NL West Weekly Report: NL West mid-season awards

Over the last week every team in the division has only played four games due to the All-Star break. As a result, this post will feature a recap of how each team played over the last week, plus the division's mid-season awards.

TEAM RECAPS:

Diamondbacks: Arizona was 3-1 this past week. The Diamondbacks hosted the Brewers for a four game series and won the first three games of the series before dropping the final one by a score of 5-1. Arizona averaged just 3.3 runs per game and still managed to win 3 out of 4 despite the pitching staff also giving up 3.3 runs per game.

Rockies: Colorado was 2-2 this past week. The Rockies split a four game series with the Dodgers in LA. Colorado only scored 7 runs in the entire series, but that was enough to win at least two games because Los Angeles only scored 8.

Giants: San Francisco was 3-1 this past week. The Giants traveled to San Diego for their final series before the All-Star break and nearly swept the Padres at Petco Park. But in the final game of the series, San Francisco fell 10-1 after winning 9-0 the day before.

Padres: San Diego was 1-3 this past week. In the third game of the series, Tim Lincecum no-hit the Padres in stunning fashion. A day later, San Diego remembered how to hit when they defeated the Giants 10-1.

Dodgers: Los Angeles was 2-2 this past week. The Dodgers split a four game series with the Rockies despite scoring just 8 runs. In the first game, LA scored won 6-1. But after that, the offense faded away. Los Angeles was shutout 3-0 in the second game, won the third game 1-0, and dropped the finale 3-1.

WHAT'S IN STORE FOR THESE TEAMS NEXT WEEK?

Diamondbacks: Three games against the Giants, three games against the Cubs

Rockies: Three games against the Cubs, three games against the Marlins

Giants: Three games against the Diamondbacks, four games (one of which is a makeup) against the Reds

Padres: Three games against the Cardinals, three games against the Brewers

Dodgers: Three games against the Nationals, three games against the Blue Jays

NL WEST MID-SEASON AWARDS:

MVP: Diamondbacks' first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. The slugger should've started at first base in the All-Star game because he is not only having an All-Star season worthy of a start in the Mid-Summer Classic, but also a season that could give him a shot at the NL MVP. Here is Goldschmidt's line so far: .313 AVG, .395 OBP, .557 SLG, 60 R, 21 HR, and 77 RBI. Goldschmidt has been the best player in the NL West so far this season and one of the best in the entire National League. As a result, he is the NL West MVP as of right now.

Cy Young: Dodgers' pitcher Clayton Kershaw. If the season ended right now, Kershaw would have a serious shot at winning the NL Cy Young. Here are the lefty's stats so far this season: 8-6, 1.98 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 139 SO, 3 CG, 2 SHO. The Dodgers' ace has been incredible this season and if he didn't have such poor run support, 3.15, his record would be much better.

Manager for half the season: Arizona's Kirk Gibson. The Diamondbacks' manager has led his team to a 50-45 record so far, which is good enough for first place in the division by 2.5 games over the Dodgers. Gibson has dealt with a lot of injuries and a weak bullpen. If Arizona wins the division, Gibson could have a shot at the NL Manager of the Year award.

Rookie of the year: Dodgers' outfielder Yasiel Puig. The only other rookie who would have a shot at beating out Puig for this award is his teammate Hyun-Jin Ryu. Here are the outfielder's stats so far: .391 AVG, .422 OBP, .616 SLG, 28 R, 8 HR, and 19 RBI. Puig hasn't driven in a ton of runs but that may be because he hits in the two hole most of the time. The Cuban outfielder has brought the Dodgers back to life and maybe even saved Don Mattingly's job.

Reliever of the year: Rockies' pitcher Rex Brothers. He isn't Colorado's closer right now because of Rafael Betancourt, but when Betancourt was out, Brothers showed why he deserves a shot at a permanent closing role in the future. Brothers' stats so far this season are ridiculous: 2-0, 39.2 IP, 0.91 ERA, 1.134 WHIP, 41 SO, and only 4 ER. The Rockies' reliever has been lights-out this season and should've been named an All-Star.

Most surprising player of the year: Rockies' outfielder Michael Cuddyer. The outfielder is 34 years old and has had his fair share of good seasons. But this year, Cuddyer is having a great season. Here are his stats so far: .330 AVG, .391 OBP, .568 SLG, 44 R, 16 HR, and 55 RBI. Last year, Cuddyer hit .260 with 16 HR and 58 RBIs. That should be enough to earn him the division's most surprising player award.

Most disappointing player of the year: Giants' pitcher Matt Cain. Last year, Cain was 16-5 with a 2.79 ERA. So far this season, the righty is 5-6 with a 5.06 ERA. That's pretty disappointing if you're a Giants' fan. Cain has had a rough season so far and if he doesn't turn it around, San Francisco could spend the rest of the season in the bottom half of the standings.

Most disappointing team of the year: The San Francisco Giants. After winning the World Series last year, a 43-51 record at the All-Star Break isn't going to cut it. The Giants' haven't hit well all season and the pitching staff hasn't pitched well either. San Francisco's pitching staff got the Giants to the playoffs last year and then their offense helped them win it all in October. If the Giants can't turn it around, they could quickly become defending-champion sellers at the trade deadline.

Best performance of the year: Giants' starter Tim Lincecum on July 13th. The two-time Cy Young award winner finally did something against the Padres that he'd never done in his entire career, throw a no-hitter. The righty struck 13 and walked 4 in the season's second no-hitter.

Worst performance of the year: Diamondback's starter Ian Kennedy on June 6. The righty was pulled after giving up 10 runs on 13 hits over four innings against the Cardinals. Kennedy gave up 3 homers while only striking out 4 in one of the worst performances in the entire league this year.