We’ve reached the midway point of the 2015 season, and though we dished out awards earlier this week, how about a more objective view of the best and worst players of the first half? Sure. a lot of the names will be the same, but we’re also going to be pointing the finger at some bad players…and that’s something we don’t do when dishing out awards.
AL Best Hitter of the Half: Mike Trout. 88 games, 26 homers, nine steals, and a .312/.405/.614 line. Only three AL players have a wOBA above .390 – Trout, the injured Miguel Cabrere, and Nelson Cruz. If Cabrera was healthy, he’d have a chance of threatening Trout for the AL MVP award. But he’s out right now, and Trout is having perhaps his best season yet. The Triple Crown probably isn’t a possibility for Trout, given his huge batting average deficit to Cabrera and Prince Fielder, but that’s not taking anything away from his great season so far.
Honorable mentions: Miguel Cabrera, Nelson Cruz, Prince Fielder, Jason Kipnis, JD Martinez
April winner: Adam Jones
May winner: Jason Kipnis
June winner: Albert Pujols
AL Worst Hitter of the Half: Alexei Ramirez. The White Sox have stubbornly refused to trade Ramirez for the last several years. Of course, now that his contract is ending, he’s having a disastrous year for a struggling White Sox team. He’s hitting a borderline useless .224/.249/.292, has homered twice twice, and has only stolen ten bags on the year. Basically, Ramirez is Brendan Ryan with worse defense making $10 million. Moral of the story – ALWAYS SELL HIGH.
Dishonorable mentions: JJ Hardy, Omar Infante, Rene Rivera, Danny Santana, Mike Zunino
April “winner”: Matt Joyce
May “winner”: Stephen Drew
June “winner”: Mark Trumbo
CINCINNATI, OH – JULY 14: National League All-Star Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals bats in the fourth inning against American League All-Star David Price #14 of the Detroit Tigers during the 86th MLB All-Star Game at the Great American Ball Park on July 14, 2015 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
NL Best Hitter of the Half: Bryce Harper. In any other year, Paul Goldschmidt would be the lord commander of the National League. But this year, it’s Bryce Harper’s world, and we’re all just living in it. The dude is hitting .339/.464/.704 with 26 homers as a 22-year old! Trout is the better all-around player, but he’s never had an offensive year as good as what Harper has done through the first half of 2015. The baseball world is in good hands with these two.
Honorable mentions: Todd Frazier, Paul Goldschmidt, Yasmani Grandal, Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton
April winner: Adrian Gonzalez
May winner: Bryce Harper
June winner: Giancarlo Stanton
NL Worst Hitter of the Half: Chase Utley. You know, Ruben Amaro’s comments about Utley lacked tact…but he wasn’t *wrong*. Utley looks completely done this season, hitting .179/.257/.275 with four homers, three steals, and a $15 million salary. He’s been awful this season for Philadelphia, and the Phillies are in a damned if they do, damned if they don’t situation with Utley. If they keep playing him, they’re getting an awful performance and pushing him closer towards his 2016 option vesting. If they don’t play him, they risk the scorn of an already annoyed fanbase for treating Utley like anything but a king. What an awful situation.
Dishonorable mentions: Starlin Castro, Ian Desmond, Billy Hamilton, Will Middlebrooks, Chris Owings
April “winner”: Chase Utley
May “winner”: Matt Kemp
June “winner”: Jean Segura
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JUNE 24: Chris Sale #49 of the Chicago White Sox delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning of the game on June 24, 2015 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
AL Best Pitcher of the Half: Chris Sale. Because the White Sox are awful, he’s not going to get much love. But Sale’s been great this year and really deserves some accolades. In 119 1/3 innings, he’s punched out 157, walked 23, and pitched to a 2.72 ERA. He’s also, rather incredibly, signed through 2017 with club options taking that deal through 2019 – imagine if the White Sox floated him on the trade market. Poor Cole Hamels wouldn’t bring anything back in return.
Honorable mentions: Chris Archer, Sonny Gray, Dallas Keuchel, Corey Kluber, David Price
April winner: Chris Archer
May winner: Corey Kluber
June winner: Chris Sale
AL Worst Pitcher of the Half: Rick Porcello. The Red Sox acquired Porcello from the Tigers before the season for Yoenis Cespedes, and then essentially guaranteed him $95 million through 2019 before he even threw a pitch in a major league game with the team. Predictably, it hasn’t gone well so far. Through 17 starts, Porcello has a 5.90 ERA in 100 2/3 innings, though his strikeout to walk ratio is a career-best 3.43. He’s getting blasted by a career-high homer rate as his ground ball rate has plummeted, and has been another big ticket disappointment for the Red Sox this year. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s able to turn it around in the second half and head into year two as a member of the Red Sox on a high note.
Dishonorable mentions: RA Dickey, Shane Greene, Joe Kelly, CC Sabathia, Chris Tillman
April “winner”: Ross Detwiler
May “winner”: Justin Masterson
June “winner”: Jered Weaver
BALTIMORE, MD – JULY 12: Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals pitches in the second inning during a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 12, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
NL Best Pitcher of the Half: Max Scherzer. Scherzer has a 10-7 record despite pitching to a 2.11 ERA in 132 innings, striking out 150 and walking 14. Isn’t run support fun?! We thought Scherzer was good in 2013 when he won the AL Cy Young award, and in 2014 when he followed up that performance with a season worthy of a $210 million contract…but this is just phenomenal. It almost reminds me of Cliff Lee going back to the Phillies and completely dominating the National League for three years…before his health became an issue, of course.
Honorable mentions: Jake Arrieta, Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom, Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw
April winner: Johnny Cueto
May winner: Max Scherzer
June winner: Jacob deGrom
NL Worst Pitcher of the Half: Kyle Lohse. Milwaukee would love to trade Lohse. After all, he’s a free agent after the season! But he’s been so brutal this year that it’s going to be difficult to find a team to take him and the ~$5 million he’s still owed through the end of the season.In 19 starts, Lohse has a 6.17 ERA, spurred by (hey, this sounds familiar…) a spike in his home run rate and a drop in his ground ball rate. And just like Porcello, his strikeout and walk rates look fine. If a team out there thinks the 21 homers he’s allowed in the first half are an outlier, maybe Milwaukee could move him and end this nightmare.
Dishonorable mentions: Matt Garza, Kyle Kendrick, Ian Kennedy, Mat Latos, Ryan Vogelsong
April “winner”: Ryan Vogelsong
May “winner”: Stephen Strasburg
June “winner”: Tim Lincecum
TORONTO, CANADA – JULY 2: Devon Travis #29 of the Toronto Blue Jays hits an RBI single in the second inning during MLB game action against the Boston Red Sox on July 2, 2015 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
AL Best Rookie of the Half: Devon Travis. This race isn’t decided yet, not by a long shot. Travis hit .304/.353/.492 with seven homers and three steals in the first half, though he did miss a month of games. That missed month has brought him back to the rest of the pack in the American League, and you could pick any of a handful of players as the AL’s best rookie in the first half. If he’s able to stay on the field for Toronto and stay productive, I think he’ll end up at the top of the heap when all is said and done this season.
Honorable mentions: Billy Burns, Carlos Correa, Trevor May, Lance McCullers, Steven Souza Jr.
April winner: Devon Travis
May winner: Steven Souza Jr
June winner: Carlos Correa
LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 22: Joc Pederson #31 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates as he runs to first base after hitting a solo home run in the eighth inning to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on May 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
NL Best Rookie of the Half: Joc Pederson. Go with Pederson, go with Kris Bryant, it’s a matter of personal opinion at this point. Pederson has more homers, a higher walk rate, a lower strikeout rate, and his OPS is a whopping three points higher then Bryant’s. Bryant has a higher average, a higher OBP, and more steals. The battle between these two is probably going to go right down to the wire, so don’t consider an endorsement of Pederson in July as the end of the road.
Honorable mentions: Kris Bryant, Matt Duffy, Maikel Franco, Randal Grichuk, Jung-ho kang
April winner: Joc Pederson
May winner: Kris Bryant
June winner: Maikel Franco
