MLB Awards Watch: Top 5 AL ROY candidates thru April

Despite his dazzling rookie campaign last season, Houston’s Carlos Correa did not win the AL Rookie of the Year award in a landslide decision. 2015’s MLB awards watch was a close one in the AL ROY race, with Correa receiving 17.0 first place votes and fellow shortstop Francisco Lindor of the Indians nabbing 13.0 of them. Lindor actually finished with a higher WAR of 4.6 to Correa’s 4.1, even though they both appeared in exactly 99 games. In the end, it was probably Correa’s power numbers that won over voters.

This year, the AL ROY race might be a close one as well, though it probably won’t be filled with young players already being billed as superstars in the league. The Astros again have a few players worthy of making a run at the trophy entering May, though there are more popular candidates elsewhere — possibly still in the minors or yet to make their MLB debut.

With not quite as much headline grabbers as over in the NL ROY race, there’s still five months to go and it’s highly likely the American League will see this awards race heat up along with the temperatures in June, July and August. All stats are current through May 1st games.

Honorable Mentions: Chris Devenski (HOU) and Dylan Bundy (BAL)

Next: Number 5