We've arrived at the All-Star Break after a great start to the season. Before I discuss the All-Star Events, let's reflect on baseball's first half. If the season ended today, here is who is in the playoffs:
AL NL
Yankees Nationals
Rangers Pirates
White Sox Dodgers
Angels Reds
Orioles Braves
Is that how you had it? Obviously, there are some names there we didn't expect: Pittsburgh, Chicago, Baltimore. But we knew teams like New York, Texas, both LA's, Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Washington were going to be good. The fact that Washington is the best team in the NL is even more than I expected though. I thought the Angels would be a division winner, not a wildcard team. It's interesting that the Braves are in the exact spot they were last year... but last year there was only one wildcard team that got in.
If the above teams make it in, my picks would be Rangers vs. Atlanta in the world series with the Texas Rangers finally winning. They've been too good for too long without winning the whole thing. Those picks are based on having a complete team (starting pitching, bullpen, hitting) and experience (that rules out many teams too).
Here are my midseason awards:
NL MVP: Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates
AL MVP: Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
NL Cy Young: R.A. Dickey, New York Mets
AL Cy Young: Jared Weaver, LA Angels
NL Manager of Year: Davey Johnson, Washington Nationals
AL Manager of Year: Buck Showalter, Baltimore Orioles
NL Rookie of Year: Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
AL Rookie of Year: Mike Trout, LA Angels
Now on to the All-Star Events:
The Home Run Derby has a great list of participators this season. I love the whole captain idea with them picking their team. Here's how I see it playing out:
Robinson Cano: 9 7
Mark Trumbo: 6
Prince Fielder: 11 8 6
Jose Bautista: 15 6 5
Matt Kemp: 7
Carlos Beltran: 4
Carlos Gonzalez: 9 9
Andrew McCutchen: 8
As you can see, I think the AL will outdo the NL. I see Trumbo faltering with this moment being too much for him. I see the veteran Beltran not having enough as well. 3 of the 4 to the second round will be lefties. 3 of the 4 will be from the AL. Gonzalez will hit the most homers in the second round, but fall short of the finals due to his first round. Fielder will win by one over Bautista and become the 2012 Home Run Derby Champion. Back, back, back, back, GONE!
As for the All-Star Game, the only snub I care to mention is Brian McCann. He has been on a tear lately, but because of his slow start he wasn't chosen. He is the best catcher in the NL though so it would have been nice to see him play. It was nice to see Chipper Jones make the team in his final season. It has been quite a career!
As for the game itself, it will be fascinating to watch because the NL is stacked throughout it's pitching staff, and the AL's hitting lineup is stacked. I think this pitching vs. hitting will be fun to watch. I think it will be a fairly close game and may come down to the final innings.
I see Josh Hamilton having a nice game and Ryan Braun coming in off the bench and igniting the NL. I think Verlander and Strasburg will stand out on the mound. Like I mentioned earlier, Braun will come in off the bench and he will hit a go ahead homer to put the NL up by 1 run. It will come down to the 9th inning when Kimbrel will shut the AL down in their attempt to comeback. NL wins 5-4! Braun MVP of the game!
So there you have it. Enjoy the All-Star festivities and then get ready for a great second half. I can't wait to see which players change teams and which teams emerge in September for the playoff run. Have fun!
Andrew
I love how unapologetically biased you are towards the Braves. Its crazy. I'll give you my MLB Midseason awards:
ReplyDeleteNL MVP: Andrew McCutcheon, OF, Pittsburgh
AL MVP: Mike Trout, OF, LA Angels
NL CY Young: Gio Gonzalez, SP, Washington (though I love R.A. Dickey)
AL CY Young: Jered Weaver, SP, LA Angels
NL Manager of the Year: Davey Johnson, Washington
AL Manager of the Year: Buck Showalter, Baltimore
NL ROY: Bryce Harper, OF, Washington
AL ROY: Mike Trout, OF, LA Angels
Its amazing that we only differ on NL CY Young and AL MVP. My opinion is currently that Mike Trout is the best player in Major League Baseball at 20 years old. Through the first 60 games of his career his stat-line is as follow:
Avg: .341 (1st)
RBI: 40
OBP: .397
OPS: .959
SB: 26(1st)
In the HISTORY of the Major Leagues exactly one player EVER has better stats in his first 60 games than that. His name: Ricky Henderson, Hall of Famer, possibly the best base-stealer of all time (All due respect to the self-righteous TY Cobb). Since Mike Trout has come up the LA Angels are 42-24, which happens to be the best record in baseball and have cut the Texas Rangers' lead in the AL west from 9 games to 4.5 games. He is without question the most valuable player in the league to this point in my opinion.
As far as All-star snubs Brian McCann is certainly NOT one of them. Buster Posey and Carlos Ruiz are both easily better than McCann this season and that's not even arguable. The biggest snub in my opinion is in the American League at 3B for Edwin Encarnacion who is having a great season. Atlanta is benefitting from the Phillies having an extremely poor season thus far, I expect the Braves to miss the playoffs as their team is currently constructed.
I love how hateful you are of the Braves. We will miss Beachy, but we should be active in trades this year. I heard today we're interesting in Upton. That would be great. Would love to add a big name pitcher too if we can. And McCann is a GREAT catcher.
ReplyDeleteAbout Trout, sorry to say this but I am biased and would never give MVP to a rookie. Sorry. He will get his award with ROY. That's it.
Andrew