Nate McLouth‘s breakout so far needs to be treated as such, and not a sample size fluke. McLouth has accrued 15 stolen bases already, and if his walk rate stays above 10%, McLouth should sport at least a .350 OBP, making him an incredibly valuable source of steals. In addition, he sits atop a potent young Baltimore Oriole lineup in front of fellow breakout performer Chris Davis. According to Pitch F/X data from Baseball Prospectus, McLouth is whiffing on just 3% of fastballs this year, compared to 13.34% for his entire career. Whether McLouth can continue seeing the baseball that way remains to be seen, but even if McLouth experiences some regression in that category, his 2.3% Swinging Strike rate, and 91% contact rate won’t fall too much. McLouth is a shoe-in at this point for 30+ stolen bases and has Top-20 outfielder potential should he stay on the field.

National League Breakout by Josh Kay (@JoskKay_Fantasy)

Like McLouth, Matt Carpenter currently sits atop the leaderboards in contact rate. Carpenter sports a 90% contact rate which is an impressive improvement over his 83% in 2011. Carpenter’s history proves that’s not a fluke, because in 2010 he recorded an 89% contact rate. Carpenter is a valuable commodity in fantasy with his Ben Zobrist-like versatility and positional eligibility. Eligible at second base, third base, and outfield in most leagues, Carpenter is an On-Base-Percentage machine hitting atop a very potent St. Louis Cardinals lineup. With 30+ runs scored already, Carpenter, also like McLouth, looks like a shoe-in for 100 runs scored should he stay healthy and maintain his spot atop the batting order. He won’t bring you any speed (zero stolen bases so far in 2013), but he   is a good base-runner and will aid him in the process of keeping his runs scored totals high (without depending too much on hitters behind him). A .300 hitter that scores a ton of runs and brings modest (think 10 HR total) power, with solid extra base pop, means he won’t be a total drag in the RBI category either  – registering 15 so far. Carpenter should be treated as a Top-5 second baseman. He’s basically Dustin Pedroia without the speed

American League MVP by JJ Kay

The 2012 AL MVP debate created a heated battle between Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera lovers. Thus far into 2013, the Fantasy AL MVP is beginning to do the same. Trout has come on of late, now hitting .305, with 12 homers and 36 RBI. He also has 12 steals and for those saber friendly leagues adds a .383 OBP and .574 Slugging %. However, you can’t overlook the beginning of the season, especially those of us who play in weekly leagues. That is why Miguel Cabrera is the Fantasy AL MVP through ¼ of the 2013 season. ‘’Miggy’’ is batting .385/.459/.682, with 14 HRs and 57 RBI. In addition to his hot hitting May, Cabrera’s April included 4 HRs, 28 RBI while batting .363 while Trout just hit only .261 with 2 HRs and 16 RBI.

National League MVP by Scott Barzilla (@SBarzilla)

The NL MVP race is a three horse race between Joey Votto, Gerardo Parra, and Paul Goldschmidt. Even though Votto has a slight edge in gross total runs, Parra is ahead when you consider the difficulty of the outfield versus first base. The man is +14 in fielding runs in May. That may not last and because it likely won’t I’ll give him his due now.

American League Cy Young by John Hoey (@johnnycrashmlb)

Clay Buchholz is your quarter of the season AL Cy Young.  He has pitched more innings (72.3) than anybody other than James Shields (by 1/3 of an inning), leads the AL in ERA by a third of a run over Felix Hernandez with a Koufaxish (yes I made that adjective up) 1.73, and remains undefeated in 10 starts with a record of 7-0.  Buchholz has the highest WAR among all starting pitchers with an impressive 3.4.  The out of line condemning comments made by Jack Morris are a distant memory, as Buchholz continues to dominant American League hitters.  He has only given up more than 2 runs in one of his ten starts.  Some say credit for this success can be attributed to his former pitching coach John Farrell returning as manager, but there was never a question about Buchholz’ talent and ceiling, which he has broken through enough to take down the first quarter of the season American League Cy Young.

National League Cy Young by Rich Migliorisi (@Rich_Migs)

Wainwright leads all NL pitchers in WAR (Fangraphs).  He is top five in NL innings pitched and boasts a 2.38 ERA, .97 WHIP, and leads qualified NL starters in SIERA (2.59), FIP (1.83), and xFIP (2.42).  He also has a NL leading BB/9 and has a strong strikeout rate.

The other top two Cy Young candidates, Clayton Kershaw and Matt Harvey, show unsustainable LOB percentages and BABIPs, while Wainwright’s numbers seem mostly sustainable.  Wainwright has a 73.7 LOB% and a .312 BABIP.  When comparing that to his career, Wainwright could actually improve upon those numbers.  The line drive% could be lower, but he is keeping the ball in the yard and has an astounding walk rate. The numbers continue to be backed up by a strong swinging strike percentage and low contact rates.  Wainwright’s performance seems to be much more about dominance, and much less about good fortune.

American League Rookie of the Year by Alan Harrison (@TheFantasyFix)

The hype machine penciled Aaron Hicks into the American League Rookie of the Year ballot heading into the twenty-thirteen season, but the 24-year-old has failed the live up to his end of the bargain. Through 42 games, Hicks sports a .156/.241/.277 slash line with four homers to pair with four swipes — good enough for a -0.6 WAR. But, I digress.

Without a “superstar” candidate like Mike Trout, and while we wait for Kevin Gausman to pad his resume, Rangers’ starter Nick Tepesch appears to have the early lead for the award. Tepesch is just 3-4, but boasts a 3.98 ERA (4.17 FIP), a 1.33 WHIP and a 16.7% K%. Not bad for a first-year hurler in the American League West. Unfortunately for the rookie, three poor outings of four, five and five earned runs allowed overshadow his three wins and quality starts.

National League Rookie of the Year by Andrew Miller (@44AMiller)

Unless you’re from another planet (or a really big Braves or D’backs fan) there are only two legitimate contenders so far for the NL Rookie of the Year award: Shelby Miller and Hyun-Jin Ryu. And out of those two, Miller is clearly the better option. He’s striking out over a batter an inning and ranks third in strikeout percentage among all NL starters. Three of his nine starts have been scoreless, including a 13-strikeout shutout, and he hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any start. He ranks in the top eight in the NL in wins, strikeouts, WHIP and ERA. And if his 1.74 ERA was what his FIP (2.44) or xFIP (3.14) is, his ERA would still be lower than Ryu’s (3.30).

Agree or disagree with the awards? Let us know in the comments below!