When the going gets Huff

Aubrey Huff is having one hell of a comeback season. Huff hasn't had a full DMBL season since 2005 with Carolina. It looked likely that he was done as a full-timer, as he barely contributed in 2006 and 2007, totalling 46 at bats in the two seasons. But Hillsborough took a chance at what looked like a washed up veteran and gave him a part-time role last year. Although Huff only had 251 at bats with a .725 OPs, the Hitmen protected him for the 2009 season and soon Huff earned a full-time role again. And he's been tearing it up ever since. Huff currently leads the league in slugging (.732), runs (35), extra base hits (27), and is tied with Ryan Howard for the home run lead (14). He's already won Player of the Week honors once and has finished in the honorable mentions as well. This week he led all players in the statistical triple crown categories: average (.500), on base percentage (.567) and slugging (1.000). He also hit 3 home runs with 8 RBIs and 6 runs scored to capture his second JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week award.

Hot on Huff's heels is Newark's J.D. Drew, who led the league with 5 home runs this week and 14 RBIs, and sported a hefty 1.416 OPS. If not for his weaker .387 batting average, Drew may have been smoking some Belinda Vintage Coronas instead of Huff. Other top batters this week: DC's Jose Reyes (.433/.469/.633, 3 stolen bases, 2 2Bs, 2 3Bs) and Carlos Beltran (.414/.414/.655), Carolina's Grady Sizemore (.500/.524/.900), Hoboken's trifecta of Blake DeWitt (.455/.538/.636), Mike Napoli (.423/.545/.808, 3 HRs), and Denard Span (.414/.469/.621), Las Vegas' Matt Holliday (.414/.471/.897, 10 runs, 9 RBI), Marietta's Josh Hamilton (.407/.448/.741, 3 HR, 7 RBI), Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins (.424/.441/.636, 10 R) and Albert Pujols (.387/.457/.774, 3 HR), and Vancouver's Victor Martinez (.450/.522/.800).

With all that offense, you know that the pitchers were going to suffer this week. The pickings were slim for Pitcher of the Week candidates, but our esteemed panel decided to select Blue Ridge's Justin Duchscherer as this week's OffensiveParking Pitcher of the Week award. A big park of the Bombers' 5-game winning streak that propelled the team back into the mix, Duchscherer was 2-0 on the week with a 2.87 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 15.2 innings. Duchscherer, as you may remember, was the first round pick for Blue Ridge in this year's draft, but had gotten off to a rough start, losing his first three decisions and posting a 6.75 ERA after three starts. But since, the Duke seems to have straightened out the ship and now has a respectable 4.44 ERA and 3-4 record. Other pitchers of note this week: Jeremy Guthrie of Hoboken (1-1, 2.19, 0.97 WHIP), Ryan Dempster of Marietta (2-0, 2.19, 1.46 WHIP, 15 K), Scott Kazmir from Philadelphia (1-0, 3.46, 1.08 WHIP), and Las Vegas' Tim Lincecum (2-0, 3.65, 1.70 WHIP, 17 K).