Midseason Players Of The Year, All-Stars For Major And Minor Leagues

Image credit: Shohei Ohtani (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

The American and National leagues pause play for four days each July for the all-star break.

The MLB takeover of the minor leagues in 2021 introduced the same concept beyond the major leagues. Players in the 11 full-season minor leagues get a four-day reset period coinciding with the MLB all-star break. The minor leagues no longer schedule all-star games.

As we prepare for the second half and the stretch run, let’s reflect on first-half standouts with midseason players of the year and all-stars.

Midseason Major League Player of the Year
Shohei Ohtani, DH/RHP, Angels

Ohtani leads all major league hitters with 32 home runs and ranks third among pitchers with a 32% strikeout rate. The 29-year-old has more plus tools than any player in baseball—possibly in history—and in the second half he will put the finishing touches on an historic three-year run that has seen him generate 12 batting WAR and nearly 13 pitching WAR—and counting.

Shohei Ohtani has 30 HR before the end of June. Incredible.

(MLB x @loanDepot) pic.twitter.com/3Op2tK2aS0

— MLB (@MLB) July 1, 2023

The Challenger: The Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. hit .331/.408/.582 and has 21 homers and 41 steals, putting him on track to become the fifth 40-40 player in history, joining Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998) and Alfonso Soriano (2006).

Midseason Rookie of the Year
Corbin Carroll, OF, D-backs

Carroll and Orioles third baseman Gunnar Henderson entered the season as the top prospects in baseball and the favorites to win Rookie of the Year awards in their respective leagues. The 22-year-old Carroll had kept up his end of the bargain, batting .289/.366/.549 with 18 homers, 26 steals and a starting nod in the All-Star Game.

Corbin Carroll, working the holiday. pic.twitter.com/gkEfV3nj7G

— MLB (@MLB) July 4, 2023

The Challenger: Henderson used a summer surge to pull close to Rangers third baseman Josh Jung and Astros righthander Hunter Brown in terms of WAR by AL rookies. In the NL, Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz had an incendiary first month in MLB, but his June 6 callup date will be a significant hindrance. But the BA overall major league ROY award is Carroll’s to lose.

Midseason Major League All-Star Team

Pos	Player	Team	G	AVG	OBP	SLG	HR	SB
C	Sean Murphy	ATL	67	.306	.400	.599	17	0
1B	Freddie Freeman	LAD	89	.320	.396	.556	17	12
2B	Luis Arraez	MIA	86	.383	.434	.471	3	1
3B	Jose Ramirez	CLE	86	.289	.364	.506	14	9
SS	Corey Seager	TEX	59	.353	.413	.613	12	1
OF	Ronald Acuña Jr.	ATL	89	.331	.408	.582	21	41
OF	Mookie Betts	LAD	86	.276	.379	.586	26	7
OF	Corbin Carroll	ARI	86	.289	.366	.549	18	26
UT	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	89	.302	.387	.663	32	11

Pos	Pitcher	Team	IP	ERA	SO/9	BB/9	HR/9
SP	Kevin Gausman	TOR	116	3.03	11.9	2.3	0.70
SP	Zac Gallen	ARI	118	3.04	9.5	1.8	0.68
SP	Gerrit Cole	NYY	117	2.85	9.5	2.6	0.85
SP	Framber Valdez	HOU	111	2.51	9.4	2.1	0.57
SP	Spencer Strider	ATL	105	3.44	14.3	2.9	1.12
CL	Felix Bautista	BAL	42	1.07	18.0	4.1	0.64
UT	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	100	3.32	11.8	3.9	1.26

MINOR LEAGUES

Midseason Minor League Player of the Year
Jackson Holliday, SS, Orioles

The High School Player of the Year and No. 1 overall draft pick in 2022, Holliday made a seamless transition to pro ball this season. He hit .331/.466/.523 with seven homers and 20 steals in 71 games for Low-A Delmarva and High-A Aberdeen through 71 games. The Orioles rewarded the 19-year-old with a promotion to Double-A Bowie following the Futures Game.

Don't tell Jackson the Holliday is over 🎆

In yesterday's game: 5-5, 1 BB, 1 RBI pic.twitter.com/5F0JqsGWns

— Orioles Player Development (@OsPlayerDev) July 6, 2023

The Challenger: No obvious POY challenger emerged in the first half, though Rays third baseman Junior Caminero had reached Double-A Montgomery as a 20-year-old and owned a .333/.392/.604 batting line with 16 homers.

Midseason All-Star Team

Pos	Player (Age)	Team	Peak	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS+
C	Samuel Basallo (18)	BAL	LoA	299	.298	.375	.494	166
1B	Abimelec Ortiz (21)	TEX	HiA	264	.330	.403	.679	212
2B	Colt Keith (21)	DET	AAA	310	.335	.400	.593	169
3B	Junior Caminero (19)	TB	AA	283	.333	.392	.604	167
SS	Jackson Holliday (19)	BAL	HiA	326	.331	.466	.523	184
OF	Colton Cowser (23)	BAL	AAA	257	.330	.459	.537	153
OF	Dominic Canzone (25)	ARI	AAA	304	.354	.431	.634	141
OF	Gabriel Gonzalez (19)	SEA	LoA	335	.348	.403	.530	167
DH	Coby Mayo (21)	BAL	AA	347	.307	.424	.603	172

Pos	Pitcher (Age)	Team	Peak	IP	ERA	SO/9	BB/9	HR/9
SP	Robby Snelling (19)	SD	HiA	62	1.73	9.8	2.5	0.29
SP	Drew Thorpe (22)	NYY	HiA	84	2.13	10.8	3.0	0.43
SP	Anthony Solometo (20)	PIT	AA	78	2.32	10.3	3.4	0.46
SP	Gavin Williams (23)	CLE	AAA	60	2.39	12.1	3.6	0.90
SP	Robert Gasser (24)	MIL	AAA	80	3.94	10.7	3.5	0.79