By: Ryan Bode
As we end the mid-season break for the MLB, we reflect on the historic moments that have happened and honor the best players so far. Historic moments have happened such as Chris Heston’s no-hitter as a rookie to Brock Holt for the cycle.
Here are some mid-season awards that mean just as much as the ESPY’s.
AL MVP: Mike Trout (.312 BA, 26 HR, 55 RBI, 9 SB, 1.019 OPS)
When it is all said and done at the end of the season, the debate will remain the same as to who should win the MVP. Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout have been playing the best baseball (as usual) for each of their respective teams. The reason why Mike Trout beats out Miguel Cabrera for the MVP award is that he means more to his team in comparison to Miguel Cabrera. If Miguel Cabrera goes down with an injury, the Tigers still have enough talent to overcome and make the postseason. The Angels, on the other hand, have only Pujols outside of Trout. Trout leads the Angels in almost every offensive category excerpt RBI’s. The Angels offense would take a massive hit if Trout went down.
NL MVP: Bryce Harper (.339 BA, 26 HR, 61 RBI, 4 SB, 1.168 OPS)
This has been the year of Harper in the National League. The only competition that he faced for this award is Paul Goldschmidt from Arizona who is trying to defend his MVP. He is going to win the NL Crown for home runs due to Giancarlo Stanton’s injury, possibly win the Batting Average title, and come close to the RBI crown as well. Towards the end of the season, fans will be debating as to whether he will win the Triple Crown, the first NL Triple Crown Winner since Joe Medwick in 1937.
AL Cy Young: Dallas Keuchel (11-4, 2.23 ERA, 114 K, 1.00 WHIP)
Chris Sale is a very close second for this award as well. Keuchel has come out of nowhere for the Astros and launched them into a playoff contending team. Keuchel is mixing his 5 pitches real well to get more groundballs than other pitchers. He will not overpower hitters since his sinker and fastball range in the high 80’s to low 90’s. I fear that he may fall into a Mark Buehrle-esque type play in the second half of the season. Hitters will start to figure him out and capitalize on his mistakes better than in the first half of the season.
NL Cy Young: Zach Greinke (8-2, 1.39 ERA, 106 K, 0.84 ERA)
Zach Greinke has been nothing but fantastic this year. He is pitching better than he did when he won the Cy Young with the Royals in 2009. He currently has the longest scoreless inning streak at 35 and 2/3rds innings. His six pitches are keeping the fooling hitters off balance and he is getting outs every way he can. He is making hitters look silly at the plate. Fun Fact: Greinke would have to have an ERA under 2.76 or something along those lines for the second half of the season in order to finish the season with an ERA under 2.00.
AL Rookie of The Year: Billy Burns (.303 BA, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 17 SB, .739 OPS)
With all the rave that is going on about Carlos Correa and how he is the next coming for Houston, people tend to forget about Billy Burns in Oakland. He plays solid outfield for the Athletics, gets on-base and scoring opportunities, and steals bases. He has been the most impressive rookie in the AL but that may not be the case by season end. For now, he deserves this award more than any other rookie.
NL Rookie of the Year: Kris Bryant (.269 BA, 12 HR, 51 RBI, 8 SB, .848 OPS)
The plethora of young talent is finally coming together for the Chicago Cubs. Kris Bryant has not only been the most impressive out of the Cubs organization, but of all of the NL. He provides the power for the Cubs along with Anthony Rizzo. I look to see him be the front runner for the award when the season concludes.
Biggest Surprise: Houston Astros
If you go down the roster of the Astros, there is not one big name player. (For the record: I consider a big name player a household name that a casual sports fan would no i.e.: Pujols, Cabrera, etc.) For one of the youngest rosters in all of the MLB, they are playing like a squad of veterans. Their pitching staff is not really good as well. Outside of Keuchel, there is no real threat that hitters should be afraid of. Yet they are only a half game out of the AL West that was supposed to be dominated by the likes of the Rangers or Angels.
Biggest Disappointment: San Diego Padres
They broke the bank this off-season. They signed James Shields, traded for Matt Kemp, the Upton brothers, Craig Kimbrel to sure up their back end, and Wil Myers(he has been injured which hasn’t helped). They were supposed to contend with the Dodgers for NL West and a wildcard spot. At 41-49, they are struggling to even get to .500 winning percentage. With the addition of the second wild card, they are still in the hunt, but will need depth at starting pitching in order to compete in the National League.