1st-half MLB awards: MVP, Cy Young & more

In our opinion, deGrom should've won this award in 2018. This time, he has the narrative on his side.

We'll get into how historically dominant deGrom has been on the mound in a minute, but in what may be the final season of NL pitchers batting, deGrom is hitting .364 with six RBIs. Most of the time when we talk about pitchers who are "good hitters," it's done in relative terms. But deGrom has been worth 0.6 fWAR as an offensive player, which does enhance his MVP case because he's actually a good hitter.

The standard for a pitcher to win an MVP is extremely high, which means that the outcome of this race is far from decided. Unfortunately, Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. is out for the season, which will prevent him from pushing deGrom. It's certainly possible that Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. and Nationals shortstop Trea Turner, among others, could win this award if they have a big second half and deGrom is mortal after the All-Star break.

What's there to say? Ohtani is a cheat code, one who may be en route to winning his first of a slew of MVP awards.

The 27-year-old Ohtani has had a first half that would make Babe Ruth jealous. As a hitter, Ohtani is slashing .279/.364/.656 with 33 home runs, 70 RBIs and a 1.062 OPS. Ohtani has also been the best starting pitcher for the Angels, posting a 3.49 ERA and 3.57 FIP in 13 starts, with seven of the 26 earned runs he has given up coming in a late June start against the New York Yankees that really has been an outlier.

If the season ended today, Ohtani may win the AL MVP unanimously.

That said, the season doesn't end today, and Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is probably having the best offensive season of any player in baseball. Guerrero lost more than 40 pounds in the offseason and suddenly looks like his Hall of Fame father at the plate. Still only 22, Guerrero is hitting .332/.430/.658 with 28 home runs, 73 RBIs, 52 walks and a 1.089 OPS. It would hardly be shocking if he ends up winning AL MVP.

A few injury scares have prevented deGrom from being a workhorse in the first half, but the bottom line is that the two-time Cy Young winner just turned in one of the most dominant halves in MLB history.

Across 92 innings, deGrom has a 1.08 ERA, 1.23 FIP and 4.8 fWAR, all the top marks among starting pitchers in 2021. Whether you have a direct rooting interest in the Mets or not, deGrom's starts have become must-watch TV.

Zack Wheeler -- deGrom's former teammate -- has been one of baseball's best pitchers in his second year with the Philadelphia Phillies. Wheeler leads baseball with 119 2/3 innings pitched in 2021 and has a 2.26 ERA, 2.25 FIP and 4.5 fWAR to show for it. If deGrom slips up at all, Wheeler, Giants right-hander Kevin Gausman and Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff could all give him a run for his money in this race.

Also of note is that it will be interesting to see how some of these pitchers fare in the second half of the 2021 season, a year after pitching in the 60-game season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Wheeler has thrown nearly 120 innings already this year after he racked up just 71 innings in 2020.

The top two or three candidates in the NL would all be the favorites for the AL Cy Young, where there's hardly a clear-cut favorite.

For now, we're going to give the nod to White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodón, who has a 2.31 ERA, 2.35 FIP and 3.6 fWAR in 89 2/3 innings. His Chicago White Sox teammate Lance Lynn and Boston Red Sox right-hander Nathan Eovaldi are in the running as well.

It'll be interesting to see how New York Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole is treated in awards voting, especially given his non-denial when asked if he's ever used Spider Tack. Statistically, Cole is at the forefront of the discussion, as he has a 2.68 ERA, 2.90 FIP and 3.2 fWAR across 114 frames.

Even though right-hander Sixto Sánchez is going to miss the entirety of the 2021 season, the Marlins still have a ton of young pitching to be excited about.

With Max Meyer and Edward Cabrera still looming in the minor league system, the 23-year-old Rogers has been one of the better left-handed pitchers in baseball in 2021. In 101 1/3 innings, he has a 2.31 ERA, 2.49 FIP and 3.1 fWAR.

Marlins infielder Jazz Chisholm, Reds second basemen Jonathan India and Cubs infielder Patrick Wisdom all drew consideration for this award as well.

Something of a late bloomer, Garcia may win the AL Rookie of the Year Award in his age-28 campaign.

Garcia is hitting .270 with 22 home runs, 63 RBIs and a 2.2 fWAR in 80 games this season, putting him at the front of the line in a race where their isn't an obvious pick.

We'll give an honorable mention to 2020 World Series hero and Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena -- who's still technically a rookie -- and Detroit Tigers Rule-5 Draft selection Akil Baddoo, but Garcia is our pick right now.

We'll see if the Giants are able to sustain it, but in a division with two of the five best rosters in the sport, manager Gabe Kapler has his less talented San Francisco club at the top of the NL West with a 57-32 record.

Those 57 wins are the most in MLB at the All-Star break, meaning even if the Los Angeles Dodgers and/or San Diego Padres leapfrog them in the NL West, the Giants are still a pretty good bet to make the playoffs as one of the two wild-card representatives in the senior circuit.

Certainly, the Giants have benefitted from renaissance seasons out of Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Evan Longoria, along with Gausman finally realizing his potential as a front-line starter. Even with all that factored in, the Giants have no business being atop this division, and Kapler deserves a ton of credit for the job he has done in his second managerial stop.

It can't be as simple as Cora returning after being suspended for the entirety of the 2020 season and dismissed by the team.

But the fact is, the Red Sox went 24-36 in the pandemic-shortened season, finishing dead last in the AL East. A year later, they're tied for the best record in the AL at 55-36. Cora deserves a world of credit for that.

Houston Astros skipper Dusty Baker and Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin are also worthy candidates here.