NL & AL Rookie of the Year Odds 2026: Who’s MLB’s Next Young Star? (July 24)

There may not be a harder award race to pick in sports than MLB Rookie of the Year Awards.

Unlike in the NBA or NFL, where the top draft picks enter the league right away, and the best of the best typically are known from their first game, picking a rookie to win in the marathon of a 162-game season is a much more difficult task.

Often, the first part of the battle is just getting the rookie to the show to make their MLB debut, then it’s a matter of staying up. We have seen Rookie of the Years lead their race wire-to-wire, like Corbin Carroll in 2023, or Julio Rodriguez in 2022.

Other times, a clear-cut Rookie of the Year can be harder to find, like when Jonathan India won in 2021, or even when Luis Gil ended up taking home the 2024 award in the American League.

All it takes is a few hot months for any player or pitcher to vault themselves right to the top of a Rookie of the Year race. The only question is who will be the young stars that emerge this year.

This page will be your guide to the updated betting odds throughout the season, as we follow along with what is sure to be a thrilling race for both AL and NL Rookie of the Year.

Let’s dive into the odds to see which superstars are making their presence felt so far in the 2025 MLB ROY races. All odds provided are courtesy of BetMGM. For new users, use code JUSTBASEBALL for a first-bet offer up to $1500 if your first pick loses.

Current Rookie of the Year Award Odds: Top Contenders for 2026

Before we dive a little bit deeper into the races in each respective league, let’s just take a look at the current updated odds from BetMGM in the two Rookie of the Year races.

2026 American League Rookie of the Year Odds

Player	Team	Current Odds	Last Week’s Odds	Opening Odds	Implied Probability
Chase DeLauter	Cleveland Guardians	+3000	+3000	+1000	3.23%
Kevin McGonigle	Detroit Tigers	-275	-250	+600	73.33%
Munetaka Murakami	Chicago White Sox	+700	+700	+700	12.50%
Carter Jensen	Kansas City Royals	+2800	+2800	+1000	3.45%
Kazuma Okamoto	Toronto Blue Jays	+1900	+1700	+500	5%
Parker Messick	Cleveland Guardians	+3000	+3000	+3000 (4/6)	3.23%
Connelly Early	Boston Red Sox	OFF THE BOARD	OFF THE BOARD	+1000	—
Travis Bazzana	Cleveland Guardians	+3000	+3000	+1400	3.23%

To kick off the second half, the AL Rookie of the Year race has settled nicely into a two-man race, with a 3rd contestant lurking just behind.

North of the border, former NPB stud Kazuma Okamoto of the Toronto Blue Jays has come closer to finding his stroke at the plate after a horrendous start to the season. The 30 year-old rookie made a drastic change to his batting stance, moving about 2 inches closer and 5-6 inches backwards and the results followed immediately. Coming out of the break, Okamoto has a more than respectable 22 homeruns and a .748 OPS.

Although those numbers are solid, Okamoto comfortably sits outside the top two odds leaders for the ROTY award.

Looking to the Southside’s very own, Munetaka Murakami has the best chances to steal the ROTY award away from the odds leader in Detroit.

With a .897 OPS and 20 homeruns in just 66 games, if it weren’t for his short injury that set him back there’s a good chance he’d be way closer to Kevin McGonigle in the race.

A lot of the narrative this past winter was whether or not Murakami would be able to adjust to handle high velocity in the majors, and he has more than proven those who doubted him wrong so far.

Circling back to touch on the AL odds leader, Kevin McGonigle of the Detroit Tigers, fresh off an eight-year, $150 million extension, has slashed .281/.388/.422 through the first half and has a bright red Savant page to back it up.

Widely considered one of the best predictive offensive metrics, McGonigle boasts a .361 xwOBA, good for the 87th percentile out of qualified batters this season. Needless to say, BetMGM understands this and will reflect it in his decreasing payout price as the stretch run unfolds.

2026 National League Rookie of the Year Odds

Player	Team	Current Odds	Last Week’s Odds	Opening Odds	Implied Probability
Sal Stewart	Cincinnati Reds	+400	+280	+500	20%
Konnor Griffin	Pittsburgh Pirates	OFF THE BOARD	OFF THE BOARD	+3000	—
Nolan McLean	New York Mets	+1000	+2800	+340	9.09%
JJ Wetherholt	St. Louis Cardinals	-140	-155	+700	58.33%
Owen Caissie	Miami Marlins	OFF THE BOARD	OFF THE BOARD	+1400	—
Bryce Eldridge	San Francisco Giants	+2500	+2200	+1200	3.85%

It made sense that the already somewhat proven Nolan McLean of the New York Mets would open the season as the odds leader for NL ROTY. However, with a struggling month of May for McLean, he has fallen far out of the ROTY race. He has rebounded nicely going into and coming right out of the break, with a 3.34 ERA, but it likely won’t be enough to get the job done in terms of taking home some hardware.

When Sal Stewart came hot out the gates to start the 2026 season we all thought he would run away with the NL ROTY. That was until he started slumping, allowing others to leap him in the odds. Overall, Stewart has had quite the streaky season so far in 2026, but has landed at a solid 116 OPS+ coming out of the All-Star break.

In St. Louis, JJ Wetherholt had a relatively slow start to the season but has picked it up drastically as of late. He’s up to a 114 OPS+ on the season through the first half, and has accrued most of his NL rookie leading 3.8 fWAR through elite level defense at second base paired with exceptional baserunning.

As the season sprints to the finish line, it’ll be interesting to see who really pulls away from the pack in the NL race. It seemed like just a week ago that McLean would be the guy, but after a few blowup starts the Mets young pitcher has fallen far out of it.

Notably, Bryce Eldridge of the San Francisco Giants was promoted in early May and flat out has been producing ever since he got the call. With a 134 OPS+ on the year, Eldridge has accrued 0.8 fWAR while splitting time between 1B and DH.

We’ve seen voters disregard the gaps in WAR before if the offensive output drastically outweighs the overall value, and in this scenario we might be setup for the same outcome if Eldridge continues to rake at a level Wetherholt cannot. Even if JJ is more the more well rounded player, the voters might sway in a different direction.

How to Follow the MLB Rookie of the Year Odds

When betting on awards futures, timing is everything. Knowing when it is right to strike is half the battle in making sure you are finding value on the board. Consistently keeping tabs on the odds each week will show you how a player’s market is fluctuating, which can help you find the right time to place your future bet.

At the end of the year, BBWAA voters typically base their criteria on who wins these awards largely on stats, but narrative and team role certainly do factor in. In 2024, a great case could have been made for Jackson Merrill, but the narrative and sensation that was Paul Skenes was too much for him to topple.

Last year, Nick Kurtz mashed his way to win the AL ROTY, while Drake Baldwin took advantage of a relatively weak NL field. Keeping all those aspects in mind can help you pick the right horse in this race.