We have just a little more than two weeks left in the 2019 Major League Baseball regular season. Postseason races will be decided over these next two weeks, as well as the major awards races. As such, this week on CBS Sports we're running through every award for each league. We previously covered races for the American League and National League MVP, AL and NL Cy Young as well as AL and NL Rookie of the Year. Katherine Acquavella has covered the AL Manager of the Year race and you're stuck with me doing the NL side. 

Something to keep in mind on Manager of the Year is voters tend to look at what team turned things around or is better than expected instead of simply voting for who they think is the best manager. With that, managers of teams that were expected to be great have trouble winning it. Sorry, Dave Roberts. 

Let's get to it. 

The Favorite

Mike Shildt, Cardinals. The NL Central was seen to be the toughest top-to-bottom division in baseball heading into the season with a three-team top tier. Though the division has turned out to be more mediocre than strong, the Cardinals entered Thursday with a four-game lead despite being just three games over .500, in third place and 3 1/2 games out after a loss on Aug. 7. 

The Cardinals still have three games against the Brewers and seven of their last 10 against the Cubs. If they are able to fend off both contenders, I think Shildt takes this award in his first full season. 

Others to watch

Craig Counsell, Brewers. If the Brewers survive without Christian Yelich for a few weeks to grab a playoff spot -- especially if they win the Central -- Counsell should get a lot of run here. He's dealt with big injuries, a totally inconsistent bullpen and not very good rotation throughout the season, not to mention offensive inconsistency. He merits a lot of credit. 

Dave Martinez, Nationals. I'm now required to type in "19-31." That's the rule, because the Nats fell to 19-31 after losing a four-game sweep to the Mets in mid-May. Since then, they've been one of the best teams in baseball. It looked like Martinez might be fired and instead the Nats are likely to host the wild card game and that's not too worrisome when you have Max Scherzer. Martinez has gotten by without a serviceable bullpen all season, too. 

Brian Snitker, Braves. Working against Snitker is the facts that he won the award and the NL East last season, but, man, an awful lot of people thought someone else would win this division and the Braves have an outside shot at the best record in the NL, maybe even in baseball. The Braves were picked as low as fourth preseason, so if the voters ignore last year's results and pay attention what people were saying in the spring, he's got a shot. Keep in mind, he's also dealt with a shoddy bullpen for most of the season. 

If things break right ... 

Micky Callaway, Mets. The Mets still have a shot at a wild card. If they grab one after looking like they might be sellers in July, Callaway will get some support. 

Gabe Kapler, Phillies. Injuries and other things have conspired against the Phillies this season, but if they grab a wild card, Kapler will be supported. 

Joe Maddon, Cubs. Maddon won't get a single vote unless the Cubs come back to win the division, but if they storm back and steal the division from the Cardinals without Javier Baez, he's likely to get some votes. 

Torey Lovullo, Diamondbacks. I suppose the D-Backs could still grab a wild card, in which case Lovullo -- who won the award in 2017 -- could see some support. 

The 'life ain't fair' candidate

Dave Roberts, Dodgers. He probably won't get as much support as he should, but he's won it before and his eyes are on a ring.