2019 Playoff MVP

On a team replete with stellar postseason pitching performances, rookie Juan Soto shined in key moments of Livingston's DMBL championship run.

Top-seeded Livingston ousted 4th-seeded Allentown in 6 games in the semi-finals before sweeping No. 2 Hoboken in the finals. It's the first championship in franchise history and Soto becomes the first rookie in DMBL history to be awarded the postseason MVP, and likely the youngest, at 21 years old.

Soto led all hitters in OBP (.476) and ranked second in RBI (9) and hits (14), trailing only Allentown's Mike Trout (10 and 16, respectively). He also was second in batting (.389), behind Philly's Joe Mauer (.474). Trout led in most hitting categories after going a full five games in the 1st round against Philly before falling in 6 games to the eventual champions in the semifinals.

Soto led Livingston with 9 RBI, ahead of Adam Frazier, and finished the postseason with 22 total bases. He found himself in the middle of some rallies but nothing flashy, intentionally walked and scored in a late 3-1 win in Game 4 at Allentown.

Soto made his mark in Game 1 of the finals, slugging both his posteason homers and doubling in another run in a 4-1 win over Hoboken. He did even more in a 10-1 blowout in Game 2, going 4-for-4 with a walk, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. He did most of his postseason damage in Livingston's four-game sweep of Hoboken in the finals:
Game 1: 3-for-4
Game 2: 4-for-4
Game 3: 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored, 8-2 win.
Game 4: 1-for-6, RBI, in an 11-inning clincher, 8-4.

In 10 games overall, Soto batted .389/.476/.611, going 14-for-36 with 2 doubles and 2 HRs. He drove in 9 RBI and scored 7 runs. He rose to the occasion against right-handed pitching, pummeling hurlers with a line of .417/.517/.750, and collecting 10 of his 14 hits.

Livingston's pitching staff was dang near unhittable, with a 1.58 ERA and 0.81 WHIP in 7 quality starts, including 2 combined shutouts.

Starter Hyun-Jin Ryu also garnered consideration for his stellar postseason, going 3-0 (0.47 ERA, 0.67 WHIP), allowing just 1 run across 19 1/3 innings with 19 strikeouts and just 2 walks. Jacob deGrom was a pedestrian 1-1 with a 2.36 ERA and 0.71 WHIP but an absurd 28 strikeouts and just 1 walk in a team-high 26 2/3 innings. He suffered a complete-game 1-0 loss in opening game against Allentown, in which the teams combined for just 5 hits.

Livingston pitchers shutout Allentown over the final 26 innings of their six-game semi-final series after allowing a 1st-inning run in Game 4.

Tucson's Max Scherzer led all pitchers with 38 strikeouts. deGrom and Scherzer, along with Allentown's Miles Mikolas and Clayton Kershaw of Hoboken, started 4 games in the postseason. Livingston closer Blake Treinen appeared in a league-high seven games and tied with Allentown's Brandon Morrow with 4 saves to lead all pitchers.