MLB midseason review: The five biggest stories of 2015 so far

Teams around MLB began hitting the 81-game mark — and thus, the midway point of the season — late last week. As of Monday, 26 of 30 teams are halfway through their season. Yes, the All-Star break isn't until next week, but midseason is upon us. Like, right now.

So we at The Stew thought the time was right to look back at the first half of the 2015 baseball season and forecast what's coming in the second half. This is the first installment of a five-part series that will run all week. We'll talk about surprises, disappointments, who's poised for redemption in the second half and which managers might be out of jobs next.

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First, though, we look at the big picture: What have been the biggest stories of the MLB season? Our crew of bloggers picked the five biggest and explain why. As you'd expect, our list contains some on-the-field action and some off-the-field controversy. Every story, though, had people talking.

THE CARDINALS-ASTROS HACK
Easily the most shocking story of the MLB season so far came in mid-June when the New York Times reported that the FBI was investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for allegedly hacking into the Houston Astros' internal database. The news sent shockwaves through the league and instantly placed one of the model franchises in North American sports in the midst of controversy. It didn't take long for the comparisons to the New England Patriots to follow.

Now as more information has became available, the plot to keep tabs on the Astros might not be nefarious as first feared, but it was at least bad enough for the Cardinals to fire their scouting director last week. St. Louis is a team to watch in the second half for two reasons. They have the best record in baseball at 53-28 and are putting themselves in prime position to add another World Series to their already large collection, if they can continue to withstand injuries the way they did in the first half of the season. It will also be interesting to see what else comes of the investigation into the hacking and if it overshadows another potential historic season in Cardinals land. (Israel Fehr)

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BRYCE HARPER'S BREAKOUT
When Derek Jeter retired, Major League Baseball lost the face of the game. Jeter was MLB. He did numerous endorsements all while playing the toughest position for the most popular team in the game. With Jeter gone, MLB would have to find a new superstar to market.

Enter Bryce Harper! The 22-year-old has broken out in a huge way this season. Through 82 games, he's hitting an astounding .347/.474/.722, with 25 home runs. Those are Bonds-ian numbers! Nobody, not even Mike Trout, has been able to match Harper this season. For MLB, it couldn't come at a better time. Harper is young, has personality and plays on a great team. He's undoubtedly the next face of the game, and he's done more than enough to prove it this season. Are you ready for another decade plus of this type of production? I know I am. (Chris Cwik)

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ALEX RODRIGUEZ'S COMEBACK
You can love him or hate him, but you can't ignore the fact that Alex Rodriguez has been a positive addition to the New York Yankees lineup this season. But what's truly remarkable and equally fascinating about A-Rod's comeback story is that it's not the story we all envisioned it would be six months ago, because A-Rod has done a great job simply blending in and going about his business. He hasn't talked out of turn, let alone commanded the spotlight, which has allowed him to settle in comfortably and allowed us to truly absorb his impact.

From a baseball perspective, for a guy with so much baggage and so many question marks surrounding his health, it's really quite stunning that's he been so effective — 16 homers, 47 RBIs, hitting .284 with a .902 OPS, which is 14th best in baseball. The milestones get the headlines, but his presence has been real and his impact has been felt. He might not be an All-Star, but he's proven he belongs again. (Mark Townsend)

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ALL-STAR VOTING SNAFU
The All-Star game is supposed to pit players from both leagues in a head-to-head matchup of game’s best players. It’s also meant to honor players for their fine performances in the first half of the year. The starting nine for each team, however, is chosen by the fans. So what happens when one fan base hijacks the voting process? Basically you get what nearly happened in 2015 – the National League All-Stars versus the Kansas City Royals.

Royals fans spent weeks stuffing the ballot box for the July 14 game in Cincinnati. So much so that at one point during voting, eight Royals were slated to start. Eight out of nine! The final number ended up being a mere four, but the situation showed flaws in the voting process and led to cries for immediate change. When Omar Infante gets almost twice as many votes as Jason Kipnis, something is wrong. And don’t forget, the game means something. The winning league, of course, gets home-field advantage in the World Series.  The story will certainly die down a bit after the game is played, but it won’t be the last we hear about voting reform. Thanks, Royals fans. (Ian Denomme)

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THE YEAR OF THE PROSPECT
As the above sections describe, this 2015 MLB season has been plenty interesting on and off the field, but in the future, when we're looking back at this year, we might forget the results and controversies altogether and just remember all the big-name prospects that arrived. We've got the watch as Kris Bryant and Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton played their first MLB games. Joey Gallo, Addison Russell, Miguel Sano, Carlos Rodon, Francisco Lindor, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz all got the big-league call. If you add Joc Pederson, who debuted last season but is still considered a rookie, then we've got one youngster playing like a legitimate All-Star.

All these names that we've been hearing about and waiting for, they're finally here. Even if they're not playing for your favorite team, you have to appreciate the influx of young talent hitting the game. It's a great time to be a baseball fan and this proves it further. (Mike Oz)

COMING TUESDAY: The five biggest surprises of the 2015 MLB season

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz