DMAC 1st Half of the Season Awards
Doug McKain shares his 1st Half of the Season Awards for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Video Transcript
Let's get into some-- I'm gonna do a real quick first half stuff.
Rookie of the Year so far for the Dodgers, I gotta go with Dalton Rushing.
Dalton Rushing has absolutely responded well since the moment with Shohei Ohtani, and before that.
But a 123 OPS+ hitting 10 home runs so far this season.
Last year, yeah, I mean, I, I gotta go with, if I'm gonna pick a, a young Dodger, he's, he's my young Dodger of, of the first half.
I mean, that's the guy.
Then biggest disappointment is you gotta go Kyle Tucker.
He's performed a lot better of late, but he's been basically just a league average hitter so far.
I think the concerning thing about, about Kyle Tucker too is he was supposed to raise the floor of the defense for the Dodgers, and he's been a minus five outs above average defender.
He's in the seventh percentile.
So the defense has not been good for Kyle Tucker to start this, this season, and the offense has been just slightly above league average for a guy that even if you look at Yes, it's a shorter term deal, that's why he has a $60 million per year AAV, with the referrals around 57 million, but still that's a lot of money, even if you consider the $240 million per year that he'd be getting if he stayed here all four years.
I mean, he has underperformed.
There's no way to sugarcoat it.
There is not.
So that's kinda where that's at.
He's the biggest disappointment of the first half.
Then the breakout star, I've gotta go with Justin Robleski.
It was great to see Justin Robleski strike out the side, Robo doing his thing.
Yesterday he was Robleskied of being an all-star in the first place, but still was able to get in.
And Justin Robleski, a 269 ERA.
He has the second most innings pitched for the Dodgers this season.
Robo has gone this year 100 and a thirds innings, so that's right behind Yamamoto.
I think he's this year's Clayton Kershaw, even la- couple years ago, Gavin Stone, guys like that.
So I think that's, kinda where that's at.
It's gotta be him.
Biggest surprise, I think I'm gonna go Edgardo Enriquez.
Edgardo Enriquez has really been a breakout, breakout, bullpen piece for the Dodgers.
The all, all the advanced stuff for Edgardo says that he's elite when it comes to limiting hard contact and missing barrels, and also just the overall results too, a 229 ERA.
He's turning into a demon, man, an absolute beast.
I love Edgardo Enriquez.
I, I would say he's right at the top as far as my, my trust tree right now.
I think he's that good.
Starting rotation, Cy Young, I gotta go Shohei Ohtani, a 179 ERA.
I do think that Yamamoto is a dark horse candidate in the second half of the season to win the Cy Young.
If he goes on a tear, I think it's possible.
If you look at Yamamoto's ERA, a 285 ERA, you can get that way lower.
17 starts, 110 and two-thirds innings, 2.7 WAR, so I still love me some Yamo.
The bullpen Cy Young, I go Tanner Scott.
I mean, Tanner Scott has had a bounce back season.
I think for Scott too, stepping up when Edwin Diaz went out was big.
A 256 ERA, only two blown saves this year, has 13 saves.
Last year he led Major League Baseball in blown saves with 10.
So a huge bounce back year for Tanner Scott.
He has been Tanner Hot most of the season.
The Gold Glove, I gotta go Mookie Betts.
For the team Gold Glove, Mookie Betts has really grown and s- just all You cannot doubt this dude, bro.
A ni- a sixth outs above average, the 92nd percentile.
He's been an elite defensive shortstop, literally.
And, Andy Paz is a close second.
He's, he's right up there.
But hey, shortstop is a more premium pos- position than a center fielder.
So I gotta go Marcus Lynn Betts in that one.
Team MVP, the only right answer is Shohei Ohtani.
Dude is, he's gonna be the MVPE, Most Valuable Player Ever, barring injury.
And then the overall grade for the Dodgers, I'll give them an A-us.
I still don't think they played their best baseball.
They're the top in a lot of different categories.
But as far as their overall grade, a A-us.
They're a game and a half up on the Brewers for the best record in baseball at 61 and 36.
Right now, the Dodgers are a team that is gonna win over 100 games.
At least that's what they're on pace for.
To be exact, they're on pace to win 102 games.
And you got a nice division lead, 11 and a half game lead in the division.
But, they've missed guys.
Glasnow, Snell out.
You have Mookie's been out.
Their offense, Kyle Tucker has had a down season.
You miss Will Smith for a, a good portion of the year, Taylor Hernandez.
So this is a team that still has not played their best baseball.
And Edwin Diaz out, but I still think that they deserve an A-us.
So give me your grade for the first half of the season for your Los Angeles Dodgers
