The Mid-Summer Classic has come and gone. We await baseball’s second half on Friday. What a better time for the midseason Mike’s Man Crush awards.
In the American League, the MVP race is tight and will continue to be that way. Right now my nod goes to Gunnar Henderson. Yankees fans all up in arms, slow your role. Henderson is the catalyst for the first place Orioles. That literally could be the deciding factor in a Judge vs. Henderson showdown. The reality of it unfortunately for Baltimore right now, is that Aaron plays in New York for the Yankees. That carries more weight than you think.
In the National League, I tried to make a case for anyone else other than Shohei Ohtani. Christian Yelich has quietly had a very good season for the Brewers, but outside of average, he trails Ohtani everywhere. Not only has he dominated at the plate, but Ohtani has carried a Dodger offense and a team that has had a plethora of injuries.
The Cy Young races are fantastic in both leagues. As of now, Tarik Skubal gets my nod in the AL. The problem is that he is more likely to finish his year in the National League. Regardless of playing in Detroit or not, his numbers are more than worthy. The NL race has a groundswell approaching with Paul Skenes, but to give him the nod now is premature. Chris Sale has been fantastic for Atlanta this year. Sale leads the league in wins, and has some significant ones at that. For example,he has wins against the Yankees, Guardians, Mariners, and Red Sox. He also took a no decision in a Braves loss against another playoff team at Philadelphia, where he struck out seven and only gave up two earned runs.
Who are the managers of the year right now? It’s probably the easiest decision on both sides. Stephen Vogt in the AL and Pat Murphy in the NL. Nobody, including our staff, thought the Brewers and Guardians would be any good this year and here we are. Both teams lead their respective divisions by 4.5 games starting the 2nd half. Two first year bench bosses that have their teams playing fantastic baseball so far.
When you lose a reigning MVP candidate and a potential Cy Young winner, it’s natural that my preseason pick of the Braves to win the World Series does not look likely at all. Alex Anthopoulos will do whatever it takes to keep Atlanta in the race. With or without those two horses, catching Philadelphia this year might be impossible for the Braves, or anyone else for that matter. As we know in the baseball postseason, anything goes. I’m keeping Baltimore as my American League champion from the spring picks. All things considered, if you think you’ve seen Bedlam at the Bank before, this October will be like nothing else we’ve ever seen in Philly. The Phillies are a downhill freight train that has played every inning of every game this year like a team still bent about the end of last season. Their bullpen is almost untouchable and they will add pieces.
Get ready for it folks. The Phillies will ring the ultimate and final bell in October and finally get that elusive World Series trophy yet again.
