2023 Ben McDonald Award winner: Justin Verlander

In the long and storied history of the franchise, Marietta had never had a player win the Kevin Mitchell Award or Ben McDonald Award, despite three titles on its shelves. In its 28th and final season in the DMBL, that changes.

Justin Verlander won the franchise's first Ben McDonald Award, a unanimous selection, appearing 1st on each of the 9 ballots submitted from among the DMBL's 20 franchise owners. Each ballot has six players, with a point system of 10-7-5-3-2-1.

Since entering the DMBL in 1996, Marietta won three league championships: 2009 and 2012 along with a 2000 title when the team played in Jerusalem. The franchise also boasts three Eck Awards thanks to Mariano Rivera but nary a McDonald or Mitchell Award.

Verlander also won in 2012 when he was with Hillsborough, joining an elite club of only 4 pitchers to win more than one Big Ben and the 11-year stretch between the awards is easily the longest among the quartet:

• Greg Maddux, VAN, 1996, 1997, 1998
• Pedro Martinez, ARK, 1999, 2000, 2006
• Johan Santana, PHI, 2005, 2007

A league-best 18 wins and 1.98 ERA title made the soon-to-be 41-year-old a runaway winner, finishing with 90 points, and making it a race for 2nd place. That went to Shohei Ohtani of Poovey Farms, who collected 37 points. He was the only other player to appear on all 9 ballots, securing 4 3rd place votes, the most of any candidate, along with 1 2nd place vote and a pair of 4th and 5th place nods.

	Ben McDonald Award	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	PTS
1	Justin Verlander, MAR	9						90
2	Shohei Ohtani, POO		1	4	2	2		37
3	Brandon Woodruff, TUC		2	2	1		1	28
4	Max Scherzer, TUC		1	2	2	1		25
5	Alek Manoah, RCK		1	1	3			21
6	Spencer Strider, HIL*		2			1		16
7	Gerrit Cole, LIV		1			2	1	12
8	Daniel Bard, SCS		1				1	8
9	Aaron Nola, VAN					1	1	3
-	Jacob deGrom, LIV				1			3
11	Zac Gallen, ARK					1		2
-	Kevin Gausman, TUC						2	2
13	Sandy Alcantara, ARK						1	1
14	Edward Cabrera, ERI*						1	1

* denotes rookie

Tucson's Brandon Woodruff finished 3rd with 28 points, holding off teammate Max Scherzer, who had 25 points. Woodruff appeared on 6 ballots, nabbing 2 2nd and 2 3rd place votes to go with a 4th and 6th place ballot. Scherzer garnered a 2nd place vote, a pair of 3rd and 4th place nods, in addition to a 5th place ballot.

Rockland's Alek Manoah has the most 4th place ballots (3) of any candidate, and with a 2nd and 3rd place vote, he garnered 21 points in all to finish 4th. Spencer Strider of Hillsborough, the Listach Award winner, was the top rookie in voting, finishing with 16 points on the strength of 2 2nd place ballots and 1 5th place vote. The only other rookie to receive support was Edward Cabrera of Erie who grabbed 1 6th place vote, and along with Sandy Alcantara of Arkansas, finished with 1 point.

Finishing 7th in voting was a pitcher who has finished 1st before: Gerrit Cole of Livingston garnered 12 points behind 1 2nd place vote, a pair of 5ths and 1 6th place vote. Sardine City closer Daniel Bard, the Eck Award winner and co-league leader in saves, was the only reliever to receive support. He garnered 8 points behind a 2nd place vote and 1 6th place nod.

Former McDonald Award winners Aaron Nola of Vancouver and Jacob deGrom of Livingston, last year's honoree, each finished with 3 points to tie for 9th but in different fashion. Nola received 2 ballots, a 5th and 6th, while deGrom received a single 4th place vote. Others receiving votes included Zac Gallen of Arkansas, 1 5th place nod, and Tucson's Kevin Gausman, 2 6ths, to finish with 2 points each.