MLB

Gonzalez, Verlander, Kemp and Halladay diamond’s top gems in ’11

Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander (REUTERS)

This has been the half season in which players have hurt and pitchers have killed.

Albert Pujols, Buster Posey and Derek Jeter are part of a pained brigade that has led to roughly 1,700 more days lost to the disabled list this year as compared to a corresponding period last season — approximately two extra months of DL time per team on average.

And as an indicator of the mound of trouble faced by hitters in 2011, consider that the overall AL ERA heading into the weekend was 3.87, which would be the lowest since 1976.

So with every team due to reach 81 games, the numerical midpoint, in the next week, the second half is set to revolve around H and H — and not the bagel chain. The teams that find improved Health and Hitting also should find a clearer path to October.

With that ahead, let’s take a look back with Hardball’s annual half-good, half-bad, halfway awards:

AL MVP

Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox. Imagine Manny Ramirez, but with defense and without the selfish distractions. Liberated from the hitting hell of Petco Park, Gonzalez was on pace for 240 hits, 54 doubles and 149 RBIs, which, respectively, would rank tied for first, third and fourth in Red Sox single-season history. When it comes to hitting, the quintet of Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis might give Boston the most unstoppable force in the sport.

2. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays. 3. Curtis Granderson, Yankees. 4. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers. 5. Paul Konerko, White Sox.

AL ANTI-MVP

Chone Figgins, Mariners. Remember him as a Yankees killer? Now Figgins is threatening to become the first player to qualify for the batting title and produce an OPS under .500 since Hal Lanier in the Season of the Pitcher, 1968. Figgins had a .492 OPS heading into yesterday.

2. Vernon Wells, Angels. 3. Derrek Lee, Orioles. 4. Adam Dunn, White Sox. 5. Magglio Ordonez, Tigers.

NL MVP

Matt Kemp, Dodgers. In the final vote, he might be hurt by playing for a soap-opera farce non-contender.

For now, though, he is showing what happens when all his skills flourish, reaching 20 homers/20 steals before the break. The power separates him from Jose Reyes, while Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder are hurt, to some degree, by having equally special years as teammates.

2. Reyes, Mets. 3. Braun, Brewers. 4. Fielder, Brewers. 5. Lance Berkman, Cardinals.

NL ANTI-MVP

Hanley Ramirez, Marlins. He was supposed to be the star that carried the Marlins into a new stadium. Instead, his never-good attitude has stayed bad while his once-great game has slipped to utility infielder levels.

2. Dan Uggla, Braves. 3. Miguel Tejada, Giants. 4. Aubrey Huff, Giants. 5. Jason Bay, Mets.

AL CY YOUNG

Justin Verlander, Tigers. Hard to separate the top four in this category, but Verlander probably has the highest level of dominance: a major league-high-tying seven starts of at least eight innings and two or fewer runs, including a no-hitter.

2. James Shields, Rays. 3. Josh Beckett, Red Sox. 4. Jered Weaver, Angels. 5. Michael Pineda, Mariners.

AL ANTI-CY YOUNG

John Lackey, Red Sox. As hard as this might be to believe, the Mets actually picked wisely by signing Jason Bay away from the Red Sox and letting Lackey go there in the free-agent market after the 2009 season. Lackey’s 7.36 ERA has him well on the way to the worst ERA in Red Sox history for anyone who started even as few as 10 games.

2. Fausto Carmona, Indians. 3. Kyle Drabek, Blue Jays. 4. Rafael Soriano, Yankees. 5. Joaquin Benoit, Tigers.

NL CY YOUNG

Roy Halladay, Phillies. Mission accomplished. The Phillies were attempting to assemble a historic rotation, and you will find Halladay and Cole Hamels in this top five, and Cliff Lee is pitching the best in the majors right now, with consecutive shutouts and one run allowed in 33 June innings. That should allow Philadelphia to cope with the injury to Roy Oswalt, who was supposed to be the Fourth Musketeer.

2. Hamels, Phillies. 3. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers. 4. Jhoulys Chacin, Rockies. 5. Jonny Venters, Braves.

NL ANTI-CY YOUNG

Javier Vazquez, Marlins. It wasn’t just being in New York. His 6.37 ERA in a year of offense drought and in what is supposed to be an NL pitcher’s park suggests he could be done.

2. Ryan Franklin, Cardinals. 3. Ryan Dempster, Cubs. 4. J.A. Happ, Astros. 5. Ted Lilly, Dodgers.

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Michael Pineda, Mariners. It is going to be quite a battle among Pineda, Tampa’s Jeremy Hellickson and Baltimore’s Zach Britton — all of whom appear on the ace track.

2. Hellickson. 3. Britton. 4. Mark Trumbo, Angels. 5. Aaron Crow, Royals.

NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Craig Kimbrel, Braves. It is not an impressive crop of NL rookies. Kimbrell has joined Jonny Venters to give Atlanta a dynamic 1-2 punch to end games.

2. Danny Espinosa, Nationals. 3. Josh Collmenter, Diamondbacks. 4. Dillon Gee, Mets. 5. Eduardo Sanchez, Cardinals.

AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Joe Maddon, Rays. Tampa Bay lost nearly half of its main players from last year’s AL East champs, lost its best player (Evan Longoria) for a month only two games into the season and lost eight of its first nine games. The Rays have the lowest attendance and lowest payroll in the AL. It is all a formula for a team to quit. Instead, the Rays are pesky contenders again. The faith and leadership has to start in the manager’s office.

2. Manny Acta, Indians. 3. Eric Wedge, Mariners. 4. Terry Francona, Red Sox. 5. Joe Girardi, Yankees

NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Kirk Gibson, Diamondbacks. It might have been Jim Riggleman, had he not pulled a power play and ended up resigning this week from the Nationals’ helm. Arizona was roundly projected as an NL West also ran. Yet, the D’backs are hanging with the Giants. You don’t want to ignore the jobs San Francisco’s Bruce Bochy and Philadelphia’s Charlie Manuel are doing. Yes, they have great rotations. But both have been hit with a ton of offensive problems, and Manuel has had to nurse an injury-wrecked pen.

2. Manuel. 3. Bochy. 4. Clint Hurdle, Pirates. 5. Terry Collins, Mets.

BEST EX-YANKEE

Ian Kennedy, Diamondbacks. The Yanks would not undo the Curtis Granderson deal, but maybe they would — in retrospect — amend their thoughts that Kennedy could not handle the AL East or was inferior to Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. Kennedy (8-2, 2.90 ERA) is in play for an All-Star berth and, even more amazing, so is Pittsburgh’s Jeff Karstens (4-4, 2.54).

What do Tyler Clippard, Daniel McCutchen, Mark Melancon, John Axford, Jose Veras, Ramon Ramirez, Kyle Farnsworth, Kerry Wood, LaTroy Hawkins and Randy Choate have in common? They all either were developed by or played for the Yanks, and in 2011 have appeared in at least 20 games with an ERA 3.25 or lower. Meanwhile, Bobby Abreu, Lance Berkman, Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi and Eric Hinske are showing they are not done yet.

2. Berkman, Cardinals. 3. Karstens. 4. Melky Cabrera, Royals. 5. Abreu, Angels.

BEST EX-MET

Philip Humber, White Sox. Humber and Mike Pelfrey were top-10 picks in consecutive years, and the Mets imagined them leading their rotation for years. But injury and ineffectiveness led Humber to be property of three teams this past offseason after being claimed twice on waivers. Now he might be an All-Star (7-3, 2.90).

Since his injury-plagued disappointment with the 2009 Mets, J.J. Putz is one of only five pitchers to appear in 90 games and have nine-inning averages of more than 10 strikeouts and fewer than seven hits. He had 20 saves entering the weekend, one more than Mets castoff Heath Bell. The ex-Met who was supposed to help the Yankees pitching staff was Pedro Feliciano, not Freddy Garcia or Luis Ayala; you can count A.J. Burnett, too. Two-thirds of the Rangers outfield is now comprised of ex-Mets: Nelson Cruz (signed out of the Dominican in 2000) and Endy Chavez. Did you know that Joe Smith had a 1.13 ERA or that Darren Oliver was 2.48 and Matt Lindstrom was 2.73?

2. Putz, Diamondbacks. 3. Bell, Padres. 4. Cruz. 5. Smith.

BEST OFFSEASON ADDITION

Lance Berkman, Cardinals. Adrian Gonzalez is having a better year, but he cost Boston three top prospects and a $154 million contract extension. Berkman was one year at $8 million with no draft-pick compensation. Still, there was risk: Who knew he still could play the outfield and hit lefty pitching? It would have been easier to believe that Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia would give the Yanks nothing rather than a combined 11-9 with a 3.20 ERA in 1571⁄3 innings.

2. Gonzalez. 3. Colon/Garcia. 4. J.J. Hardy, Orioles. 5. Kyle Farnsworth, Rays.

WORST OFFSEASON ADDITION

Vernon Wells, Angels. It is not just that he is having difficulty getting his average above .200, it is that the Angels took on most of the four years at $86 million left on a declining player’s contract. Adam Dunn and Dan Uggla have been hitting duds in their new locales. It didn’t cost much money, but the Rays will go down as the last team to waste time with Manny Ramirez.

2. Dunn, White Sox. 3. Uggla, Braves. 4. Rafael Soriano/Pedro Feliciano, Yankees. 5. Ramirez.