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Earlier this week, I produced my mid-season awards for the American League. Now, for those who have been anxiously awaiting the next round, I present to you my picks for the National League.

Most Valuable Player

Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals:

We might need to rename the Most Valuable Player award the Albert Pujols. He's just that good.

Pujols has continued to amaze for the Cardinals, consistently belting moon shots into the night while walking more than he strikes out. His .336/.462/.735 line and insane .477 Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) would be impressive in a video game, and he's leading the circuit with 31 home runs, a 215 OPS+, 81 RBIs and 208 total bases. Machine, indeed.

Since Pujols is one of the best defensive first baseman in the league as well, this truly is just a no-contest pick. In fact, when accounting for batting, fielding and positional factors, he has been worth an NL-leading 4.9 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), production valued at $22.1-M.

Make a case for someone else as the best player in baseball. I dare you.

Apologies to: Chase Utley, Hanley Ramirez

Cy Young

Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants:

The reigning Cy Young Winner, Lincecum is the favorite to repeat again in 2009. Although he looked human at times during the first month of the season, he has been unhittable as of late; after seven more shutout frames on Saturday, he extended his recent scoreless innings string to 23. The 25-year-old right-hander sports a 9-2 record overall to go along with a 2.23 ERA, 191 ERA+ and a league-leading 141 strikeouts in 121.0 innings pitched.

Most impressive, Lincecum is leading the majors with a 10.49 strikeout rate and 1.96 Fielding Independent Pitching mark. He also ranks among league leaders with rates of 2.23 BB/9, 4.70 K/BB and 0.30 HR/9 and has limited hitters to a putrid line of .218/.267/.300/ and .566 OPS.

Lincecum is just an incredible athlete, really. He's like a cat on the mound--his recent acrobatics on a bloop behind the mound could be the best play of the year--who can field his position like a middle infielder, in addition to having excellent command of tremendous stuff.

The Freak, as they say, deserves to start the All-Star game for the National League, and, as of this writing, looks to be headed for a second Cy Young before his 26th birthday. No, he doesn't get points for the awesome Mullet.

Apologies to: Dan Haren, Javier Vazquez

Rookie of the Year

Colby Rasums, St. Louis Cardinals:

I remember watching Rasmus and his brother, Cody, shine for Phoenix City, Alabama in the 1999 Little League World Series. The kids were studs, and like Todd Frazier during my 12-year-old year in 1998, their names always stuck with me. When I saw their player profiles when scouring the Perfect Game USA National Showcase profile page a few years back (I spent a bit too much time doing that while in high school), it wasn't too much of a surprise to see that the Rasmus brothers had established themselves as elite amateur prospects.

Since the Cardinals selected him with their first-round pick in 2005, expectations have been high for Rasmus. Indeed, he has been the consensus top prospect in the St. Louis organization for seemingly forever, looked at as the future in the Lou. After some ups and downs in the minors, including a scuffle with manager Tony LaRussa, he has officially established himself as an everyday contributor at the major league level. The 22-year-old center fielder is batting .288/.330/.504 with 11 homers, a 119 OPS+ and 34 RBIs in 76 games. His walk rate (4.9%) has left a bit to be desired, but there aren't too many kids his age capable of putting up a .216 Isolated Power and .359 wOBA in their first 271 plate appearances in the majors.

Rasmus has always profiled as an above-average defender in center according to scouts. While the sample size is small, the advanced defensive data has agreed so far; his 11.0 UZR and 27.6 UZR/150 in 452.2 innings there are excellent. Even if you don't buy the exact figures, it's clear that he's been an upgrade at the position defensively over Rick Ankiel.

While the defense is largely influencing the total, Rasmus has produced a rookie-best 2.9 WAR. He may not be setting the league on fire in the way in which many Cardinal fans were hoping, but it would be difficult to be disappointed with his debut performance. And while Jordan Zimmermann could give him a run for his money in the second half, he's the mid-season winner and favorite to take home top rookie honors at the end of the year.

Apologies to: Zimmermann

Tyler Hissey is the editor of Around the Majors and host of Minor League Notebook Weekly, FirstInning.com's online radio show.