First half MVP's for the Sox.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

It's the ASB so please choose two Sox players for Sox MVP and runner-up for the first half of the season.

[sk7326]

MVP: Garrett Crochet - it's not really all that close.  The big offseason acquisition who has been everything we could have wanted.  

Runner up: Ceddanne Rafaela - he has improved his swing decisions JUST enough.  And the bat now combined with a truly elite CF means he is one of the best CFs in the sport.  Will this hold up?  Who knows - but he deserves his flowers. 

Honorable Mentions

Aroldys Chapman - nothing about his career trajectory pointed to him being the best reliever in baseball 

Carlos Narvaez - an out of nowhere catcher solution

Alex Bregman - the stint on the DL took him out of the running for more than this ... but he has been terrific.  He has been a great leader by reports, but I don't want to weigh that too much in contrast to missing a significant block of time. 

 

[Maxbialystock]

11 minutes ago, sk7326 said:

MVP: Garrett Crochet - it's not really all that close.  The big offseason acquisition who has been everything we could have wanted.  

Runner up: Ceddanne Rafaela - he has improved his swing decisions JUST enough.  And the bat now combined with a truly elite CF means he is one of the best CFs in the sport.  Will this hold up?  Who knows - but he deserves his flowers. 

Honorable Mentions

Aroldys Chapman - nothing about his career trajectory pointed to him being the best reliever in baseball 

Carlos Narvaez - an out of nowhere catcher solution

Alex Bregman - the stint on the DL took him out of the running for more than this ... but he has been terrific.  He has been a great leader by reports, but I don't want to weigh that too much in contrast to missing a significant block of time. 

 

All good choices.  

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

9 minutes ago, sk7326 said:

MVP: Garrett Crochet - it's not really all that close.  The big offseason acquisition who has been everything we could have wanted.  

Runner up: Ceddanne Rafaela - he has improved his swing decisions JUST enough.  And the bat now combined with a truly elite CF means he is one of the best CFs in the sport.  Will this hold up?  Who knows - but he deserves his flowers. 

Honorable Mentions

Aroldys Chapman - nothing about his career trajectory pointed to him being the best reliever in baseball 

Carlos Narvaez - an out of nowhere catcher solution

Alex Bregman - the stint on the DL took him out of the running for more than this ... but he has been terrific.  He has been a great leader by reports, but I don't want to weigh that too much in contrast to missing a significant block of time. 

 

I agree with most of your post. My choice for runner-up would be Chapman barely squeezing out Rafaela. As for Bregman I agree that he's missed too many games.

[Soxlover]

1. Crochet

2. Chapman

Honorable Mentioned: Narvaez

[tawest]

#1  Crochet has been huge. Even though a few of his outings were not complimented with enough offense to get a W he's gone to work and made it a possibility.

What's really cool is the newbies that have stepped it up and delivered after Bregman, Casas went down. Toro, Gonzales, and Narvaez have made a huge impact on a team that lost some major components early. A year that started out with these additions, that I really hadn't heard much about, and the positive contributions they've all delivered............ a shout out to Breslow for picking these guys up and unloading the whiner. 

And how can you not respect the year, so far, that Story has put together? Finally healthy and confident, he's been clutch the past couple of months. 

The rookies have been phenomenal. Big step into " The Show " and for the most part they've been terrific. Hopefully the ASB will give them some time to rest up and make the second half a continuation of the past two weeks.

 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Chapman. He might not pitch in the All-Star Game, but he's going. Getting selected for the squad is an honor. 

Plus, we all enjoy end-of-the-game win celebrations, but there's also something to be said for those who don't pile up. When Chappy Ks the last batter in a W, he just stands still and looks... the King of the Hill is cool.

[Hugh2]

Not the first half MVP, but come back player of the year is definitely Story, and to think how bad he was for the first couple months (save the first two weeks). From June 1st he's had a .913 OPS.  I do think he will have some regression in the second half, but as long as he's as good as he can be and not the black hole he was in May that's fine by me, especially if the defense still looks good. 

I knew Chapman was good, and I figured he was going to add value to this bullpen, but I never would have guessed he'd have this kind of resurgence and look like one of the top closers if not thee top in the league again. 

[mvp 78]

15 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

It's the ASB so please choose two Sox players for Sox MVP and runner-up for the first half of the season.

MVP - Crochet

Runner Up - Narvaez

[Deja Doh]

Definitely Crochet.  

Runner up Bregman.

[notin]

14 hours ago, Soxlover said:

1. Crochet

2. Chapman

Honorable Mentioned: Narvaez

Both B-R and Fangraphs give Crochet the edge over Rafaela. The difference in fWAR is Crochet by 0.9.  bWAR has then only separated by a negligible 0.1.

They also both have Narvaez as more valuable than Chapman…

[Soxlover]

I can see having Narvaez>Chapman but Chapman has been Uheharesque!

[sk7326]

2 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Not the first half MVP, but come back player of the year is definitely Story, and to think how bad he was for the first couple months (save the first two weeks). From June 1st he's had a .913 OPS.  I do think he will have some regression in the second half, but as long as he's as good as he can be and not the black hole he was in May that's fine by me, especially if the defense still looks good. 

I knew Chapman was good, and I figured he was going to add value to this bullpen, but I never would have guessed he'd have this kind of resurgence and look like one of the top closers if not thee top in the league again. 

Chapman has been good, but he has more bWAR this season than the last 2 seasons combined.  It is insane.  

[sk7326]

11 minutes ago, notin said:

Both B-R and Fangraphs give Crochet the edge over Rafaela. The difference in fWAR is Crochet by 0.9.  bWAR has then only separated by a negligible 0.1.

They also both have Narvaez as more valuable than Chapman…

Not surprising.  It is just very hard for relievers in general - and 1-inning guys in particular, to pile up the bulk here.  

[Bellhorn04]

It's really Captain Obvious stuff this year, isn't it.

Crochet 

Chapman

Honorables: Rafaela, Narvaez, Bregman, Story

 

[Hugh2]

2 hours ago, sk7326 said:

Chapman has been good, but he has more bWAR this season than the last 2 seasons combined.  It is insane.  

Fangraphs has him at 1.8 FWar so far this year, and 2.8 for the previous two years combined.   But yeah, he's distinctively been a different guy this year. 

[Kimmi]

MVP - Crochet  (Yet another example of why W-L records for pitchers is mostly meaningless.)

Runner up - Narvaez  -  He wasn't even supposed to be our starting catcher.  He really stepped up when Wong got injured.

Rafaela, Story, and Bregman get a lot of love from me.  I hope that Bregman can return to pre-injury form and that Rafaela and Story don't fall apart.

Chapman has been way better than I thought he would be.  I thought we would see a lot of 9th inning drama with him, but for the most part, he's been shut down.