Now that we've moved past the All-Star Game, it's time to start thinking about the second half of the baseball season. Thanks to the second wild card, so many teams are still in contention, which is going to make the trade deadline very interesting. And those pennant/playoff races are probably going to go a long way in determining who ends up winning the major awards in November. But who'd win those awards if they were given out right now? As usual, there are plenty of options.
AL Manager: Bob Melvin, Athletics-The A's are good. Everybody knows that. Generally when a team that's good is doing well, it doesn't surprise anybody and the manager doesn't really get that much credit. But I doubt anyone thought Oakland would be THIS good. Yet Bob Melvin has taken his band of misfits and guided them to the best record in Baseball. They had six All-Stars (seven if you count Samardzija), but don't have any superstars. Yet they're the favorites to represent the American League in the World Series. He won this award two years ago, and if the second half of the season goes the same way as the first half, he'll win it again.
NL Manager: Ron Roenicke, Brewers-Who thought the Brewers were going to end up fighting the Cubs for last place this year? Probably a whole lot more than thought they'd be in first place all season. They haven't just been in first place pretty much all year, they've had the best record in the National League for a good majority of the year, as well. While the Brewers are going to need a second half nearly as ridiculous as their first half to hold off the Cardinals and Reds, if they do, Ron Roenicke will be an easy choice for NL Manager of the Year.
AL Rookie: Jose Abreu, White Sox-This went from tough to really easy, back to tough, back to really easy. Abreu and Masahiro Tanaka both took the Majors by storm when they came on the scene in April. Then Abreu got hurt and Tanaka continued dominating the American League. Abreu came back, Tanaka proved that he's like us mere mortals, and suddenly it became a toss-up again. But now that Tanaka is out for six weeks (and hopefully no longer), Abreu gets the edge in the AL Rookie of the Year race. The fact that he leads the Majors in homers and ranks third in the AL in RBIs helps, too.
NL Rookie: Billy Hamilton, Reds-While the decision in the AL is tough because Abreu and Tanaka have been simply dominant, the choice in the NL is hard because there are so few candidates. But the clear frontrunner is the Reds' dynamic center fielder, Billy Hamilton. We've heard about him for a couple years, and he's certainly living up to the hype. He's blowing away the NL rookie field in virtually every category, and his 38 stolen bases are third-most in the Majors. Throw in six triples, 19 doubles and 38 RBIs and it's not even close.
AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez, Mariners-Up until two weeks ago, Tanaka was looking at a potential Rookie of the Year/Cy Young double, which would've been unprecedented. But the two rough starts in his last two games before he went on the DL knocked Tanaka out of the running (and the fact that he's out until September means he'll stay out of the running). And just like the All-Star start then passed on to Felix Hernandez, so does the midseason Cy Young. King Felix is putting up his typical awesome numbers. In fact, he might even be better than normal this year. Of course, there's one big difference, too. The Mariners don't suck this year.
NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers-Just like there wasn't a wrong choice between Kershaw and Adam Wainwright as the All-Star starter, there isn't really much that separates them in the Cy Young race, either. Wainwright leads the league in ERA...because Kershaw is 0.2 innings shy of qualifying. Wainwright's got 12 wins. Kershaw has 11 in five fewer starts. But there are a couple other reasons why I'd give the nod to Kershaw, and not just because he's the best pitcher in the game. The near-perfect no-hitter, the ridiculous scoreless inning streak, the 126 strikeouts, the .191 batting average against, the 0.83 WHIP. And, most importantly, the Dodgers are in first place (with the best record in the National League).
AL MVP: Mike Trout, Angels-After back-to-back runner-up finishes to Miguel Cabrera, this might finally be the year Trout wins his first MVP. There isn't really a need to spew out stats saying why Mike Trout is awesome, but I'll give it a shot anyway. Second in the AL in slugging, second in on-base percentage, seventh in batting average, tied for third in RBIs, fourth in homers, tied for fourth in doubles, fifth in triples, second in runs scored, ninth in hits. Yeah, he's pretty good. And the Angels are actually playing the way the talent on their roster implies they should, so we might see Trout in October for the first time! If he has a Trout-like second half, he'll have an AL MVP plaque to go with his All-Star MVP award.
NL MVP: Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies-I've seen a lot of different choices for NL midseason MVP, but mine is Troy Tulowitzki. He's without a doubt the best player in the National League, and the team he plays for isn't very good, which has to make putting up the numbers he's put up that much harder. Some of the non-Tulo people like to point to his Coors/non-Coors splits, but I ask, how much more bad would the Rockies be without him? Yes, he's doing it in Colorado, but a .345 average (as well as league-leading on-base and slugging percentages) can't be overlooked. Neither can 21 homers or 52 RBIs by a shortstop who has very little else around him. Tulo wears No. 2 because of Derek Jeter. In Jeter's final season, Tulo might get something Jeter never did...an MVP.
As it turns out, making these choices wasn't really that tough. Some are open to debate, but I feel very comfortable that these eight have stood out the most in the first half of the season. Of course, things, as always, are subject to change in the second half. And with 17 teams within 3.5 games of a playoff berth, the second half is going to be mighty entertaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment