But I do try and keep a very objective head on these lazy shoulders, so when I decided to write a post highlighting my MLB mid-season awards, I had to question whether or not I was being a homer by choosing Adam Wainwright as my NL Cy Young Award winner at the half-way point. Hell, he has been so good, that I may even have to consider him for the NL MVP Award (honestly, how much further down in the ultra-competitive NL Central standings would the Cardinals be without Wainwright?).
Let's take a look at the MLB mid-season awards, and I will get my justifiably homerish pick out of the way right now.
NL Cy Young: Adam Wainwright - Wainwright is not a runaway winner for this award folks. Clayton Kershaw and yes, Johnny Cueto have been every bit as good as Wainwright in 2014. It is just that Wainwright has been more consistent and slightly more impressive than the others. Kershaw has the better ERA and both Kershaw and Cueto have a better WHIP and more strikeouts than the Cardinals ace, but it is Wainwright who is winning the WAR battle and frankly he has pitched maybe the most important, to his club at least, 138 innings of anyone in baseball and thus deserves this recognition.
AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez - Nobody has pitched more innings than King Felix and nobody else in the American League has been as effective. Chris Sale would possibly have had an argument if had not had to spend time on the DL, and the same could be said for Masahiro Tanaka, but this award belongs solely with Hernandez at this point. Hernandez is 11-2 with a 2.12 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and has struck out 154 hitters while walking just 25. It has been a terrific season for Hernandez and if he can keep this pace up, he should be bringing home his second piece of Cy Young hardware later this season.
NL MVP - Troy Tulowitzki - Tulo has been unreal this season and has been the best player in baseball thus far in 2014. Even though his Rockies are not even close to a playoff birth, he still deserves this nod over a Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins. It is my opinion that Wainwright should be in this conversation, especially when you consider how his 5.0 WAR compares to the 5.6 WAR of Tulo. Also, Todd Frazier of the Cincinnati Reds should also be a candidate. Where would the Reds be without his bat?
AL MVP - Mike Trout - The past two years, I was in the Miguel Cabrera camp and there was nothing you could do to change my mind, which drives the spreadsheet guys nuts. But this season the spreadsheets and the eyes come to the same conclusion and that is that Mike Trout is the best player in the AL.
NL Rookie of the Year - Billy Hamilton - Remember when people wondered if he would hit enough? Well, Hamilton is proving them all wrong. The speedster has 38 stolen bases and has even shown a little bit of pop, belting five home runs so far in 2014, which is just one less than Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday at the All-star break.
AL Rookie of the Year - Jose Abreu - It is almost not fair that this polished Cuban power threat can be thrown in to this equation, but since he is one of the variables, he must win the award. Nobody, let alone any other rookie, has as many home runs as Abreu's 29 on the season and his 73 RBIs are the third most in baseball at the break as well. George Springer is having a great run with the Astros this season, but Abreu is the man for this award until things drastically change.
There you have it and good night from St. Louis, where we love our Adam Wainwright and yes, he does legitimately deserve to start the All-star game.
@CoreyRudd
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