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.
The Diamond Conference is comprised of Arkansas, Empire City, Hoboken, Hopatcong, Loudon, Newark, Sardine City, San Francisco, Tucson, and defending champion Vancouver.
Rafael Devers
was the only player every taken No. 1 overall as an ineligible prospect and four years later, the 25-year-old is paying dividends for Arkansas. The lefty-swinging Dominican doesn't just lead Diamond 3Bs in most batting categories but ranks in the league's top 10, including: SLG (.561, 8th), RBI (64, 5th), HR (24, T4th), EBH (44, T6th), TB (175, 9th). On top of all that, he has a league-high 10 intentional walks. While Devers isn't in the top 10, he tops Diamond 3B in RC (54.7) and RC/27 (6.2).
Prime competition for the 3B starter might come from Tucson's Nolan Arenado. He matches Devers for with 50 runs scored, ranking 1st among Diamond 3B, and while Arenado doesn't actually lead the group in any particular category, he does find himself trailing only Devers in most, hitting 19 HR and 43 RBI in traditional categories, with 19 doubles. Beyond that, there's a rag tag bunch of sleepers and assorted utility players who've fashioned decent campaigns at 3B this season.
Vancouver utility man Josh Rojas has made 45 of his 72 starts 3B but also logged 21 games in the OF with a few more at 2B and SS. And he's done it while leading this group in OBP (.365) and is second to Devers in RC/27 (6.0) and right behind Arenado in RC (41.7), RBI (41) and other categories. Teammate Ramon Urias has split time at 3B and SS but still has the best batting average (.289) among Diamond 3B and his 5.2 RC/27 would rank 3rd. Newark rookie Santiago Espinal leads the group in hits (91), just ahead of Hopatcong's Gio Urshela (89), as well as doubles (23).
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