For both teams and players alike, a solid first half does not reflect an entire season. No hardware is actually distributed at the year’s midpoint, but there are a select few certainly worthy of recognition for outstanding performances thus far.
The ultimate individual goal, of course, is the MVP — for which there has been recent debate as to what criteria best determines the honor. Mike Trout is no stranger to the race. He was runner-up in each of his first two seasons as well as in 2015, but took the prize for 2014. Although he’s putting up numbers that would merit another, his team is far from playoff contention.
Staying within the same division, Houston’s Jose Altuve stands just 5’6″ and weighs 165 pounds, but he’s done some seriously heavy lifting for the Astros offense during their recent surge. In June, he extended a streak of reaching base safely in 32 consecutive games — concluding the month with 42 hits and a .420 batting average. His 119 hits and .341 batting average lead the American League.
Altuve’s 14 homers are also impressive. That, however, pales in comparison to Kris Bryant and his 25. He’s yet to complete two big league seasons, and he’s right on track to following the 2015 Rookie of the Year with a 2016 NL MVP. On top of all the round-trippers, Bryant’s RBI count is at 65 — just one of many young and dangerous bats on the Chicago Cubs.
The Cleveland Indians’ success, on the other hand, is primarily due to group of solid starting pitchers. Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer are among this consistent rotation, but it’s Danny Salazar — enjoying a 2.75 earned run average, a count of 118 strikeouts, and a 10-3 record — who just edges out White Sox ace Chris Sale for our AL Cy Young leader.
Not too long ago, the NL Cy Young appeared to be a foregone conclusion. Through no fault of his own, Clayton Kershaw, could be putting that award up for grabs (for Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto or Jake Arrieta) when the season ends — depending on how his back heals. Still, if the season ended now, he would be adding to his stocked trophy case. The Dodgers’ dominant lefty is putting up fabulous numbers even by Kershaw standards. That 1.79 ERA over 16 starts is great, but a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 145-to-9 is simply not human.
The two selections for first half Rookies of the Year both are aiming to follow in Kershaw’s accolade-filled footsteps. Over the first 13 starts of his big league career, Detroit’s Michael Fulmer is 9-2 with a 2.11 ERA. From late May through June 17, the 23-year-old right-hander (who came to the Tigers organization via the Yoenis Cespedes trade last July) was able to string together 33.1 scoreless innings, the second-longest streak by a rookie pitcher since 1961.
Also taking the league by storm is 22-year-old Dodger shortstop Corey Seager. Wasting no time since joining the majors late last year, Seager has tallied 105 hits (17 for homers) over his first 90 games of the 2016 campaign.
