Today is the final day of baseball before the All-Star Break and the Pirates are guaranteed to be in a first place tie in the division no matter what happens in this afternoon's finale against the Giants at PNC Park.Sitting at 47-37 it is clear that this has been a first half to remember. The team has won 8 of their last 10 games and their 28-14 home record is the best in baseball. Today will be an interesting game because the Giants will send Tim Lincecum to the mound. Lincecum comes into today's game with a 3-9 record in 17 starts with a 6.09 ERA. Hopefully the Pirates can take the series against the Giants and be 11 games over .500 as some of their players head to K.C.
Now For Some 1st Half Awards. Keep in mind that these are my opinions and you may agree or disagree with me.
Team MVP: Andrew McCutchen. How can you argue with this decision: .359 Batting Average, .605 Slugging Percentage, 109 Hits, 16 HR, 56 RBI. McCutchen has been the driving force behind this teams offensive success lately, despite the fact that he was in a slump at the beginning of the season.
Honorable Mentions: James McDonald, Pedro Alvarez, A.J. Burnett
Team Cy Young: James McDonald. This was a tough decision considering how well the pitching staff as a whole has performed, but McDonald has stepped up this season with a 9-3 record in 17 starts, a low 2.37 ERA which is third in the N.L. and 100 Strikeouts makes McDonald a great choice for this award.
Honorable Mentions: A.J. Burnett, Joel Hanrahan
Team Comeback Player: Pedro Alvarez. To be honest, at the beginning of the season I didnt think Pedro was gonna last all season in the Majors, but I have been pleasantly surprised with him since then. 16 HR, 50 RBI and a .486 Slugging Percentage gives me confidence in Pedro as the season moves on.
Honorable Mentions: Casey McGehee, Rod Barajas, James McDonald, Garrett JonesAlong with these, some Pirates players and coaches were honored by ESPN's Jayson Stark in this article:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8134086/handing-baseball-midseason-awards
-The Flood City Sports Fan
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