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. 

Let's have a look at the potential candidates to start the DMBL All-Star Game for the Diamond Conference. The Diamond Conference is comprised of Arkansas, Empire City, Hoboken, Hopatcong, Loudon, Newark, Sardine City, San Francisco, Tucson, and defending champion Vancouver

CATCHER

Like the Micro Conference, there's quite an assortment of contenders for the Diamond's starting catcher post.

At first glance, Salvador Perez of Arkansas looks like a shoo-in. Last year's reserve for the Diamond Conference leads all catchers with 21 HR, tied for 5th in the DMBL, and his .550 SLG ranks 9th in the league, and 11.9 AB/HR is 3rd -- all tops among catchers. Defensively, he also has a league-high 671 putouts and 686 total chances, 71 games and 64 starts, right behind EP rookie Tyler Stephenson (65) for the league lead. Among Diamond backstops, he's in or near the lead in most every category, ranking 1st in runs (39) and total bases (137) by a wide margin.

Newark's catching platoon might provide some stiff competition. In 53 starts, Mitch Garver has whacked 27 doubles, which not only leads all catchers but is second only to Hillsborough CF Bryon Buxton. His 39 extra base hits (EBH) lead all catchers and he's first among Diamond backstops with 43 RBI, 42.7 RC and 7.8 RC/27. He also provides a glamorous .283/.353/.586 slash line.

Sardine City's Omar Narvaez is likely to join Perez and Garver as the only Diamond catchers with more than 40 RBI as the break. He leads the conference backstops in batting at .316 and hits (66) and is not far behind the the competition in RC (38.1). He trails only Perez within the conference with 57 starts. One drawback might be his league-high 25 stolen bases in 56 starts.

Jason Castro leads Hoboken with 13 HR, which only trails Perez among Diamond Conference backstops, but his .214 batting average could hurt despite a .355 OBP and .464 SLG.

Other candidacies could face challenges because of time lost to injury and small sample sizes. Loudon's Yasmani Grandal looks impressive with 10 HR and a sterling .255/.400/.497 but in only 45 starts. He's not the only one who lack counting stats but has had an impressive 1st half otherwise.

Carson Kelly, the other half of Newark's platoon, flashes an impressive line of .295/.380/.505 but it's come in limited action. His 7.0 RC/27 is among the best in the Diamond Conference but only 26 starts hurt his counting categories: 5 HR, 17 RBI and 20 R. Same goes for Loudon's platoon, Sean Murphy, splitting time with Grandal. Murphy's .381 OBP and .898 OPS ranks with any other catcher but it's been in only 26 starts behind the plate.

Last year's All-Star starter, Will Smith of Vancouver, looks like a potential candidate, with 12 HRs, 23 RBI and 30 R. But his ugly slash line of .188/.295/..418 will take some time to get over for any potential voters.