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 Having your leadoff hitter go 5-for-5 is great. Having him hit for the cycle is just icing on the cake.
In what's believed to be a DMBL playoff first, Matt Carpenter of Las Vegas hit for the cycle, shredding the Hoboken pitching Wednesday night for five hits, three runs and two RBIs. The second-seeded Rat Pack took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series against the No. 4 Cutters after the 10-1 thrashing.
 Playing first base, Carpenter singled to lead off the game, later scoring on a wild pitch. He was stranded after a one-out double in the second. Leading off the 5th, Carpenter tripled and promptly scored on Joe Mauer's double, collecting three hits off starter Kyle Lohse. He singled off lefty reliever Luis Avilan in the 6th but did not complete the cycle until mashing a two-run home run in the 8th, again off Avilan.
Carpenter was one of the Rat Pack's two first-round picks in the 2013 draft, primarily playing first base against right-handers and compiling a solid rookie campaign, hitting .280/.347/.428, with 37 doubles.
Powered by a 15-game win streak, and winning 20 of 21 games in the final quarter of the season, Blue Ridge had the biggest turnaround in the second half. The 13-game improvement pushed the Bombers to a 45-34 record but it wasn't enough to clinch a playoff berth. Despite an eight-game drop-off in the second half, it was Arkansas that held on to secure the sixth and final playoff spot. The Golden Falcons enjoyed a 43-39 first half but stumbled to a 35-45 mark in the second half.
The Fisk division had two of the top turnarounds in the second half. Livingston Lords of Swing finished 69-93 overall but nearly went .500 in the second half, going 40-41 -- 11 wins better than their 29-51 first half.
Had the playoffs been based on the second half standings, it would have been Blue Ridge that had the sixth-best record. The only other change to the final playoff setup -- had they been based on the second half standings -- was Hoboken and Vancouver changing places as the 3rd and 4th seeds, respectively, thanks to the Cutters' six-game improvement versus the Iron Fist's five-game decline.
Both the league's top two teams remained consistent, with Philly notching 58 wins in the second half, after a 59-win first half, staying one game better than Las Vegas, which went 57-23 in the second half after a 56-26 first half. Brick City had the worst record in the second half, going 26-54, four wins fewer than they had in the first half. The biggest drops in the second half were by Bridgewater, 14 fewer wins and Amityville, 11 fewer wins.
Kruk
Philly, 58-22 (+1)
Hopatcong, 47-34 (-3)
Bridgewater, 26-53 (-14)
Brick City, 26-54 (-4)
Drabek
Las Vegas, 57-23 (-1)
Arkansas, 35-45 (-8)
Hillsborough, 35-46 (-2)
Amityville, 32-46 (-11)
Van Slyke
Hoboken, 52-30 (+6)
Rowdy, 37-42 (-2)
Marietta, 33-47 (0)
Boston, 31-47 (+2)
Fisk
Vancouver, 50-32 (-5)
Blue Ridge, 45-34 (+13)
Livingston, 40-41 (+11)
Sardine City, 37-45 (+1)
Next up, we'll take a look at the best individual performances during the second half of the 2013 season.
The final 10 games (give or take) of the 2013 season are upon us and still the playoff race has yet to be resolved. Four teams are within four games of each other for the sixth and final playoff spot. Meanwhile, a battle is still on for the number-one seed as Philly has opened a 2 1/2-game lead on Las Vegas for home-field throughout the playoffs.
There's at least been some continuity as Arkansas has held on to the sixth spot for the past week but the view from behind has shifted as Blue Ridge continues to pile up the W's, passing Rowdy and Sardine City to pull within 1 1/2 games of the Golden Falcons. A week ago, the Bombers were 3 1/2 back of the Wild Card but have continued one of the great runs this season.
Whoever grabs the sixth seed likely will face No. 3 Vancouver in the first round of postseason while the others go into the draft lottery, a.k.a., the Yasiel Puig/ Jose Fernandez sweepstakes. Two of the teams still in the hunt are assured of finishing below. 500, having suffered their 82nd loss.
Let's take a look at where they stand and what's on the horizon in the season's final 10 games:
Arkansas, 74-78, ----
Remaining schedule: .519 win percentage
v. Sardine City
2 @ Boston
2 v. Las Vegas
2 @ Philly
3 @ Sardine City
Arkansas just sort of treaded water last week, going 3-4, which was good enough, for now. The good news is that the Golden Falcons get Matt Harvey back from injury and should be able to squeeze two more starts out of him, including a likely start against Las Vegas while also avoiding Kris Medlen, who could return from the DL after their series. The bad news is their opponents' winning percentage is .521 thanks to a gauntlet of two-game sets against Vegas and Philly before their three-game season finale with Sardine City. Arkansas could bury the Straphangers with a win tonight ( A.J. Griffin v. Brandon McCarthy) but they may have to start worrying about other teams at this point. The Golden Falcons have little room for error if they want to finish better than .500; they'll need a run of no worse than 8-2; no worse than 7-3 to finish an even .500.
Blue Ridge, 72-79, 1 1/2 GB
Remaining schedule: .463 win percentage
@ Hillsborough
2 v. Philly
3 v. Livingston
2 @ Boston
3 v. Hillsborough
Blue Ridge has put together one of the great runs of the 2013 season, and quite possibly one of the best ever, at least to finish a season. Their only loss in the past 2+ weeks was a 2-1 setback against Brick City, otherwise we're talking about a 21-game win streak. Still, they've won 20 of their last 21 games, which came after a three-game skid, including a new 5-game win streak after their 15-win streak ended. All this after selling at the trade deadline (dealing Gio Gonzalez and David Hernandez). Their toughest opponent will be Philly but it's only two games this week. While Arkansas is dealing with powerhouses Las Vegas and Philly later this week, the Bombers get to face off against Livingston and Boston. Of the remaining teams, only Arkansas and Blue Ridge have any shot
(albeit long) of finishing better than .500; the Bombers can only loss
two more if they have any hope of avoiding a losing record.
Rowdy, 72-81, 3 GB
Remaining schedule: .595 win percentage
@ Philly
2 v. Amityville
3 @ Hoboken
2 v. Sardine City
2 v. Philly
The Roddy Pipers are still hanging around after an up-and-down stretch, going 3-4 to gain no ground on Arkansas. They face the toughest schedule over the final 10 games, including six games against playoff-bound Hoboken and Philly, two more against possibly a third playoff team in Sardine City, as well as two versus Amityville, who's just barely hanging on to a flicker of hope.
Sardine City, 70-82, 4 GB
Remaining schedule: .497 win percentage
@ Arkansas
2 v. Brick City
2 @ Vancouver
2 @ Rowdy
3 v. Arkansas
As long as Sardine City can remain within 3 games or less of Arkansas,
they'll be within striking distance, with that three-game season finale
in their back pocket. But that's the problem, at present they stand 4 games back as they enter Monday night's critical matchup at Arkansas. The Straphangers have stumbled badly of late, with just one win sandwiched around three losses last week to go 1-6, on top of a six-game skid two weeks ago, making them just 3-12 over their last 15 games. They had won 8 of 9 before that ugly stretch.
Amityville, 69-82, 4 1/2 GB
Remaining schedule: .439 win percentage
v. Livingston
2 @ Rowdy
3 v. Hillsborough
2 @ Brick City
3 @ Livingston
Amityville continues to face the weakest competition, at least according to opponents' win percentage, but it hasn't helped. The Ant Slayers are running out of time but they do have an extra game to play and have won three straight after losing three in a row last week. Either way, they probably will need quite a bit of help from others to make a run of destiny.
One of the all-time great DMBLers is making the most of his retirement tour through the league. The cornerstone of the controversial yet record-setting Newark Sugar Bears dynasty, Chipper Jones will leave the DMBL among the all-time leaders in virtually every category but triples and stolen bases.
After a sluggish first half, Jones enjoyed an unexpected power surge in the third quarter of the season. Now with 23 home runs, Jones has vaulted up the all-time home run list, becoming the 6th player to reach 450 round-trippers and passing some select company. During a stretch of only about a week or so, the Brick City third basemen passed Sammy Sosa (#9, 446), Vlad Guerrero (#8, 447) and Ken Griffey, Jr. (#7, 448). Number 6 all-time is likely where he'll finish since Philly's Albert Pujols is just too far out of reach at #5, with 484.
Alex Rodriguez is the active leader in home runs. In limited playing
time this season with Las Vegas, A-Rod has slowly snuck up to near
600. The suspected PED user has smacked only 9 home runs this year but
is second all-time with 594, way behind Barry Bonds at 689.
 Earlier in the year, Jones broke the all-time record for most doubles, eclipsing longtime teammate Manny Ramirez, who had 538. Chipper enters the season's final weeks with 562 doubles. In a more recent career milestone a couple weeks ago, Chipper jumped ahead of Manny (1,728) for second place in career RBIs, with 1,732, trailing only Bonds (2,060).
A lock to make the DMBL Hall of Fame once he becomes eligible, Jones won't catch his future HOF colleague Derek Jeter of Marietta for the all-time hits record. He's safely ensconced in second place, more than 200 hits ahead of Guerrero, with 2,809, but several dozen behind Jeter (2,877).
Does anyone want the final, sixth playoff seed? As many as five teams might still have a shot to make the 2013 playoffs but it's almost as if some teams are doing anything they can to avoid it. Three playoff hopefuls have lost anywhere from four to seven games in a row as we head into the season's final two weeks.
Much of the playoff hunt has been set for some time, with the top 5 teams pulling away from the rest of the league in recent weeks. As far as seeding, Las Vegas has caught Philly for the top seed to make things interesting in the final weeks but most of the rest of the playoff dance card seems all but filled out: Hopatcong is on the cusp of clinching the top wild card and Hoboken is just a few games from putting away the Van Slyke Division.
The #6 seed has changed hands about three times in the past week, held at some point by Rowdy and Sardine City, but heading into Sunday's doubleheader this how it looks:
#6 Arkansas, 69-74, --
#7 Rowdy, 68-76, 1 1/2 GB
#8 Sardine City, 67-76, 2 GB
#9 Blue Ridge, 66-78, 3 1/2 GB
#10 Amityville, 64-79, 5 GB
Should the Golden Falcons hold on, it would be their first trip to the postseason since 2006. Rowdy just missed the playoffs last year but participated in 2011 as the Carolina Mudcats, as did Sardine City. Amityville last year secured the 4th seed while Blue Ridge has never made the postseason since joining the league in 2008. The way things are shaking out, whoever makes the playoffs could be the first sub-.500 squad to make the postseason.
Let's take a look at the contenders (who may be hoping to get into the lottery rather than the playoffs):
Arkansas, 69-74
Games remaining: 19 -- 11 road/8 home
Strength of schedule: .541 winning percentage for opponents
- 9 games versus teams with better records, including 7 against top 2 seeds (4 v. Las Vegas, 3 v. Philly)
- 10 games versus teams with worse records (including 5 v. Sardine City).
The Golden Falcons boasted an impressive road record earlier in the season and though it's evened out a bit, they're still 37-33. Could that be a good sign? They're the only team with a losing record that's better than .500 on the road (32-41 at home). They wrap up the year with a five-game road trip: two at Philly and a three-game set at Sardine City which could be a showdown for the 6th seed as the Straphangers currently trail by 3 1/2 games. The teams also meet earlier for two games in Arkansas.
Rowdy, 68-76, 1 1/2 GB
Games remaining: 18 -- 9 road/9 home
Strength of schedule: .601 winning percentage for remaining opponents
- 13 games v. teams with better records (5 v. Hoboken, 4 v. Philly, 2 each v. Las Vegas and Vancouver)
- 5 games v. teams with worse records (including 2 v. Sardine City)
Rowdy lost out on the playoffs in last season's final game and only has two games (v. Sardine City) against teams jockeying for the final spot. The Roddy Pipers are just 1 1/2 games back of the final spot but have lost four in a row and face the most daunting schedule of any playoff contender the rest of the way.
Sardine City, 67-76, 2 GB
Games remaining: 19 -- 9 road/10 home
Strength of schedule: .516 winning percentage for remaining opponents
- 12 games v. teams with better records (including 5 v. Arkansas, 4 v. Vancouver)
- 7 games v. teams with worse records
The five remaining games between Sardine City and Arkansas could have a big impact on who gets the last playoff spot and conversely, who goes into the draft lottery. The Straphangers have to turn it around though after losing six straight.
Blue Ridge, 66-78, 3 1/2 GB
Games remaining: 18 -- 5 road/13 home
Strength of schedule: .441 winning percentage for remaining opponents
- 3 games v. teams with better records (including 2 v. Philly and 1 v. Rowdy, who's just 2 games better)
- 15 games v. teams with worse records
As if winning 14 straight wasn't enough good news, the Bombers have the most home games remaining of any of the playoff contenders. Plus, Blue Ridge faces just one powerhouse opponent (Philly) the rest of the way, and only Amityville faces a weaker remaining schedule. The Cinderalla story for Blue Ridge could very well continue the rest of the season. The Bombers also enjoy three off days this week before playing their final 14 games.
Amityville, 64-79, 5 GB
Games remaining: 19 -- 11 road/8 home
Strength of schedule: .438 winning percentage for remaining opponents
- 4 games v. teams with better records (2 v. Hopatcong and 2 v. Rowdy)
- 15 games v. teams with worse records (5-game trip to end season; 2 v. Brick City, 3 v. Livingston)
The Ant Slayers have been in a downward spiral this week but if any team in the playoff hunt has an opportunity to turn things around -- and quickly -- it's Amityville. They face just one team with a winning record in their final 19 games (Hopatcong) and the only other team with a better record is Rowdy, who's only 3 1/2 games better.
It will be a year full of milestones if Todd Helton keeps this up. On Tuesday night, the longtime DMBLer became the sixth player in league history with 2,000 games played, and now only two other players stand ahead of him in career doubles.
 Helton, drafted by the Hoboken Cutters in the 7th round this year, smacked two doubles in Monday night's win over Marietta, passing Edgar Martinez to move into third all-time. He started the year tied for sixth with Barry Bonds (487), and also passed Ivan Rodriguez (490) along the way. The only players left ahead of Helton are Chipper Jones (535), who is chasing Manny Ramirez (538).
A career-high 63 doubles in 2001 -- his first with Stanhope/Marietta -- kicked off a stretch of eight straight seasons of at least 38 doubles. That stretch also included eight out of nine seasons with at least 159 games played.
Helton has but one home run so far this year, 286 for his career, good for 26th all-time, although he recently was passed by current teammate Miguel Cabrera. The lefty slugger also overtook Jeff Bagwell (2,047) for 13th in career hits, and moved into 15th all-time in RBIs, passing Jim Edmonds (1,129), as he tries to compile a Hall Of Fame resume.
Derek Jeter recaptured the all-time hits record just days into the 2013 season, overtaking Vladimir Guerrero, who caught the Marietta shortstop late last season.
 Jeter had one hit in the season opener against Bridgewater to reach 2,700 hits. He then collected two more hits in the 19-inning nightcap of the opening day doubleheader to match Guerrero at 2,702 hits.
The 2,703rd hit of Jeter's career was an infield single to short off lefty reliever Luis Avilan in the eighth inning of Friday night's 5-3 loss at Hoboken.
It was just a year ago that Jeter tied Barry Bonds for first all-time in career hits, before surpassing Bonds during Passover. Looming not far behind, however, was Guerrero, who surpassed Jeter with a strong finish to end the 2012 season.
Chipper Jones of Newark (now Brick City) announced his final season will be 2013 and enters the year third all-time in hits, with 2,671, barely 30 behind Guerrero and Jeter. Alex Rodriguez, who came over to Las Vegas from Hopatcong in the offseason, is the only other active player in the top 10, with 2,567 hits, starting this year just eight hits behind Bonds.
Jeter began his 17th season in Marietta this year, averaging 169 hits per season. He entered the year first all-time with 2,420 games played -- an average of 142 games per year. He has never played fewer than 101 games (2011) and that was an abberation because he's played at least 150 games 13 times, and a full 162 games three times.
If it's the last that the DMBL will see of Chris Carpenter he certainly went out in a blaze of glory.
Carpenter, who will turn 38 later this month, recently said he fears that he may never pitch again after continuing symptoms from a blot clot in his shoulder. And don't confuse him for the soon-to-be 48-year-old Cris Carpenter, whose career consisted of eight relief appearances in 1993 with Austin.
 Carpenter arguably saved his best seasons for last, tasting postseason glory in two of his final three years. He was on the mound in Game 7 to clinch the Bridgewater's first title in 2010, striking out 10 and walking two while going the distance to secure a 7-1 win over Newark. Marietta's rotation was so stacked last season that he didn't make an appearance in the Mighty Men's four-game sweep of Vancouver in the DMBL World Series.
The New Hampshire native pitched nine seasons across 13 years in the DMBL. He broke in with Columbia as the first pick of the fifth round in the 1999 draft. He spent two seasons there (only 34 starts) before a brief three-game stint with Philly in 2001. After few years off, Carpenter came back strong in 2005 when Tijuana made him its first-round selection (11th overall, after Khalil Greene and before Danny Kolb). He made the move with the franchise to South Boston, and won a career-high 17 games in 2006 before splitting 2007 between South Boston and Vancouver. The Gang dealt him straight up to the Iron First for Prince Fielder.
Then, Carpenter was hit with the injury bug again, taking off 2008 and 2009 before finishing his career with a flourish. Bridgewater (which still played in D.C. at the time) wisely plucked Carpenter in Round 7 of the 2009 draft as an ineligible player, since he was still recovering from Tommy John surgery. He returned in glorious fashion, going 16-10 with career bests of 3.59 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and nine complete games, in leading them to the postseason.
 After bringing Bridgewater its first championship, Carpenter was dealt to Marietta in a complex, three-way deal involving Las Vegas, which included the likes of Josh Hamilton, David Price, Mark Teixeira and Alex Gordon, among others.
Carpenter made his name as a gutty workhorse in the clutch, eclipsing 200 innings in his last three seasons, including a career-high 234.3 (and career-high 179 Ks) in 2011 with the Mighty Men. Over his career, he averageD one complete game every eight starts; his 26 complete games (along with seven shutouts) rank in the top 20 all-time, in just 221 career starts (11.75 percent CG %). His seven shutouts ties him for 20th all-time, with seven other pitchers, including several still active.
Carpenter is 88-73 (.537), which ranks him about 30th in all-time wins, tied with Jason Schmidt, one better than Hideo Nomo and Henderson Alvarez, and one behind David Wells. He posted six winning seasons and lost precisely 10 games in four different seasons (only one of which was under .500). Interestingly, Nomo was the last pick of the 4th round in 1999, by Arkansas, just before Carpenter. He has a career ERA of 4.67 ERA and WHIP of 1.39.
Hall of Fame? Not quite. Damn fine career? You bet!
The Opening Day cuts always seem to attract the vultures, as a lot of teams' castoffs are quickly redistributed around the league. But one team seemed to feed the vultures more than others, and that team is the newly christened Brick City Batmen.
The Batmen, formerly the Newark Sugar Bears, were one of a handful of teams that maxed out their rosters in the draft. Former owner Craig Garretson was notorious for often making the final draft pick every season. So right from the start, the Batmen had a large number of cuts to make. But two days before Opening Day, Brick City signed three additional players, forcing them to make 13 total cuts. Let's take a look at who got scooped up:
The number 1 target of the Batmen castoffs was Clay Buchholz. Buchholz was claimed by 5 teams, finally ending up on Philadelphia. Buchholz debuted in 2010 with Blue Ridge and then was traded twice in 2011, ending up with Hoboken. Buchholz was only moderately successful in the DMBL, owning a 19-19 career record with a 4.24 ERA and 1.38 WHIP, but is still only 28 and has some upside.
Next, Amityville claimed 27-year old pitcher Jake Arrieta. Arrieta had a disastrous season for Livingston last year (4-15, 5.90) but the Ant Slayers see some potential in him. It's doubtful that we will see Arrieta in the DMBL this season though.
Marietta, who was denied in their claim for Buchholz, settle for 26-year-old Ivan Nova. Nova had a solid rookie season for St. Louis last season (13-9, 4.63). Marietta plans to send Nova to the minors, however, and re-examine him next season.
Blue Ridge was busy scraping the bottom of the waiver barrel. The Bombers earlier snagged Andrew Miller from Hillsborough's scrap heap. That same day, they also grabbed rookie right-hander Zach McAllister from Brick City. McAllister has already been sent down to Blue Ridge's farm team, but may resurface if the Bombers need a spot starter or if injuries hit.
Hoboken claimed ineligible pitcher Jeff Niemann, who started his DMBL career with the Cutters back in 2010. Niemann has yet to have a successful season though, owning a career 11-26 record to go along with a disastrous 6.39 ERA.
Finally, the Sardine City Straphangers grabbed promising right-hander Andrew Cashner. Cashner holds some potential to become a starting pitcher, but will start the year pitching relief for the Sardines' AAA team. Cashner missed much of the previous season with an injury and will attempt to recover arm strength in the bullpen. Whether he'll see any action with the big club remains to be seen.
So who didn't get claimed? Outfielder Gerardo Parra could get some looks later when teams are in need of an outfielder. Rookie Lucas Harrell could find a role when injuries hit someone's pitching staff. Nate Eovaldi and Jordan Lyles are young enough that a team may stash them for the future. Other teams looking for a comeback player may take a chance on Gavin Floyd, Bud Norris or J.A. Happ.
We all know spring training numbers don't matter. For instance, Adam Dunn of Las Vegas would project to 81 doubles and 81 walks in 2013, based on his spring training appearances (he was 1-for-1 with a double and a walk in just two games). But even the limited 30 games this spring can offer some small window into what can be expected during the 2013 regular season.
BATTING
Blue Ridge's Andrew McCutcheon could be a leading candidate for the Mitch in 2013, based on his spring. The centerfielder powered a big Bombers offense, leading the league in slugging (.602), total bases (74) and tied for home runs (9), and finished second to Ryan Braun in RBIs with 29. He was among three Bombers in the top 10 in runs scored. Braun, the Sardine City slugger, led the league in RBIs with 31 and also tied McCutcheon for the league lead in home runs.
Amityville's Andre Ethier also put up an impressive spring, with a line .315/.371/.584, whacking eight doubles and scoring 20 runs.
Five players, including two Boston Baked Beans, hammered eight homers to finish second: Mark Trumbo and Pedro Alvarez, Bridgewater's Carlos Beltran, Evan Longoria of Sardine City and Hillsborough rookie Chris Carter (who had a league-high 30 strikeouts).
Philly's Roger Bernadina played over his head almost all spring and lost the "batting title" in the final days to Livingston rookie Yasmani Grandal (.340), whose teammate Coco Crisp led the league in steals (8). Luis Cruz
was another Endzone Animal who played above his head, finishing second
in the batting race at .336, while smacking 14 doubles. He crushed lefties
(1.128 OPS) and held his own versus righties (.762).
Livingston shortstop Ian Desmond owned the longest hit streak of the spring, at 17 games, one better than Amityville's Howie Kendrick. Melky Cabrera of Arkansas led the league in hits with 45 while 2011 Mitchell Award winner Joey Votto of Hopatcong scored a league-high 28 runs. Both batted .331 to tie for fourth.
FIRST ROUNDERS, ROOKIES
 Grandal was among the bright spots among those picks in the early rounds of the 2013 draft. Will Middlebrooks repaid Hillsborough's faith for moving up to snag him with the second overall pick. If there were spring training rookie of the year candidates, he'd be among them, hitting .302 and slugging .540 while leading all rookies in RBIs with 26 -- third in the league -- and seven homers. He also was among the league leaders in hits and total bases while playing full-time at third base.
On the down side of the first round: Hopatcong's Brandon Moss, chosen third overall, struggled mightily, hitting just .159/.203/.246 with 25 strikeouts and 4 walks in 23 games. Fellow first-rounder Jed Lowrie didn't fare much better, hitting .173/.287/.280 while getting most of the ABs in Hoboken at shortstop. Like most of the first-rounders, Allen Craig, selected after Moss by Amityville, had a modest spring, with a line of .276/.339/.419. He did slug .577 against left-handed pitching.
Playing primarily first base against right-handers, Matt Carpenter, the first of the Las Vegas Rat Pack's two first-round picks, sported a line of .253/.387/.360. Perhaps most impressive for the 10th overall pick were his 17 walks against nine strikeouts. It was the polar opposite of Rowdy's first round selection, (eighth overall) Chris Davis, who had 28 strikeouts and 4 walks. It was night and day for the Roddy Pipers' first basemen, mashing left-handers (1.011 OPS) but certainly not righties (.528 OPS). The last first-rounder, Vancouver's Wade Miley, was solid in three starts (3.63 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 0-2) but was outshined by teammate Jacob Turner, taken several rounds later, who turned in a stellar spring: 1.27 ERA, 1-1, and 1 shutout in 4 starts.
Todd Frazier, taken 15th overall by Blue Ridge, showed some pop, slugging four homers and seven doubles, which contributed to a line of .259/.296/.509 while manning third base in all 30 games. Justin Ruggiano, the 13th overall selected, played right field for Philly most of this spring, hitting a respectable .278/.333/.436.
Rookie Anthony Rizzo wasn't selected in this year's draft (Arkansas scooped him up last year, with fellow prospect Matt Harvey) but he had an impressive .338/.356/.549 line, primarily against right-handers.
For a look at some of the pitching stars of the 2013 DMBL spring training, see our earlier post.
Will success in what is essentially 30 practice games translate into
wins in the regular season? Who knows, but let's take a look at the 2013
spring training results and see if we can't take away some kind of
predictions for teams and players.
If spring training is
any indication, the four division winners would be Philly, Blue Ridge,
Las Vegas and Rowdy. Hopatcong would settle for a wildcard and the other
wild card would be decided via tiebreaker between Hillsborough and
Amityville.
Philly (21-9) edged out three teams for the best
record, one game better than Las Vegas, Hopatcong, and
Blue Ridge (20-10). Seven teams
finished .500 or better, including three at .500. Livingston and
Marietta brought up the rear, finishing 11-19. A six-game winning streak
by Rowdy to complete spring training saved the Van Slyke division from
having all four squads finish below .500. The coldest teams to conclude
the spring were Hillsborough and Newark, both losing five straight.
Philly
and Las Vegas led the league in runs with 163 (5.4/game) while Newark (which has since changed its name to Brick City Batmen) packed the
weakest punch (98/3.3). On the flip side, Philly and Hopatcong yielded
the fewest earned runs (98/3.3) compared with Sardine City's league-high
(140/4.7). Boston sported the worst run differential at -41, with Bridegewater next at -32.
Some of the biggest names in the league
sat all spring, among them Marietta closer Mariano Rivera and Hoboken
ace Clayton Kershaw. Other big names got a taste of playing time, such as Hillsborough's Justin Verlander and top overall draft pick Kris Medlen of Las Vegas.
PITCHING
 Hopatcong's Jake Peavy
made a case for being a McDonald candidate this spring, leading the
league with a 0.91 WHIP, 8.6 R/9 and 48.3 innings pitched (tied with
Newark rookie Yu Darvish). Peavy, who made all of one start for the Floating Fish last year (the season finale), tied with Philly's Trevor Cahill and Jarrod Parker
of Amityville for the most victories and best record at 5-0. Peavy also
was among the top 10 in ERA (2.98, 7th) and strikeouts (26, T-5th).
Peavy's
competition for best pitcher of the spring came mostly from Parker, who
was tops among starters in ERA (1.54) and also quality starts (6, tied
with Phil Hughes of Blue Ridge). Other impressive performances came from Hopatcong veteran Andy Pettitte, coming back from a year off, who finished 3-1 with a 2.20 ERA, including two complete games and a shutout. Darvish led the league in strikeouts (41) and K/9 (7.6) but also walks (33).
Leading
the league in saves, tied with 12, were Blue Ridge's David Hernandez
and Philly's Ryan Cook, and between them only blew one (Hernandez).
Cook did not allow an earned run -- and only two hits -- in 13.7 innings. Other stellar relievers this spring were Octavio Dotel of Livingston and
Vancouver's Brad Ziegler. Both sported league-best WHIPs of 0.80, along
with respective ERAs of 0.83 and 1.15.
 The Blue Ridge bullpen also saw the top two relievers in holds, Tim Byrdak (7) and Mitchell Boggs (6).
Boston had two of the busiest relievers, with Rafael Soriano tops in
appearances with 20, followed by teammate Greg Holland with 19, who tied
with Bridgewater lefty Robbie Ross. Amityville's Craig Kimbrel looks poised to avoid a sophomore slump,
compiling seven saves in 11 games, with 16 strikeouts in
12.3 innings, good for 11.7 K/9. He also had a sterling 0.73 ERA and
0.65 WHIP.
An impressive bullpen was found in Arkansas where three relievers had ERAs of less than 1.00 ( Casey Fien, Sergio Romo and Drew Storen). Fien was a workhorse, logging 28.7 innings in 17 games, while sporting 0.63 ERA and 0.66 WHIP.
 The Falcons also boasted a triumvirate of impressive rookies in their rotation. Matt Harvey, drafted as an ineligible prospect last year, ranked third in the league with 32 strikeouts, going 3-2 with a respectable 4.50 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. Four of A.J.
Griffin's six starts for Arkansas were considered quality. The first-rounder went 2-4
with a 4.30 ERA and 1.23 WHIP while logging a team-high 44 IP. Second-rounder Alex Cobb was perhaps most impressive, compiling an ERA of 2.52 and 1.23 WHIP, with 3 wins against 2 losses.
Hillsborough kept the reins on Justin Verlander, who made just three starts but six appearances this spring. He had an impressive shutout but his spring totals were hardly Verlander-esque: 5.91 ERA, 1.73WHIP. The Hit Men's first-round selection saw more action but not much success: Lance Lynn compiled a 5.08 ERA and 1.49 WHIP while going 1-2 in six starts.
Even first overall pick Kris Medlen had to shake off some cobwebs this spring, going 1-1 with a mediocre 4.05 ERA but a 1.10 WHIP for Las Vegas. The Rat Pack's
second first-rounder, reliever Huston Street, made 11 appearances with a
3.68 and 1-0 mark.
Next time we'll take a look at the batting stars of spring training and the rest of the 2013 first-rounders.
They say you really can't grade a draft until a few years later but that doesn't stop the gasps and guffaws in the war room that some picks bring. And what better time to review last year's first round selections than on this revered holiday that is draft day. (The asterisk indicates the player was protected this past offseason.)
1. Lucas Duda*, OF, Amityville
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Duda arrived hoping his batting and some
fashion sense rubbed off on the Ant Slayers. |
The Ant Slayers maneuvered up to pry away the top pick from Hopatcong and move up just one slot, for the price of a 2013 second-rounder. Duda had a excellent rookie campaign, bashing 25 home runs and 32 doubles, with 96 RBIs and 90 runs scored (the latter two categories best among rookies). He hit a reasonable .261 while most all of his damage was done against righties, slugging .496, as the Ant Slayers primary first basemen.
Duda finished fourth in the Pat Listach Rookie Of the Year Award voting, earning a 1st-place vote and a 3rd-place vote (6 points). Amityville must still believe in the lefty power bat, protecting him in the offseason, but he's not likely to see action with the big club.
2. Brandon Beachy*, SP, Bridgewater
This pick originally started with Amityville but after a flurry of picks changed hands between the Ant Slayers and Hopatcong and Bridgewater, it was the Mallers who ended up with it. Beachy was impressive, finishing with a team-high 16 wins (leading all rookies) against 7 losses and a sketchy 4.84 ERA and 1.48 WHIP. Still an impressive year, mind you, with 220 Ks in 182.1 innings and 32 starts. Most of his success came in the first half, propelling the rookie into the starting role for the Diamond League all-stars, gaining 10 votes, just ahead of Philly's Roy Halladay, with nine.
Beachy tied for 5th in Listach voting (with Corey Luebke, Al Albuerqueue and Craig Kimbrel, all garnering one 1st-place vote (5 points). He was dealt to Las Vegas in the offseason for a slew of draft picks where he's expected to team with the likely top pick in this year's draft, Kris Medlen.
3. Jemile Weeks, 2B, Newark
The best thing you can say about Weeks was that he led all rookies in at-bats (662) and plate appearance, starting 160 games at 2B for the Sugar Bears. He did pop 36 doubles and collect 181 hits in an otherwise mediocre season that saw him hit .273. Weeks was a 50-50 chances to steal a base: he swiped 18 bags -- but also was caught 18 times! He was pretty aggressive at the plate too, striking out 115 times against just 25 walks.
4. Cory Luebke, SP/RP, Hopatcong
The Floating Fish ended up with the #4 pick after all the jockeying between Amityville and Bridgewater. And they probably couldn't be happier. Luebke turned it on in the second half of the season (10-2, 2.67 ERA, 133 Ks, 104.2 IP) to help Hopatcong to its first-ever division title. He finished the year 13-8 with a 3.74 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and a league-leading 242 strikeouts despite 80 walks in 33 starts, good enough for someone to cast a 1st-place ballot for him in ROY voting. Unfortunately, it must have all taken a toll on the lefty because he will miss the 2013 DMBL season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
5. Philip Humber, SP, Arkansas
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Maybe he didn't duplicate his no-no but
Humber had a quality year for the Golden Falcons. |
Humber flew under the radar much of the year as Beachy, Luebke and others garnered the spotlight, but led all rookies in decisions, going 15-13, with a 4.21 ERA and 1.39 WHIP and logging 220 innings in 32 starts for the Golden Falcons. It wasn't enough to make a ROY ballot, but a successful season nonetheless, the only Arkansas starter to post a .500 record and leading the squad in wins. Someone did recognize his success, casting a 3rd-place vote for him in ROY balloting.
6. Vance Worley, SP, Blue Ridge
Worley was much in the same boat as Humber: not the stellar season of others, but quality for the Bombers. He went 12-10 with a solid 4.19 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. He had more wins than rookie teammate Jeremy Hellickson (11), but Hellickson like many of last year's ROY candidates was drafted as a prospect the previous year. Worley was rewarded with 4 votes on the all-star ballot, falling short of making the team.
7. Brandon McCarthy*, SP, Newark
McCarthy original broke in with Vancouver in 2006 as a second-round pick and then took a few years off., bouncing around reserve lists before getting tapped by the Sugar Bears. He finished with a rather pedestrian record at 10-8, despite a 3.57 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. He also got some love in all-star voting, with 4 ballots, but fell short. He logged 189.1 innings in 27 starts fo the Sugar Bears. The pick originally belonged to Marietta
McCarthy was protected but not by Newark. He was dealt to Sardine City in exchange for closer Jason Motte just before the deadline.
8. Emilio Bonifacio, SS, Hillsborough
The speedster was eligible in center as well but made 132 starts for the Hit Men at shortstop. He swiped 16 bags but was caught 12 times and scored 61 runs. He batted .250 with just 16 doubles and same number of triples as home runs -- 4. The switch-hitting Bonifacio was impressive against lefties, hitting .325 with a .392 OBP but struggled versus right-handers, hitting just .224 with an equal .273 in OBP as well as SLG in 362 at-bats.
9. Brett Lawrie*, 3B, Livingston
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Lawrie was ineligible for Livingston
last season anyway, so WTF, why not? |
There are no stats to review for the third-base prospect, since the expansion Livingston franchise went with an ineligible selection for its first-ever draft pick. At a minimum, he's expected to platoon at third base against left-handers.
Unless the franchise -- which changed its name from Last Place to the Lords of Swing since last year's draft -- selects another third basemen today, Lawrie could very well be thrown out to the hot corner in his rookie campaign and just plug away.
10. Ivan Nova, SP, St. Louis
Nova put together a season as good as you could hope for from a rookie starter for an expansion team. He finished 13-9, leading the team in wins, to go along with a 4.63 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. He also made 31 starts, which included two complete games and a shutout, nearly reaching the 200-inning plateau (196.1).
11. John Mayberry, CF/1B, Vancouver
His power numbers were similar in some respects to the top pick, Duda, and even outhomered him by one (26) to lead all rookies in long balls. He also drove in 60 RBIs and scored 63 runs, along with whacking 18 doubles. Overall, he hit .257 and slugged .489, with an OPS of .833.
Mayberry was serviceable against right-handers with a .766 OPS (.239/.342/.424), but was a lefty killer with a .993 OPS (.298/.352/.641), though interestingly, he split his 26 homers evenly between both sides of the plate. He mainly patrolled right field for the Fisters but also saw some spotty time in the corner outfield positions, figuring in 123 games overall.
This pick originally belonged to the Carolina Mudcats (who have since been renamed Rowdy Roddy Pipers), but sent to Vancouver along with a 5th rounder this year in exchange for center fielder Adam Jones.
12. Javier Vazquez, SP, Sardine City
It was a season full of surprises for Vazquez. First, he was taken in the first round pick, then the 35-year-old made the all-star team. Overall, he finished 9-12, tossing 189.3 innings in 31 starts. He logged a 1.22 WHIP and 3.90 ERA. He added to his career numbers, breaking into the top 25 in several all-time categories, including wins, game starts and innings.
He found success in Sardine City, where he fashioned an 8-5 record with a 2.90 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 20 starts (13 quality starts). But it all came apart after he was shipped to Bridgewater in exchange for Doug Fister, who had struggled for the Mallers. What ensued was perhaps the biggest reversal of fortunes in recent memory.
Vazquez went just 1-7 in 11 starts (3 quality) for the Mallers, including a 6.45 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. Meanwhile, Fister twirled 10 quality starts among his 13 starts for the Straphangers, including two shutouts, going 7-3 with a 2.29 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, keeping Sardine City in the playoff hunt until late in the season.
13. Mike Carp, 1B, Vancouver
Carp saw action in the outfield and first base for the Iron Fist but primarily served as the DH during his 44 games in Vancouver. There wasn't much to distinguish his 2012 season: .245/.307/.358, with 3 home runs and 22 RBIs, and it didn't make much difference whether he was facing a left-hander or a righty.
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Marco Scutaro was just pscyhed to remain
with Hoboken this offseason, |
14. Marco Scutaro*, SS, Hoboken
If you had to guess which first-rounder would most likely be protected in the next offseason, it's a safe bet you would not have gone with the 36-year-old journeyman utility infielder. Scutaro had his moments for the Cutters, starting 111 games at shortstop, splitting time in a platoon with Ramon Santiago, who played against lefties. But eventually he lost playing time to J.J. Hardy after he was acquired from Philly in a deadline deal.
Scutaro's overall line wasn't pretty (.233/.287/.328) but he did smack 24 doubles. Most of his success was found against lefties, with an .813 OPS (.329/.356/.457), despite limited action (70 at-bats). This season he's also eligible at 2B.
15. Aaron Crow, RP, Arkansas
The young fireballer struck out 86 batters in 77.1 innings but only managed a 4.89 ERA and a dreadful 1.68 WHIP (thanks to 51 walks). He appeared in 58 games, logging two saves, and going 1-4 for the Golden Falcons.
Philly originally held this pick but handed it over just before the 2012 midseason trade deadline in a blockbuster deal that brought them David Wright and Johan Santana, among others.
16. Josh Collmenter, SP, Hopatcong
After the dust settled in the Hopatcong-Las Vegas-Bridgewater exchange, the Floating Fish ended up with two first-round picks, including the final pick in the round.
Collmenter teamed with Luebke and Josh Tomlin to give the Floating Fish an impressive, if improbable, no-name rotation that rewarded the franchise with a deep run into the playoffs. Collmenter wasn't going to win any award with his numbers but every rotation needs an innings-eater. He was 13-12 despite a 4.47 ERA, and twirled three complete games among his 32 starts. He ranked second on the team in innings pitched (217.1) and had a respectable 1.24 WHIP. Interestingly, three of Hopatcong's starters finished with 13 wins.
So, what say you, a year later, who was the best pick of the 2012 first round? The worst?
Let's take a look at who is eligible for the upcoming 2013 season.
BATTERS
The total number of eligible batters this season is 315, up from 313 last season. Remember, to be eligible as a batter, the player must have at least 250 plate appearances (catchers must have at least 200 plate appearances). A player needs to have at least 10 games at a position to be eligible to play that position in DMBL. Players with at least 10 games played in left field or right field can also play the other corner outfield spot; players who played at least 10 games in center can play anywhere in the outfield. Anyone with 250+ plate appearances can be a Designated Hitter, but a player who didn't have 10 games played at any position can only be used as a DH.
There are 48 eligible catchers this season. Of those, 13 are only eligible as "catcher only" (they have more than 200 plate appearances but less than 250 and therefore can't be used as a DH or at another position even if they had 10 games played there), and five are eligible at catcher and one other position.
So in theory, all 16 teams could have three eligible catchers on the roster this year. By way of comparison, last year we had only 41 eligible catchers, and we did fine.
But this year, catcher isn't the scarcest position. It's shortstop, with only 47 eligible players this season, and of those, 21 are also eligible at another position. Last year there were 51 eligible shortstops.
Breaking down the other positions, there are 63 players eligible at first base, with 33 eligible at one or more other positions; 52 players eligible at second base, including 31 with second and one or more other positions; 58 at third base, with 35 having multiple position eligibility; 58 in center field, with 5 eligible at other positions; and 131 in corner outfield, which includes 23 eligible at other positions (and all 58 center fielders). There are three batters who can only be used at Designated Hitter.
If we ran out of players eligible at a position, what would happen?
The Commissioner's Office would have to invoke the Tom Prince Rule. Under this rule, if no free agents are available who can play a specific position and a team had to fill that position due to an injury (and didn't have another player on its roster able to play that position), the ineligible player with the most plate appearances who has 10 or more games played at that position would become eligible. (If another team dropped an eligible player, the Tom Prince player would automatically be released and that player picked up instead.)
This year's Tom Prince players are:
Catcher: Jose Lobaton, .222/.323/.317 in 197 plate appearances.
First base: Jose Lopez, .246/.270/.356 in 248 plate appearances.
Second base: D.J. LeMahieu, .297/.332/.410 in 247 plate appearances.
Third base: Also Jose Lopez.
Shortstop: Marwin Gonzalez, .234/.280/.327 in 219 plate appearances.
Corner outfield: Lorenzo Cain, .266/.316/.419 in 244 plate appearances.
Centerfield: Also Lorenzo Cain.
PITCHERS
As for moundsmen, there are 395 eligible pitchers this year, including 168 starters, 211 relievers, and 16 pitchers who can be used either as a starter or a reliever. If all 16 teams carried 10 starters, we'd still have eight left over... and that doesn't include the 16 swingmen.
To be eligible as a starting pitcher, a player must have at least 10 games started. To be a reliever, a player must have at least 10 games in relief and either 30+ appearances or 50+ innings pitched.
You've got to feel bad for former Iron Fist pitcher Ben Sheets, who hasn't pitched in the DMBL since 2009. Sheets just missed the cut with 9 starts this year, but with a 3.47 ERA and 1.32 WHIP, maybe someone would have given him a shot! Better luck next year, Ben.
The 395 eligible pitchers includes those relievers who qualified by pitching 50 or more innings. The Wickstrom Rule was adopted a few years ago and gives eligibility to pitchers with at least 10 relief appearances who had 50+ innings pitched, even if they didn't have 30 overall appearances. (For many years, the rule was simply 30 appearances, at least 10 in relief.)
This year, eight pitchers qualify as relievers under the Wickstrom Rule. Four of them would have been eligible as starters, but now are swingmen; the other four wouldn't have been eligible at all, but can now be used as relievers.
The Wickstrom Relievers are: SP/RP Travis Blackley; RP Brett Cecil; SP/RP Josh Collmenter; SP/RP Jeremy Hefner; SP/RP Philip Humber; RP Wade LeBlanc; RP Guillermo Moscoso; and RP Everett Teaford.
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