Major League Baseball: Matt Kemp and the Rest of the First Half Award Winners

Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers leads the way in our group of award winners from the first half of the 2011 Major League Baseball Season.

Baseball has suddenly become dominated by pitching as there are only seven players in the entire league with at least 20 home runs.  

It's a fascinating statistic when you think just 10 years ago, Alex Rodriguez hit 52, Luis Gonzalez hit 57, Sammy Sosa hit 64, and Barry Bonds hit 73—the most home runs for a season in the history of baseball.

Now that we've officially reached the half-way point of the season, let's take a look at the MVP's and Cy Young Award winners of the first half.

AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander is the obvious choice here as he continues his pursuit of the "triple crown" in the American League.  

Verlander leads the league in strikeouts (130), wins (11), innings pitched (135.2) and WHIP (0.86).  He ranks second in opponents batting average (.184) and complete games (4).  He ranks third in ERA (2.32) and shutouts (2).

Need we say more?

Other considerations for the award:  Jered Weaver, Josh Beckett, and James Shields.  

NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay

Last year's Cy Young award winner is at it again in 2011, Roy Halladay leads the National League in complete games (5) and innings pitched (127.1). 

He ranks second in strikeouts (123), ERA (2.40), and WHIP (1.03).

Jair Jurrjens finished a close second in this race, while Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Clayton Kershaw were also considered.  

AL MVP: Jose Bautista

This was the most difficult decision of the four major awards, but in the end, I had to go with Jose Bautista and his ridiculous OPS of 1.147.

To put that number into perspective, Babe Ruth has the highest career OPS at 1.163.  Barry Bonds has the highest single season OPS at 1.421 in 2004.  Bonds and Ruth combine to hold down eight of the top 10 best single season OPS marks in MLB history.

Bautista is tied for the Major League lead in home runs with 25 with Mark Teixeira and is hitting .330—good for fifth in all of baseball.

Adrian Gonzalez finished a close second in this race while Miguel Cabrera and Paul Konerko were also considered.

NL MVP: Matt Kemp

Matt Kemp is attempting to become the first player to win the "triple crown" since Carl Yastremski last accomplished the feat in 1967. The last National League player to do it was Joe Medwick in 1937.

Kemp will need some help from Jose Reyes, who is beginning to separate himself from the pack with a .352 batting average.

Kemp leads the NL with 22 home runs, ranks second in batting average at .330, and is third in RBI's with 64.

Prince Fielder finished second in the voting and could very likely end up winning this award if the Brewers make the playoffs.