Troy Tulowitzki, Mike Trout look like your midseason MVPs

There are many dog days of summer ahead so a lot can change, but here’s a look at the most-valuable-player races from the Major League Baseball season so far.

American League: The Angels’ Mike Trout (.310, 22 home runs, 73 RBIs) is, for the third time in his three full seasons, again a front-runner. But the outfielder has plenty of competition. Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista (.292, 17 home runs, 54 RBIs) also combines average with power and was baseball’s top vote getter for the All-Star game with 5.9 million votes.

Another candidate is Nelson Cruz of the Baltimore Orioles; he’s second in the AL with 28 home runs and 74 RBIs.

National League: Veteran Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (.345, 21 home runs, 52 runs batted in) is a contender not only for MVP but also for the Triple Crown. He leads the league in batting average, is tied for the lead in home runs and is 11 back in runs batted in. But what if the Rockies finish at or near the cellar in the NL West? That would surely hurt Tulowitzki’s MVP chances.

Also in the hunt: Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins, who leads the league in RBIs with 63 and shares the lead in home runs with Tulowitzki with 21, and Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates (.324, 17 home runs, 61 RBIs). And don’t forget about the Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig (.309, 12 home runs, 52 RBIs).