MLB Mid-Season Awards

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As the MLB heads to the All-Star Break, it is a time to reflect on all that has happened this season. Be it the fall of last year’s World Series Champions, the rise of the Brewers into the lead of the NL Central, or the fact that (as I write on July 10th) the Houston Astros are not bottom of their division. This season has also given us a fair number of outstanding, and less than outstanding, performances and as the players head to Minnesota (or on a family vacation) it’s time to hand out some Mid-Season Awards.

Starting with the big guns:

AL MVP: MIKE TROUT (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)

You going to argue with this? No? Good. Trout had a down month in May slashing .263/.356/.295 but bounced back with a .361/.471/.759 line in June and a strong July so far has brought his season line up to .310/.400/.606 with 22 HRs (a pace which will see him set a career high in that category. His play in Center has been solid once again and he’s posted a 5.0 WAR on the year, which leads the American League, it’s very conceivable that come the end of the year Trout will finally pick up his first MVP award after being edged out by Miguel Cabrera the last two years (of course, it’s also conceivable Cabrera has a blazing second half and pips Trout again).

Other notable nominees: Jose Altuve (Astros), Victor Martinez (Tigers), Josh Donalson (A’s), Jose Bautista (Blue Jays)

NL MVP: TROY TULOWITZKI (Colorado Rockies)

If there was an award for MLB MVP I’d give it to Tulo based on this year, because he’s been lights out. He leads the National League in Batting Average, OBP, Slugging and Runs, is second in Home Runs and has put up defensive numbers good enough for a dWAR of 1.2 on the year. Obviously, some may argue his offensive numbers are inflated by playing in the batter-friendly confines of Coors Field, but anyone who sustains an OPS over 1.000 deserves serious recognition. Rumours are emerging that Tulo is becoming unhappy in Colorado and hopefully this won’t affect his performance following the All-Star Break, because he’s been the best player in Baseball up to this point

Other notable nominees: Jonathan Lucroy (Brewers), Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins), Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks), Andrew McCutchen (Pirates)

AL Cy Young: MASAHIRO TANAKA (New York Yankees)

When Tanaka was given an enormous 7 year/$155m contract by the Yankees, a lot of the Baseball world scoffed at so much money being paid to a pitcher completely untested in the Major Leagues. But up to this point Tanaka has looked as if he’s almost worth more than that, he’s posted a 2.51 ERA with a 1.005 WHIP good for a 159 ERA+. He’s posted Quality Starts 89% of the time and the Yankees have won 13 of his 18 Games Started. However, news that he has partially torn his UCL will put his season- and that of the Yankees- in extreme jeopardy.

Other notable nominees: Felix Hernandez (Mariners), Chris Sale (White Sox), Yu Darvish (Rangers), Mark Buehrle (Blue Jays), Scott Kazmir (Oakland A’s)

NL Cy Young: CLAYTON KERSHAW (Los Angeles Dodgers)

When I started writing this article Adam Wainwright filled this spot. That was before Kershaw threw another Complete Game and lowered his ERA to 1.78 on the season with his performance against the Padres. His 41 inning scoreless streak was absolutely phenomenal and this season he’s struck out 34.4% of all batters he’s seen whilst walking just 3.6%- both would be career numbers if his form continues through the rest of the year. Though he’s thrown under 100 innings this year (which was probably the main reason Wainwright was in this spot to start with) he’s been so dominant that he’s claimed his rightful place as Best Pitcher in Baseball heading into the All-Star Break.

Other notable nominees: Adam Wainwright (Cardinals), Johnny Cueto (Reds), Julio Teheran (Braves), Jeff Samardzija (Cubs, for this exercise he’s counted as a National League Pitcher)

AL Mid-Season Rookie: MASAHIRO TANAKA (New York Yankees)

Given he’s just been given my Cy Young nod, it seems only reasonable to put him in this award as well. It seems unfair that Tanaka is a rookie, but that’s because he’s been practically unstoppable since he arrived in the MLB. Hopefully he can rehab his UCL injury successfully and pitch on into the back half of 2014.

Other notable nominees: Jose Abreu (White Sox), George Springer (Astros), Brock Holt (Red Sox), Kevin Kiermaier (Rays)

NL Mid-Season Rookie: BILLY HAMILTON (Cincinnati Reds)

To be honest, this year has seen a fairly underwhelming crop of National League Rookies. Big name prospects like Kolten Wong, Oscar Taveras and Andrew Heaney have come up and struggled to make an immediate impact. Gregory Polanco has been lights out since his arrival in the Big Leagues and should be able to make a push in the second half of the year. Despite some scepticism about his batting at the Major League level Hamilton has made a fairly good transition slashing .285/.319/.423 with 5 Home Runs to go along with 38 Stolen Bases, which is enough production to warrant him getting this award.

Other notable nominees: Gregory Polanco (Pirates), Kolten Wong (Cardinals), Tommy La Stella (Braves), Jacob deGrom (Mets), Tommy Medica (Padres)

And now, some slightly less serious awards:

Least Valuable Player: JUSTIN MAXWELL (Kansas City Royals)

There are 15 players in the Major Leagues who currently have a WAR worse than -1.0. Though Maxwell ‘only’ has -1.2 which is good for joint sixth place in that list, his value is made worse by the fact he has accumulated that negative WAR in just 20 games and 45 Plate Appearances. His slash line of .150/.222/.175 is simply brutal as he has only recorded one extra base hit (a double off of Phil Hughes of the Twins) and has struck out in 20 of his 45 Plate Appearances. I know it seems cruel to give this to a bit-part player, but Maxwell has been so terrible this year that I believe he is fully deserving, or un-deserving, depending on how you look at it.

Other notable nominees: Michael Choice (Rangers), Cole Gillespie (Mariners/Blue Jays), Alfonso Soriano (Yankees/DFA), Dan Uggla (Braves)

The Hector Noesi Award for Worst Relief Pitcher: CARLOS MARMOL (Miami Marlins)

There have been a lot of candidates for this award, as always, but I’ve picked Marmol as my winner. The Marlins signed him in the hope he could get back to his 2008-10 form, and he couldn’t. In 13.1 innings he gave up 12 runs, good for an ERA of 8.10 which is impressive given in 14 of his 15 appearances he entered with no runners on base. A Marmol Meltdown became a feature of a lot of Marlins games in the early season, and he was sent to the Minors sporting an 0-3 record on the year.

Other notable nominees: Edward Mujica (Red Sox), Felipe Paulino (White Sox), Wei-Chung Wang (Brewers), Arquimedes Caminero (Marlins), Joe Nathan (Tigers)

Play Of The Year: YOENIS CESPEDES (Oakland A’s)

Name of the Year: ODRISAMER DESPAIGNE (San Diego Padres)

Fun Fact: Using the letters in Odrisamer Despaigne’s name you can actually spell ‘San Diego Padres’. The Cuban defector has been pitching well since his call-up, but with a name like that you can’t help but like him.

Other notable nominees: Brock Holt (Red Sox), Zoilo Almonte (Yankees), Kevin Quackenbush (Padres), Rougned Odor (Rangers), Joe Panik (Giants)

Stats from Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and MLB.com