The 2018 season has reached the one-month mark and it's time to hand out some early unofficial hardware. Below are awards for each National League team's Most Valuable, Most Improved, and Most Disappointing Player, along with club-by-club Cy Young Awards.
Arizona Diamondbacks
MVP: Paul Goldschmidt
Cy Young: Patrick Corbin
Most Improved: Nick Ahmed
Most Disappointing: Robbie Ray
Corbin has had an excellent start to his walk year, leading the Diamondbacks with a 2.25 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and .165 opponent batting average across 40 innings.
Atlanta Braves
MVP: Ozzie Albies
Cy Young: Mike Foltynewicz
Most Improved: Dansby Swanson
Most Disappointing: Julio Teheran
Following a disappointing sophomore season that resulted in a brief demotion to Triple-A, Swanson has bounced back nicely in 2018, hitting .287/.330/.435 with two home runs and eight doubles in 26 games.
Chicago Cubs
MVP: Javier Baez
Cy Young: Kyle Hendricks
Most Improved: Kyle Schwarber
Most Disappointing: Yu Darvish
Baez looks like he's finally put everything together. The 25-year-old is hitting .292/.346/.656 with seven home runs, eight doubles, three triples, and an NL-leading 26 RBIs, and has cut his strikeout percentage from 28.3 in 2017 to 21.2 this season.
Cincinnati Reds
MVP: Joey Votto
Cy Young: Raisel Iglesias
Most Improved: Homer Bailey
Most Disappointing: Billy Hamilton
Coming off a down year, Hamilton has actually seen a further dip in most offensive stats. The speedster is hitting .169/.281/.241 with three extra-base hits and 31 strikeouts in 27 games. He's a perfect 5-for-5 in steals, at least.
Colorado Rockies
MVP: Nolan Arenado
Cy Young: Chad Bettis
Most Improved: Trevor Story
Most Disappointing: Ian Desmond
The returns on Desmond's five-year, $70-million deal remain minimal. Through 28 games, the corner outfielder/first baseman is slashing .188/.240/.354 with four home runs and 27 strikeouts. In addition, his minus-0.4 WAR is the third-worst of any qualified player.
Los Angeles Dodgers
MVP: Yasmani Grandal
Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw
Most Improved: Hyun-Jin Ryu
Most Disappointing: Yasiel Puig
It's a good thing the Dodgers didn't trade Grandal. The catcher has regained his starting role and is hitting .291/.378/.512 with four homers and seven doubles. He leads the team in both categories, as well as RBIs, and is second among all major-league catchers in OPS.
Miami Marlins
MVP: Brian Anderson
Cy Young: Jarlin Garcia
Most Improved: Jarlin Garcia
Most Disappointing: Lewis Brinson
Garcia opened the season as a reliever but quickly pitched his way into the rotation. The 25-year-old began his career as a starter by firing 10 1/3 no-hit innings and owns a 1.00 ERA and 0.81 WHIP across 27 innings.
Milwaukee Brewers
MVP: Travis Shaw
Cy Young: Josh Hader
Most Improved: Junior Guerra
Most Disappointing: Domingo Santana
Despite Chase Anderson's terrific start, Hader takes top pitcher honors following an absurd first month. The left-handed reliever owns a 1.17 ERA, 0.52 WHIP, and 31 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings while walking just four batters. He hasn't allowed a run over his last five appearances, holding the opposition to a slash line of .083/.120/.125 with 14 strikeouts.
New York Mets
MVP: Asdrubal Cabrera
Cy Young: Jacob deGrom
Most Improved: Juan Lagares
Most Disappointing: Matt Harvey
The Mets couldn't find a taker for Cabrera last season, and that's a good thing because he's been the best player in Queens to start the season, leading the team in hits (34), doubles (9), and OPS (.973).
Philadelphia Phillies
MVP: Rhys Hoskins
Cy Young: Aaron Nola
Most Improved: Nick Pivetta
Most Disappointing: Carlos Santana
To the surprise of many, the Phillies inked Santana to a three-year, $60-million deal this offseason and even moved Hoskins to the outfield to accommodate him, but the early returns have been minimal: a .160/.305/.287 slash line with just two home runs and 21 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh Pirates
MVP: Francisco Cervelli
Cy Young: Trevor Williams
Most Improved: Starling Marte
Most Disappointing: Josh Bell
After hitting 26 home runs and finishing third in NL Rookie of the Year voting last year, Bell has gone deep just once in his first 28 games, the ninth-best mark on the team. It's not only his power numbers that are concerning, as he's slashing just .241/.303/.333 with 25 strikeouts.
San Diego Padres
MVP: Christian Villanueva
Cy Young: Joey Lucchesi
Most Improved: Tyson Ross
Most Disappointing: Manuel Margot
Villanueva has shown the success of his brief call-up last season was no fluke; he's been one of the best power hitters in baseball in April, leading the Padres with seven homers and a 1.150 OPS while slashing .329/.424/.726 across 22 games.
San Francisco Giants
MVP: Brandon Belt
Cy Young: Johnny Cueto
Most Improved: Johnny Cueto
Most Disappointing: Andrew McCutchen
Early injuries to Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija certainly hurt the Giants, but Cueto stepped up in a big way to help San Francisco hover around .500. The right-hander owns a league-best 0.84 ERA and 0.69 WHIP across 32 innings.
St. Louis Cardinals
MVP: Tommy Pham
Cy Young: Carlos Martinez
Most Improved: Bud Norris
Most Disappointing: Kolten Wong
Pham is proving his breakout 2017 season was no accident as he leads the NL with a .341 average and sits third with a .453 OBP. The 30-year-old has added three home runs, six doubles, five stolen bases, and 18 walks in 25 games.
Washington Nationals
MVP: Bryce Harper
Cy Young: Max Scherzer
Most Improved: Sean Doolittle
Most Disappointing: Ryan Zimmerman
Harper has enjoyed an excellent start to his walk year, hitting .253/.457/.540 with a team-leading eight home runs and league-leading 36 walks to accompany just 19 strikeouts.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
