The Major League Baseball season has reached the half-way mark and the All-Star game is on Tuesday. Therefore, it must be time for me to join in with all the other baseball pundits and recognize achievement for the first half. If there were actual awards for such things and I had a vote on the matter, here is who I would be handing the hardware to:
National League Rookie of the Year: It hasn’t been a stellar year for NL rookie thus far, but I’m going with Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus on this one. He’s playing every day, leads NL rookies with 11 home runs, and is hitting .281 with 34 RBI and 43 runs scored. I have a feeling, however, that by the end of the season Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson will have won my vote. He’s gone 4-0 with a 2.85 ERA since getting called up June 7.
American League Rookie of the Year: This one is a little closer, but I have been the most impressed by Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Romero. Aside from his two rusty starts in May after coming off the disabled list, Romero has been dominant. He has won four in a row to up his record to 7-3 to go with a 3.00 ERA. Apologies to my runners-up Andrew Bailey of the A’s, Brad Bergesen of the Orioles, and Rick Porcello of the Tigers.
National League Cy Young Award: Another tough call, but I’m giving my support to Tim Lincecum of the Giants over the D-Backs’ Dan Haren. Tim ranks either first or second in the NL in virtually every pitching category: wins, winning percentage, ERA, strikeouts, WHIP, innings pitched, and complete games. That’s all! If Lincecum holds on he will join Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, and Sandy Koufax as the only back-to-back NL Cy Young award winners.
American League Cy Young Award: I thought this would be a little closer than it was, but after reviewing the numbers again Zack Greinke is the clear choice over the Blue Jays Roy Halladay. I still think Halladay is the best starting pitcher in the majors right now, but Greinke has had a ridiculous first half, leading the AL in innings pitched and ERA, ranking second in wins and WHIP, and third in strikeouts.
National League MVP: Um, if Albert Pujols is not a unanimous selection for the MVP award, I don’t know who is. He leads the planet in home runs and RBI and ranks second in the National League in batting average. This is shaping up as a triple crown season, folks. We haven’t had one of those since 1967 when Carl Yastrzemski accomplished the feat. The last NL player to do it was Joe Medwick in 1937. Simply put, he’s the best player in the game.
American League MVP: I struggled with this one, both because I didn’t want to seem like a homer and because I could not decide which Twins player to side with. Who in the American League is having a better season than Joe Mauer or Justin Morneau? The Twins catcher leads the majors in batting average by a substantial margin and also leads the AL in on base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS. Morneau meanwhile ranks near the league lead in home runs with 21, ranks second in RBI with 70, and is ninth in batting at .310. For now we’ll give the edge to the gold-glove catcher. Runners-up: Jason Bay and Torii Hunter.
There you have it, my first-half picks. I’m pretty sure some of them will look different by the end of the season. Feel free to weigh in with your opinion on the best of the best from the first half by leaving a comment.
Filed under: Baseball | Tagged: Baseball, Cy Young, MVP, Rookie of the Year
