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First Half Fantasy Baseball Awards
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Tim Lincecum is my fantasy Cy Young winner for the first half. (AP)
The first half of the baseball season has been completed, and I'm handing out awards for what the players have done.
These are fantasy awards, so it's purely about the numbers. You're not going to see Dustin Pedroia picking up MVP votes here.
But to me, consistency matter too, so it's not only about the raw figures.
MVP: Albert Pujols - 1B St. Louis.
This is an absolute no-brainer. Pujols is putting together one of the greatest seasons in baseball history, and has a legitimate shot at the National League triple crown.
In fantasy baseball's standard five offensive categories, Pujols has dominated four of them. He leads all of baseball in runs, homers, and RBI, and is fourth among qualified players for batting average.
He's also chipped in 10 stolen bases. It's going to take something drastic to de-rail Pujols' season. He'll likely be my pick for fantasy MVP when the season finishes in October.
2nd Place: Zack Greinke - SP Kansas City.
Greinke earns this spot because his first two months of the season were so great.
If you had him, you probably didn't lose many pitching categories in a head-to-head league. If you own him in a points league, you are probably still reaping the benefits with sparkling pitching totals.
The last month hasn't been great to Greinke, he had a 4.05 ERA in June, but allowing just two earned runs in April pushes earns him this slot.
3rd Place: Hanley Ramirez - SS Florida.
Ramirez was virtually unanimous as the top rated player coming into the season. His five category potential had most in the fantasy world giddy, and he hasn't disappointed. He might not be the game's best player, but his 50 runs scored, 13 homers, 58 RBI and 13 steals while batting .344 have been very impressive.
Cy Young: Tim Lincecum - SP San Francisco.
I know what you're saying. Didn't he just pick Greinke as the runner-up in the MVP award? How is Greinke not the Cy Young winner for this guy then?
The reason I choose Lincecum here is because he's been so consistent this season, which to me makes him the best fantasy pitcher there is - and that's what the Cy Young is for.
In fantasy baseball, I want consistency, and Lincecum seems to never have a bad start. I'd argue Lincecum has had just two bad starts all year, and in one of them he struck out eight batters - which is still helping the fantasy cause.
It's really Lincecum's strikeouts that set him apart to me. Every time he takes the mound you feel he's going to give you eight strikeouts as a minimum, and maybe blow away 13 or 14 hitters for you.
Oh, his eight wins, 132 strikeouts, 2.37 ERA and 1.07 WHIP are pretty spectacular too.
2nd Place: Greinke.
Yes, second again for Zack. His poor last month bumped him out of the top slot in my eyes. Greinke's ERA sits at 2.00, but was 0.50 at the end of April - that shows you he has really slowed down. He's having an amazing year, though.
3rd Place: Jon Broxton - RP Los Angeles Dodgers and Dan Haren - SP Arizona.
Yes, a tie for third. Haren is rated as the game's top fantasy pitcher (and second best overall) by Yahoo, but I think the computers are skewing him a bit because of his outrageously low WHIP, which sits at 0.81. Overall, I think his seven wins and 113 strikeouts with a 2.19 ERA are phenomenal, I just don't think he's the top pitcher in the game.
Broxton deserves a mention because he's having a tremendous year as the Dodgers' closer. He's picked up 20 saves and six wins while posting a 2.09 ERA and 0.75 WHIP. He also has a filthy 64 strikeouts in 38.2 innings of work. That's a K/9 rate of 15.07, which is just insane.
Most Surprising Hitter: Mark Reynolds - 1B/3B Arizona.
Reynolds wasn't being drafted in many leagues at the start of the year, but has now been added in pretty much every single one. He has 22 homers, 57 RBI and 13 steals so far this year, and he's been able to keep a pretty good batting average (.271) despite his high strikeout rate.
Honorable Mention #1: Aaron Hill - 2B Toronto.
He's been awesome this year with 19 homers, 56 RBI and a .299 batting average. I didn't give him the award because he trails Reynolds in runs scored (51 for Reynolds and 48 for Hill) and steals (just three for Hill). It's not a wide margin between the two, but Reynolds has been better - and a bigger surprise to me in terms of his all-around contributions.
Honorable Mention #2: Russell Branyan - 1B/3B Seattle.
Let's be honest, nobody was drafting Branyan at the start of the year. He's been a journeyman of late in his career and while he's always had great power he usually didn't get to display it because his tendency to strike out kept him on the bench.
Well, that has changed so far the season. He's got 20 homers and 43 RBI while hitting .294. Shocking for sure.
Most Surprising Pitcher: Ryan Franklin - RP St. Louis.
Nobody really knew what to make of the Cardinals' closing situation at the start of the year, and I was definitely one of the ones guessing with everyone else. Franklin emerged, though and has been great. He has 20 saves, a 0.84 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP.
Honorable Mention #1: Edwin Jackson - SP Detroit.
Jackson had a very good year last year for Tampa Bay, but wasn't thought much of at the start of this season. So far his 2.49 ERA and 1.04 WHIP have been fabulous for those who picked him up in free agency.
Honorable Mention #2: David Aardsma - RP Seattle.
A product of another strange closing situation, Aardsma has been great since getting the chance to finish games for Seattle. He has 16 saves, a 1.45 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He's also contributed 47 strikeouts in 37.1 innings of work, which is helpful in any kind of league.
Most Disappointing Pitcher: Francisco Liriano - SP Minnesota.
After a strong finish in 2008, many thought Liriano would be in dominant form this season and posting numbers like he did when he was a rookie phenom in 2006. Instead, Liriano has just four wins and 80 strikeouts to go along with a 5.62 ERA and 1.52 WHIP.
He has had some solid starts lately, so maybe he can turn this around. Still a big disappointment so far, though.
Most DIsappointing Hitter: Jimmy Rollins - SS Philadelphia.
Hitting just .212 when you are supposed to be a top 25 fantasy player is going to land you on a lot of most disappointing lists. Rollins has been very bad this season: six homers, 29 RBI and 11 steals to go with that terrible average.
He was benched by Charlie Manuel recently, and hasn't shown many signs of breaking out of this season-long funk. I've seen him released in a lot of fantasy leagues that I'm in, which shows how frustrated his owners have been with him.
Injury that hurt owners the most: Brandon Webb- SP Arizona.
Webb's been one of the best in the game over the past couple years, and he was probably the third of fourth pitcher taken in pretty much every fantasy draft this Spring.
But a shoulder injury means that high draft pick has pitched just four innings this season, and won't pitch again until September, if he makes it back at all.
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