By Dalton Del Don
How frustrating is David Bush? First his impressive component numbers never matched his ERA. Then he was just plain bad last year. And now he’s posted a ridiculous 20:0 K:BB ratio over his last two starts. It looks like he’s reverted back to his helpful WHIP/hurtful ERA ways, which can be useful in NL-only leagues, but expect more disappointment shortly. And it’s a shame too, because there’s clearly potential here.
I’m not going to nitpick the All-Star selections, but it’s unconscionable Jason Varitek is on the team and Johan Santana isn’t.
Mariano Rivera is simply amazing. At 36 years old, he’s currently having the best season his already storied career. How about a 1.06 ERA, 0.64 WHIP and a decent 50:4 K:BB ratio. A reliever really shouldn’t be in Cy Young conversations, but he’d finish in my top-5 right now.
Mike Pelfrey has allowed one run or fewer in three of his last four starts and five out of his last seven. Still, he was pounded in the other two outings and walked multiple batters in six of those seven starts. He’s finally showing signs of improvement, but I’d concentrate more on his ugly 59:43 K:BB ratio than his 3.93 ERA.
How about Mark Mulder’s comeback? Who had the 16th pitch in the pool?
Over the last five games, Miguel Cabrera is 11-for-23 with five homers and eight RBI. The time to buy-low has officially come and gone.
Midseason awards:
NL MVP: Lance Berkman – Chipper Jones and Albert Pujols are worthy candidates playing on superior teams, but Berkman has the better numbers and has played in at least 10 more games than each of them. Berkman leads major league baseball (and by a wide margin) with a .661 slugging percentage. He also paces the NL in total bases, extra-base hits, runs created and times on base. He’s also gone 14-for-16 on the base paths. His 1.107 OPS ranks first in baseball.
AL MVP: Milton Bradley – He’s missed 15 games on the year, and the Rangers are in third place. Still, Texas is a surprising 48-44 and remains in the playoff picture, and Bradley currently leads the AL in OBP (.441), slugging (.596) and adjusted OPS+. He’s homered every 15.3 at-bats and has been intentionally walked more than anyone in the league. Teammate Josh Hamilton deserves consideration, but Bradley has a 126-point OPS advantage on him.
NL Cy Young: Dan Haren – Most will pick either Edinson Volquez or Tim Lincecum, both of whom have had terrific seasons. But quietly, Haren has been the NL’s best pitcher through the first half of the season. He doesn’t have the gaudy K rate, but he leads the league with a 5.15:1 K:BB ratio, and it’s not even close, thanks in no small part to an NL-best 1.53 BB/9 IP mark. Pitching in possibly the best hitter’s park in the National League, Haren’s league-leading 0.977 WHIP is truly remarkable.
AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee – Justin Duchscherer has been the AL’s most dominant starter, but because he missed almost all of April, this one comes down to Lee and Roy Halladay. Although Halladay has pitched nearly 20 more innings, the difference in ERAs more than makes up for it on Lee’s side. Both have equally impressive component stats. With a 1.037 WHIP and 5.21:1 K:BB ratio, Lee gets the nod.
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