The Orioles are now officially halfway through the season, sporting a record of 47-34 through 81 games and holding a 3-game lead for first place in the AL East over the Boston Red Sox. I'm sure plenty of people will have their own mid-season awards for the Orioles, but here are mine.

MVP - 3B Manny Machado

I think this one is pretty simple, considering Machado is right in the running for AL MVP. Despite a few base-running blunders, Manny has done everything right for the Orioles this season. He even further claimed the hearts of Orioles fans with his mean right hook to the face of Yordano Ventura that was well worth the four game suspension it earned him. But, more importantly, Machado's numbers have really showed how important he has been to Buck Showalter and the Orioles. He is averaging career highs across the board, batting .329 with an OPS of .976, both of which would be well above his previous career highs. His 104 hits, 29 doubles, and 18 home runs all also put him on pace to set new career highs. Machado has also been able to step back into his original position of shortstop with the injuries to JJ Hardy, and has not missed a beat defensively.

Cy Young - LHP Zach Britton

I know that only nine times in the history of the award has a reliever won the Cy Young Award, but guess what, these are fake awards. Plus, Zach Britton has, without a doubt, been the best pitcher for the Orioles this season. Chris Tillman has been the one starting pitcher who has actually pitched well, but he has struggled in his last few starts and has seen his ERA jump up to 3.71, and is on pace to allow the most home runs and walks in his career. Britton, however, has yet again been great all season. He has converted all 23 of his save opportunities and has pitched to a ridiculous 0.80 ERA and 0.772 WHIP in 33.2 innings. If you don't want to do the math, that's only three earned runs allowed this season. The craziest part is, he's getting all of this done with basically one pitch: a 96-99 mph sinker that back in January was ranked by ESPN as the number one pitch in baseball. So far this season, opposing batters have hit only .144 against the sinker and it is has a strikeout rate of 31.7 percent.

Best Newcomer - OF Mark Trumbo

To quote Gary Thorne, Trumboooooo Bumbooooooo. Trumbo has been a key piece of the Orioles offense this season, giving protection to Manny Machado and Chris Davis in the five-hole of the lineup. His 24 home runs currently lead the major leagues and his .281 average would be the best of his career. He has been a little shaky defensively in the outfield, but has been able to split time time between there and the DH role so far this year. The big thing about the acquisition of Trumbo is that the Orioles only had to give up backup catcher Steve Clevenger in the trade with the Seattle Mariners, and after a very good 2015 season with the Orioles, Clevenger is now struggling in Seattle, batting only .221 in limited playing time.

Rookie of the Year - OF Hyun Soo Kim

If I would have said this at the beginning of the season or even as late as May, people would have called me crazy. Kim was being shunned by Orioles fans for not accepting the demotion to triple-a after a horrible spring, and Rule 5 Draft pick Joey Rickard was tearing it up for the Orioles in the leadoff spot. But now, the tides have turned. Rickard came back down to earth and is now hitting .264 as a solid option off the bench while Kim is now still red hot, batting .338 with a .423 OBP. Kim has earned himself a consistent spot in the lineup against right-handed pitching and has flipped from an almost-villain to a fan favorite.

Unsung Hero - RHP Brad Brach

After a few seasons as just a solid middle-reliever, Brach has become one of the premier setup men in baseball. He leads all Orioles relievers with 44.2 innings pitched and has some of the best numbers, allowing only five earned runs and posting an incredible 0.806 WHIP. Brach has been even more valuable lately, with the always-solid Darren O'Day going on the disabled list for an extended period of time, perhaps longer than the Orioles had hoped. Brach has been great in the 7th and 8th innings, and has made a case for himself to be selected to the all-star game.

Most Disappointing - RHP Kevin Gausman

I almost felt obligated to go to the starting rotation for this one. I know you could argue for Ubaldo Jimenez, but he hasn't been very good since the Orioles signed him. Gausman does currently has a 3.97 ERA through 14 starts, which looks good compared to the rest of the Orioles rotation, but he has overall still been a disappointment. This was supposed to be the year that Gausman finally took over and became the ace of the Baltimore staff, but instead he continues to just be mediocre. He has the stuff to be dominant: a fastball that can reach almost 100 mph to go along with a nasty splitter and a solid curveball, but he has never been able to put it all together. He sometimes is not able to find the put-away pitch, causing his pitch count to sky rocket in the early innings and causing him to exit the game before he gets into the 6th or 7th inning. If the Orioles want to make a deep run this season, it will be key for Kevin Gausman to step up his game and finally become an ace.