2022 Ben McDonald Award contenders

As Hot Stove League heats up, it's time for DMBL owners to vote on the 2022 player awards. Let's start with a look at contenders for the Ben McDonald Award, recognizing the league's top pitcher.

Greinke tops Maddux for most starts all-time

Despite a subpar season, Zack Greinke continued to move up the all-time DMBL pitching charts in 2022, toppling Greg Maddux for most career starts all-time and stands on the cusp of 500 heading into next season.

deGrom dominates, nearly perfect

Nearly two months after the first perfect game in DMBL history, Jacob deGrom came within one error of notching the second.

Kershaw moves into No. 2 all-time in strikeouts

Hoboken's Clayton Kershaw moved past Pedro Martinez for No. 2 all time in strikeouts on Monday night, trailing only fellow left-hander Randy Johnson.

Cruz clubs HR No. 400

Nelson Cruz clubbed his 400th career home run, becoming just the 13th player in DMBL history to reach that mark.

Miggy joins 500-HR club

Miguel Cabrera became the 5th player in DMBL history to reach 500 home runs, doing it as a member of the Empire City Trojans after bouncing around the league the past few seasons.

Micro Conference: Outfield

Listen, if you're going to vote for  Micro Conference OF ASG starters, you really can't argue with three straight the long way. The downside is that the ballot only offers 3 choices.

Diamond Conference: Designated hitter

Unlike the Micro Conference where there's a clear leaders of the pack among DH, in the Diamond Conference there seem to be two front-runners with a second tier of contenders that are just behind them.

Micro Conference: Designated hitter

If you're a designated hitter in the Micro Conference not named Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., and you're being honest with yourself, you're probably aiming to be a reserve.

Micro Conference: Third base

It's another horse race for the starting 3B in the Micro Conference. Unlike the Diamond Conference, where there's a clear front-runner, in the Micro, it's a neck-and-neck race, or heavyweight slug fest, depending what your sports metaphor you prefer.

Diamond Conference: Third base

The hot corner in the Diamond Conference is another one of those races for the All-Star Game starter where there's a clear-cut top tier, if not sole front-runner, and then, well, meh.

Micro Conference: Shortstop

Like catcher, shortstop used to be primarily a defensive position with any offense coming out of the 6 hole considered a bonus. That's changed in the past couple of decades although it seems like maybe it's making a comeback with the pedestrian production generally seen at the shortstop position in DMBL this year.

Diamond Conference: Shortstop

The only thing keeping the Diamond shortstop race from being a runaway is eligibility at multiple positions.

Diamond Conference: Second base

It's not all that important when it comes to All-Star ballots but there's something about Diamond 2B that attracts pitches. Edmund Sosa of Arkansas leads the league with 19 HBP already, and within the top 10 in that category are Hopatcong's Josh Harrison (12) and Vancouver's Ty France (11).

Micro Conference: Second base

The keystone in the Micro Conference might be one of the few spots on this year's All-Star squads that could be a no-brainer or even a unanimous pick.

Diamond Conference: First Base

The pool of first base candidates to start the All-Star Game for the Diamond Conference is a bit...shallow this year.

Micro Conference: First Base

First base is typically where you'll find some of the biggest boppers in the league. And in the Micro Conference this year, that's fairly true.

Diamond Conference: Catchers

Catchers have always been known for their defense, not for their offense. It's rare to find catchers among the league leaders in any offense categories - it's been all about defense. 

Micro Conference: Catchers

The 2022 DMBL All-Star Game is nearly here and balloting will begin shortly. Here's a breakdown of some of the contenders at each position.

DeSclafani throws first-ever perfect game

After 26 no-hitters in DMBL history, it wasn't a former Ben McDonald winner or a future Hall of Famer who threw the league's first-ever perfect game but a journeyman who could be mistaken for your local plumber.

Greinke becomes 6th to 200 wins

Zack Greinke became the 6th pitcher in DMBL history to reach 200 wins in Hillsborough's 7-2 victory over Empire City on Wednesday night.

Historic 1st Round run on starters

The 2022 DMBL draft saw a record 11 starting pitchers drafted in the 1st Round -- including an unprecedented 8 in a row -- making for the highest percentage of 1st Round SPs in at least a decade.

2021 Mitchell Award winner: Jose Abreu

For the second consecutive year, and only the fifth time in league history, one franchise has swept the awards honoring the DMBL's top pitcher and batter.

2021 McDonald Award winner: Aaron Nola

In a historic year for pitching, with record strikeouts, ERA and innings, Aaron Nola took home a record 7th Ben McDonald Award for the Vancouver franchise.

2021 Listach Award winner: Ke'Bryan Hayes

Ke'Bryan Hayes lived up to the billing of being a No. 1 overall draft pick and after a putting together a monster season for the Blue Ridge Bombers, easily won the Listach Award as the DMBL's top rookie in 2021.

2021 Mitchell Award contenders

2021 was a wild and wacky year in the DMBL. Expansion brought the league from 16 to 20 franchises and the season was simulated on the 60-game 2020 MLB season, so statistics come with a bit of an asterisk.

2021 Listach Award contenders

The last few season have seen some tremendous rookie performances and not just one-year wonders but first-year players who have gone on to become cornerstones of their franchise.

2022 draft lottery results

In the first year of the league's 20-team field, 12 teams missed the playoffs and entered the 2022 draft.