MLB's Midseason Best

It's pretty clear who the biggest story of the 2021 season so far has been.  As we hit the All*Star Break, we're all continually left in awe of Shohei Ohtani's nightly exploits.  As incredible as it seems, he's got Angels fans saying "Mike Who?" about their other superstar, who until about two months ago was heralded as the game's best player.  (Just imagine what would happen if the Angels were ever actually good!)

This season has been about so much more than everybody's favorite Japanese sensation, though.  It's been the Year of the No-Hitter.  There have been seven of them, plus the unofficial seven-inning ones thrown by Madison Bumgarner and the Rays.  It's also been the Year of No Offense, which may or may not be a reason for all the no-nos.

Mostly, though, it's simply been a relief to have a "normal" baseball season again.  Sure, the Blue Jays are still playing in Buffalo and we still have the two stupid pandemic rules (in case you couldn't tell, I really hate seven-inning games!), but last year's 60-game sprint is thankfully a thing of the past.

Last season was what it was, so I'm not gonna discount any of the major award winners or attach any sort of asterisk because they did it in a shortened season.  But the 162-game season feels so much more complete and gives you a much larger body of work with which to judge players.  Especially when you consider that most teams have played in the 90 game range so far.  That's 30 more games than the entire season last year!  Which means the numbers we're seeing at the All*Star Break, even in a season lacking offense, are back to what we're used to seeing.

And that, frankly, makes midseason award decisions both easier and harder.  Midseason "awards" aren't an actual thing, of course.  And the "winners" often aren't even in the conversation when it comes time to vote for the real awards in November (especially for Rookie of the Year).  But that doesn't mean we can't recognize them, anyway!

Out of the eight awards, there's only one that would be considered a "no-brainer."  That's obviously Jacob deGrom for NL Cy Young.  For everything else, there's either multiple candidates or a legitimate debate between two leading contenders.  Awards like AL MVP, which is a pretty good place to start...

AL MVP: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays-Is Shohei Ohtani the most electric player in baseball?  Yes!  Is Shohei Ohtani doing things never seen or done in 100 years?  Yes!  Is Shohei Ohtani the midseason AL MVP?  No!  That honor goes to Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who leads the AL in batting average and RBIs, is tied for second in hits, ranks second in runs scored, and trails only Ohtani in homers.

AL Cy Young: Lance Lynn, White Sox-Unlike in the National League (more on that later), there's no clear-cut leader for AL Cy Young at the break.  I'm gonna give the nod to Lance Lynn of the White Sox, who seems like a good candidate to start the All*Star Game.  He leads the AL with a 1.99 ERA, is second with nine wins and a .189 batting average against, and has 105 strikeouts in just 90.2 innings.  Every year, it seems like Lance Lynn is in the conversation for every contender that needs a starter at the deadline.  That won't be the case this season.  Because he's already anchoring the rotation of a contender.

AL Rookie: Adolis Garcia, Rangers-Only two rookies were selected to play in Tuesday night's All*Star Game.  One is Marlins pitcher Trevor Rogers.  The other is Adolis Garcia.  The Rangers' center fielder has 22 home runs and 62 RBIs, which are both tops among AL rookies by a wide margin.  It's not like he's all power and nothing else, either.  He's got 84 hits and a .270 batting average in 80 games.

AL Manager: Tony La Russa, White Sox-Sorry, but I can't in good conscience say Alex Cora.  Even though the Red Sox are clearly a much better team with him as their manager, I can't get over the fact that they basically condone what he did in Houston.  Besides, how can you not be impressed with the job Tony La Russa has done?  It's been a decade since he managed, and baseball has changed a lot in that time.  All he's done is lead the White Sox to the best record in the American League.  Should we be surprised, though?  The man's in the Hall of Fame for a reason, after all!

NL MVP: Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres-Remember way back in 2019-20 when HE was the biggest story in baseball?  Seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?  Anyway, Tatis is among the National League leaders in pretty much every category.  He's a bit of a throwback, too, ranking first in both homers (28) and stolen bases (20).  There have only been four 40-40 seasons in history.  Could this be the fifth?

NL Cy Young: Jacob deGrom, Mets-Talk about an easy one!  Whenever a pitcher is in the MVP conversation, it's pretty obvious that he's the leading contender for Cy Young, too.  And deGrom deserves it after putting up insane numbers during the first half.  His ERA is a microscopic 1.08, and challenging Bob Gibson's legendary 1.12 from 1968 is definitely a realistic possibility.  Plus, he's actually getting some run support this year, resulting in a 7-2 record!

NL Rookie: Jazz Chisholm, Marlins-There have been rookies who came up and made a splash for a few weeks (the Cubs' Patrick Wisdom, for example), but none have been as consistent as Jazz Chisholm, who also has the best name!  He played in 21 games last season and is now a regular in the Marlins' lineup, playing both second and short.  Miami's leadoff hitter, Chisholm has 11 homers and 11 stolen bases in 66 games.

NL Manager: Gabe Kapler, Giants-San Francisco plays in the same division as the Dodgers and Padres, the two teams taht were widely considered to be the best in the National League heading into the season.  Yet it's the Giants who lead the NL West at the All*Star Break!  And they aren't just in first place, they have the best record in the entire freakin' Major Leagues!  Honorable mention to Craig Counsell, who's once again working his magic in Milwaukee.