St. Louis Cardinals midseason award recipients

The All-Star Break symbolizes the midpoint of the season. Despite most teams being past the 81-game mark, the break is a logical demarcation line to determine a team's success or lack thereof in a season.

It's also a good time to distribute fictitious midseason awards. The St. Louis Cardinals don't have any players right now who would contend for national awards -- though Masyn Winn is in the running for Rookie of the Year. Therefore, I wanted to bestow recognition upon players on the roster who have more than held their own this year.

Most Valuable Player, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year are the three most prestigious awards given out each year; I'll award those same three honors to players on the roster for just the Cardinals. I'll also provide runners-up for each award.

Most Valuable Player-Willson Contreras

This award was a bit challenging to confer. Being healthy and available is a major factor in a player's production, so the fact that Willson Contreras is 30 games behind his counterparts dings him slightly. However, he far surpasses every other player on the roster in fWAR at 2.4, so he takes this award. Contreras is slashing .271/.403/.514 with 10 home runs for a wRC+ of 161, far and away the best on the team. He's also been a positive defender this year given his improvement in framing. His blocking and caught-stealing rates are above league average.

Runner-up: Brendan Donovan

Donovan's versatility and production are unmatched on the team. He's been able to fill in wherever the need has popped up on the team. Donovan is slashing .276/.345/.411 with eight home runs for a wRC+ of 117.

Cy Young-Sonny Gray

This was a no-brainer. Sonny Gray has been the ace that the Cardinals have desperately needed this year. He's had some blow-up starts, but he's been dominant for the bulk of his outings. Gray is striking out 30.3% of batters he faces, he has a 3.34 ERA, a 2.56 FIP, and he's accrued 2.9 fWAR in just 99.2 innings across 17 starts. Gray had a late start to the season due to a hamstring injury, but he's more than made up for his delayed start.

Runner-up: Ryan Helsley

Ryan Helsley is one of the best closers in all of baseball. The All-Star has a league-leading 31 saves with a 2.36 ERA and a 2.71 FIP. He's second among pitchers on the team with 1.2 fWAR in 41 appearances.

Rookie of the Year-Masyn Winn

This was an easy decision. Masyn Winn has been productive offensively while providing highlight-reel defense on a nightly basis. He's slashing .284/.332/.406 with 5 home runs and 9 stolen bases; he has a 109 wRC+. He's racked up 1 out above average, he's been worth 14 defensive runs saved, and he has a 2.2 ultimate zone rating. His 14 DRS are second in all of baseball among qualified defenders.

Runners-up: Ivan Herrera and Michael Siani

The frontrunner for this award was easy; his follower wasn't quite as simple. Ivan Herrera has been strong offensively while lacking on the defensive side. Michael Siani is the exact opposite. Siani is 4th in baseball with 12 outs above average, but Ivan Herrera has been worth -7 DRS. Herrera has a .279/.340/.378 slash line for a 107 wRC+, but Siani has a 62 wRC+. The second-place recipient is strictly a matter of preference between offense and defense.