2020 Ben McDonald Award winner: Lance Lynn

Before this past season, Lance Lynn had registered double-digit losses in five of his six DMBL seasons, including a brutal 15-43 record over three years. The four-time draftee broke out in 2020 after latching on with Sardine City, going 24-6 to help the Straphangers to a 104-win campaign and the commissioner's cup.

Lynn had a tough and winding road through the DMBL but that road led to the apex of his career, winning the 2020 Larry Benard McDonald Award, recognizing the league's most valuable pitcher. The 33-year-old appeared on on 9 of 10 ballots cast, including 7 1st-place votes. He beat out San Francisco's Tyler Glasnow, who led the league in ERA and was the only pitcher to appear on all 10 ballots, including 3 1st-place votes and a high of 4 2nd-place nods.

Tucson rookie Chris Paddack led the league in WHIP and finished 3rd, with the most 3rd-place votes (4). Hopatcong's Stephen Strasburg, the 2018 McDonald Award winner, finished 4th, followed by Mike Minor of Allentown.

			1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	POINTS
1	Lynn, SCS		7	1	1				82
2	Glasnow, SF		3	4	1	1		1	67
3	Paddack, TUC			1	4	2	1	1	36
4	Strasburg,HP			2	2		1	2	28
5	Minor, ALN					3	2	2	15
6	deGrom, LIV			1			3	1	14
7	Greinke, HIL					2	2	1	11
8	Giolito, SCS			1				1	8
	Cole, LIV				1	1			8
10	Soroka, ALN				1				5
11	Ryu, LIV					1			3
12	Verlander, HIL						1		2
13	Yates, ALN							1	1

It's the first McDonald Award for the Sardine City franchise. The best most recent finish for a Straphanger was in 2018, 4th by Corey Kluber, who also finished a distance 6th in 2016.

Last year's winner, Gerrit Cole of Livingston, finished 8th, with a single 3rd-place vote. He tied Lynn's teammate, Lucas Giolito, who secured a 2nd-place vote and a 6th-place vote.

In all, 13 pitchers received support on the 10 ballots cast by DMBL owners. Kirby Yates of Allentown was the only reliever to appear on a ballot, receiving one 6th-place vote.

Sardine City signed Lynn as a free agent before the trade deadline in 2019. Empire City had drafted him in the 4th round of the supplemental draft that year but released him in April before he appeared in a game.

The inglorious stretch of Lynn's career before 2020 included being drafted four different times -- and not just some team taking a flyer on him  in the supplemental round. He was a 1st round pick (9th overall) of Hillsborough in 2013 and then was selected twice in the 2nd round; in 2016 by Blue Ridge (30th overall), and in 2018 by Empire City (22nd overall).

In three seasons after Hillsborough made him a 1st rounder, Lynn went a 3-10, 6-16 and 6-17 (a combined 15-43 in 77 starts!), with ERAs well above 5.00 and 6.00. In his single season with Blue Ridge in 2016, he had what was previously his only winning record, going 9-8 with a 4.30 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 25 starts. After taking a break in 2017, he returned to the DMBL with Empire City, when he had a career-high 10 wins against 13 losses, while sporting a 5.77 ERA in 31 starts.

After signing with Sardine City late in 2019, Lynn showed enough in 11 starts to stick with the Straphangers. Despite a 1-5 mark, he compiled a 3.73 ERA and 1.52 WHIP.

With a career record of 35-69 heading into the season, Lynn's 24 wins in 2020 now comprise 40 percent of his 59 career wins. He improved his career win percentage from .336 (35-69) to .440 (59-75) after 2020.