pitching developmental masterclass.

Cam Smith hasn’t fully broken out just yet, but there’s reason to believe it’s only a matter of time. Plenty of others, including a pair of relievers, have showed out early in the year. The Rockies’ best reliever has emerged after many disappointing seasons, while St. Louis may have unlocked something in their new relief ace.

New Just Baseball Network Podcast

We’re incredibly excited to share that we have a new podcast in our network!

Rays The Roof is the ultimate podcast for everything Tampa Bay Rays with analysis, interviews, and more. Check them out their socials and podcast!

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MLB Awards

Yes, it’s early. But no, it’s never too early to look at the odds to win the major awards across Major League Baseball. As always, odds are courtesy of our friends at BetMGM!

***Odds as of 5/6

AL MVP

While there’s still a familiar leader of the pack, it’s not quite a runaway like it has been in the past few years. There are a couple players, particularly one who is just about as talented of a hitter you will find, that could challenge the reigning winner.

• Aaron Judge: +120

• Yordan Alvarez: +260

• Bobby Witt Jr.: +900

• Ben Rice: +1400

NL MVP

On the other side of the league…this may not be much of a race. Yeah, unless you’re a Dodgers fan, you’re probably sick of this one. This race does not feel close at all, but who would you take as a potential contender to Ohtani?

• Shohei Ohtani: -350

• Corbin Carroll: +1800

• Matt Olson: +2000

• Elly De La Cruz: +2200

AL Cy Young

Just like that, this race is wide open. Tarik Skubal underwent minor surgery that is expected to put him on the shelf for at least two months, which makes this award particularly fascinating. These four appear to be the clear contenders, but other aces in the American League could still come into play here.

• Cam Schlittler: +200

• Max Fried: +340

• Dylan Cease: +500

• José Soriano: +550

NL Cy Young

The frontrunner to win this for the second year in a row has held firm on the top spot, but the quartet behind him absolutely has a real chance to contend for it. This is an uber-talented collection and all five of these arms have a real shot still.

• Paul Skenes: +190

• Yoshinobu Yamamoto: +400

• Shohei Ohtani: +550

• Chris Sale: +600

• Cristopher Sánchez: +850

AL Rookie of the Year

While there’s still time for a disruption, two essential polar opposite players from the same division have emerged from the pack as the clear leaders.

• Munetaka Murakami: +140

• Kevin McGonigle: +145

• Chase DeLauter: +900

NL Rookie of the Year

This crop of players on the NL side is so deep, and you can tell that right away when you see you the best prospect in baseball not even near the top of this list. This could go plenty of directions with all five of these rookies having a legitimate shot.

• Sal Stewart: +170

• Nolan McLean: +325

• JJ Wetherholt: +450

• Moisés Ballesteros: +650

• Konnor Griffin: +750

Other Headlines

🤕 As we mentioned earlier, reigning back-to-back Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal underwent minor surgery, and is expected to miss two to three months. This effectively ends his Cy Young campaign, but he should be able to salvage his free agency market if he can return at full health in the second-half of the season.

Carlos Correa is undergoing season-ending ankle surgery, a huge blow to a Houston team that is already faltering.

Just Baseball Discord

We have reached over 1,000 members of our Discord in just one year and expect another awesome season with our community!

Our Discord channel is the ultimate baseball group chat while also providing exclusive access to Peter’s MLB best bets, Aram’s prospect content, giveaways, and direct connection to the entire Just Baseball staff.

Read all the details about our Discord community here.

Just Baseball Merch

Our newest merchandise features retro logos, tv-inspired designs, and the anti wave social club!

We have also restocked on all your favorites including our vintage World Series line, hats, hoodies, City Series line, spring line, and much more.

Check out the full collection of Just Baseball swag here!