Baseball’s best, worst in 2017
Judge, Goldschmidt look like MVPs after season’s first half
As baseball takes a four-day break for the Midsummer Classic, here are our best and worst of the first half:
AL MVP: Aaron Judge, Yankees: Best player in baseball has a chance at winning the Triple Crown in his rookie season. Yes, God still loves the Yankees. AL Cy Young: Chris Sale, Red Sox: With 178 strikeouts in his first 18 starts, Sale is on pace to become the first pitcher with 300 strikeouts since Pedro Martinez’s 313 in 1999. No AL pitcher is close to his dominance.
AL manager: A.J. Hinch, Astros: Managing the Astros will be a push-button job in the second half, but Hinch pushed the right buttons to get them this kind of cushion.
AL rookie: Judge: Unanimous pick is a certainty at this point.
NL MVP: Paul Goldschmidt, D’backs: It’s a dogfight between Goldschmidt and the Nationals’ Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman. But Goldschmidt is carrying the D’backs, while Harper and Zimmerman have Daniel Murphy to share the load. NL Cy Young: Max Scherzer, Nationals: Another neck-and-neck duel between Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw, who ranked 1-2 respectively in NL ERA, strikeouts, opponents’ batting average and innings pitched. Kershaw leads the NL in victories (14) and could pass Scherzer easily in those other categories by season’s end. NL manager: Torey Lovullo, D’backs: The underrated Craig Counsell is in the mix after the Brewers’ shocking rise to first in the NL Central, but Lovullo turned the Diamondbacks into a power in his first season managing. NL rookie: Cody Bellinger, Dodgers: Despite not being called up to the Dodgers until April 25, Bellinger came into the weekend tied for the league lead with 24 home runs, along with 56 RBIs and a .613 slugging percentage.
Biggest bust: Cubs: No one could have expected to see this from the defending World Series champions. The Cubs entered the final weekend before the break below .500, ranking second to last in hitting (.239), 17th in runs (388) and 15th in starting pitching (4.63 ERA). But the Cubs seem willing to stay the course, with minor tweaks at the trade deadline. “We really like our club,” President Theo Epstein said. “We don’t like the way we’ve played to date.” Biggest improvement: Astros: They lead the AL West by 16½ games and had the best start after 84 games (57-27) of any team since the 2005 White Sox also went 57-27. On Friday they were on track for 109 victories, despite the fact their best starter, Dallas Keuchel, has been sidelined since June 2 with a pinched nerve in his neck. Hard to imagine a World Series without the Astros. Best free-agent signing: Greg Holland, Rockies: The Rockies took a flier on the rehabbing closer, giving him $7 million guaranteed plus incentives. Holland went into the weekend leading the majors in saves (28) with a 1.39 ERA. Worst free-agent signing: Bartolo Colon, Braves: Despite being in a rebuilding mode, the Braves inexplicably signed the 43-year-old Colon for $12.5 million after signing knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Colon was released last week after compiling an 8.14 ERA in 13 starts.
Most underrated player: Chase Anderson, Brewers: After three so-so seasons, Anderson ranked fourth in the NL in ERA (2.89) before going on DL with a strained oblique. Most overrated player: Alex Gordon, Royals: Former All-Star and Gold Glove winner had a .196 average and 27 RBIs in 75 games, dropping off the map.
Best rebuild: Brewers: This was supposed to be another transitional year, but the Brewers are ahead of schedule while the Cubs have regressed, making for an interesting second-half scenario in the NL Central. The longer the Brewers stay in the race, the more they believe. Worst rebuild: Phillies: Instead of taking a step forward, the Phillies have gotten even worse, with a major league-worst 56 losses entering the weekend. The acquisition of Clay Buchholz was a head-scratcher from the start. Best teammate: Freddie Freeman, Braves: After the success of first baseman Matt Adams while Freeman was on the disabled list, he volunteered to move to third base upon his return.
Worst teammate: Miguel Montero, Cubs/Blue Jays: Threw his pitchers under the bus with the Cubs to force his departure, blaming them for his failure to throw out baserunners. Sure, he was right, but … Worst injury: Madison Bumgarner, Giants: Bumgarner bruised his ribs and partly tore a ligament in his shoulder in a dirt-bike accident.
Worst manager: Brad Ausmus, Tigers: Teflon manager carried a 288-280 career record in four seasons into the weekend and was eight games below .500 with the highest payroll in baseball. Yet somehow it’s never his fault.