2025 Mitchell Award contenders

A heated rivalry is budding among two DMBL batters when it comes to the Kevin Mitchell Award.

Sardine City's Aaron Judge, the two-time defending Mitchell Award winner, and Shohei Ohtani of Poovey Farms, seemed locked in a battle atop many of DMBL's batting categories in 2025 and each led their respective teams to the postseason. So, is the 2025 Mitchell Award just a two-man race? Maybe, but maybe not.

The Kevin Mitchell Award recognizes the league's top batter. The DMBL's 20 owners are invited to submit an awards ballot, which features six spots on a points system of 10 for 1st place, 7 for 2nd place, 5-3-2-1. 

Let's have a look at a dozen candidates who might be worth a look on your ballot:

Aaron Judge, CF, Sardine City: .297/.437/.636/1.072

The two-time defending Mitchell Award winner is as good a place as any to start. Especially since he has a perfectly reasonable chance to do something no one's ever been able to do in DMBL: Win three straight Mitchell Awards. The Sardine City stalwart won it in 2023 with all but 2 1st place votes and was even closer to an unanimous winner in 2024, missing by just 1 1st place ballot.

Judge, 33, was all over the DMBL leaderboard, powering the league's top offense (785 runs, 4.84/game). He added another home run title (52), one more than Jose Ramirez of Blue Ridge, this year and topped all batters in runs (136), walks (139) -- 20 and 22, respectively, more than Livingston's Juan Soto -- OBP (.437), runs created (164.6), total average (1.199), and OPS (1.072). That's 7 categories.

When he wasn't leading the league, he finished 2nd in SLG (.636), RBI (122), extra base hits (91), runs created/27 (10.1), and total bases (372). His 14 intention walks ranked 4 in the league as did his 11.3 AB/HR. Despite batting below .300, Judge (.297) still finished 7th in the batting race. And he did it all in a full slate of 162 starts, all but 1 (LF) in CF. One blemish on his record might be 26 GDP, which was 3rd most in the league. His 14 GWRBI tied for the team lead with Corey Seager.

Only a select few players even have 3 Mitchell Awards much less 3 in a row. After winning two years in a row, Allentown's Mike Trout finished 3rd in 2020 voting, adding to the Mitch he'd already won as a rookie in 2013. (He also finished 2nd to Judge in 2023). There was also Albert Pujols, who won in 2009 and 2010 with Philly before Hopatcong's Joey Votto took home the award in 2011. Barry Bonds of Arkansas was close to winning 4 in a row from 2002-2005 but the streak was broken up in 2003 by Newark's Jim Thome.

For the record, the August 2020 deal that brought Judge from Empire City to the Straphangers included Jacob Stallings and cost Sardine City OF Alex Verdugo, C Victor Caratini, SP Sixto Sanchez, and 1st and 10th rounders in 2021 (the 1st turned into OF Tommy Pham, 19th overall, and the 10th was 2B Garrett Hampson, 199th overall). 

Shohei Ohtani, DH, Poovey Farms: .316/.389/.635/1.023

Perhaps the only one standing between Judge and his 3rd straight Mitchell Award is Shohei Ohtani. He's been chasing Judge for at least a year, finishing 2nd in Mitchell voting, keeping Judge from being a unanimous winner in 2024.

Ohtani also didn't miss a game, leading the league's 2nd most potent offense, trailing only Sardine City, with 775 runs scored (4.78/game). All of his plate appearances came at DH. Could that cost him with voters? We'll see.

The 31-year-old from Japan led all batters in 4 categories: 203 hits, 145 RBI -- 22 more than Judge --  96 EBH, and 408 TB. His 163.3 RC were 2nd only to Judge. He also finished 3rd in DMBL in  HR (49), runs scored (113), batting (.316), SLG (.635), and RC/27 (9.7, tied with Allentown's Kyle Tucker). Ohtabni ranked 4th in both total avearge (1.121) and OPS (1.023), while his .389 OBP tied for 6th in the league (with Blue Ridge's Joc Pederson), and 13.1 AB/HR were 7th. Also on his resume are 11 triples, tied for 5th among all batters, along with 36 doubles and 21-6 on SB. His 18 GWRBI were among the most in DMBL.

Ohtani is in rarefied air when it comes to his league-leading 408 total bases. Only 5 times has anyone eclipsed 400 total bases (and two of those were in the pandemic-impacted 2021 season). If that season is excluded, all 3 times it's occurred that batter has won the Mitch. Ohtani matched Trout, who had 408 TB when he won in 2018. The other two were Pujols with 448 in 2010 and San Francisco's Hanley Ramirez with 414 in 2014. 

Kyle Tucker, OF, Allentown: .279/.403/.626/1.029

While it may be a two-man race for the Mitch, Tucker is doing his best to get attention.

Tucker led all batters in K/BB (0.9), AB/HR (10.0), and IW (19, tied with El Paso's Jarren Duran). Not the sexiest categories but two stints on the IL likely depressed his counting stats a bit. He made 133 games in RF for the Mules. Still, he finished 5th overall in RC (124.6).

If Tucker is going to make his case for the Mitch, it could be pointing to the 9.7 RC/27, which matched Ohtani for 3rd in DMBL, along with a .403 OBP that was only bested by Judge. The sweet-swinging lefty also finished 3rd in OPS (1.029) and BB (98).

Tucker's 103 RBI were good for 8th in DMBL while his 46 HR ranked 4th. He also added a nifty 11-2 on SBs. Odds are that he should improve on his lone 5th place vote last year.

Matt Wallner, OF, Hoboken: .285/.399/.661/.1.060

Wallner is all over the percentage categories thanks to his strong side platoon although his counting stats might be a little light because of his 116 starts and only 529 plate appearances (only a few dozen more than needed to qualify). It was enough to qualify for percentage categories but his counting stats might be a little light for some tastes.

He made one brief trip to the IL but he also started the season in a strong-side platoon before getting the job full time. Still, he only made 116 OF starts. So while his counting numbers might be a little lower than others, he managed to lead the DMBL in SLG (.661) and RC/27 (10.3), and ranked 2nd in OPS (1.060) and AB/HR (10.6), and 3rd in OBP (.399).

The 42 HR were 7th in the league and his 83 EBH ranked 4th thanks to 41 doubles. No one had more EBH v. RHP (80). Despite only 116 starts, Wallner managed to tie for most HBP (22) in the DMBL with Allentown's Victor Robles, who compiled as many in 148 starts.

Jose Ramirez, 3B, Blue Ridge: .287/.339/.560/.899

Ramirez might be the Energizer bunny of the DMBL. He's been a model of consistency and just keeps going and going, racking up HRs and RBIs at a torrid clip for years, and he hardly seems to miss a game. Only once in his 9 DMBL seasons has he played fewer than 159 games (and that was 121 games in 2020). Yet he hasn't received a Mitchell vote since finishing 7th in 2021. He finished 3rd with Philly in 2018.

Ramirez (51) and Judge (52) were the only players to reach 50 HRs this year. That was a career high for Ramirez, who previously reached 42 in 2021. Only two players collected more hits (190) and he ranked 4th across 3 categories: RBI (121), runs scored (108), and RC (125.6). His 370 total bases were 3rd, just behind Judge.

He ranked 6th in AB/HR (13.0), 9th in OPS (.899), 8th in SLG (.560), and 10th in RC/27 (6.9) and total average (.905). Ramirez tied for 7th in EBH (78) with teammate Brent Rooker. And in case you didn't notice, he also was 16-6 on SB attempts, which matched a career high (he went a perfect 16-0 in 2022 with Philly).

The 33-year-old Dominican didn't miss a game again this year, primarily playing 3B (145) with a smattering at DH (17). His 18 GWRBI were among the league's leaders. He also added a 15-game hit streak, tied for 7th longest in the league this season.

Brent Rooker, OF, Blue Ridge: .292/.367/.561/.927

Maybe it's because he hits in a lineup with Jose Ramirez, or he doesn't have the track record of others but big burly Brent Rooker quietly had a monster year, comparable to his teammate. In several categories, they tied or were back to back among the league's top 10. He finished 3rd in RBI (122) and 6th in SLG (.561), just ahead of Ramirez and tied him with 78 EBH (7th). He also beat out his teammate in RC (131.2), ranking 3rd overall -- behind only Ohtani and Judge -- and finished 4th in TB (355) just behind Ramirez.

Rooker finished 5th in DMBL in 3 categories: hits (185), runs (103) and HR (45), hits (185), and runs (103) playing in a potent Blue Ridge offense that ranked 4th in the league with 744 runs (4.59/game) and added Joc Pederson and eventual batting champion Jose Iglesias at the trade deadline. He also found himself in the top 10 in OBP (.367, 10th) as well as 6th in RC/27 (7.6), total average (.941), and OPS (.927), and 9th in AB/HR (14.1).

He also finished 10th in strikeouts (203) with two other players. Ryan McMahon of Mountain Top and Hopatcong's Ian Happ. Rooker had a lone vote in last year's balloting so he's not coming entirely out of nowhere. He didn't miss a game while playing primarily LF (131) and some DH (31). 

Joc Pederson, DH, Blue Ridge/Arkansas/Florida: .274/.389/.602/.991 

Acquired during the season, Pederson may be another under-the-radar Mitchell contender because he played for three teams across 2025. He was a revelation for Blue Ridge, hitting .287/.400/.643/1.043 in 44 games for an astounding 9.5 RC/27. But 2025 didn't start that way for him. After 44 games with Florida, the Stingrays tired of his .206/.314/.504 (but decent 5.8 RC/27) and released him. Arkansas picked him up and he promptly found his stroke, hitting .320/.441/.647 over 51 games (11.8 RC/27!), so they flipped him to the Bombers at the deadline.

Pederson actually ended up leading the Bombers in sevearl categories, just ahead of Rooker and Ramirez, and strangely ranked 5th across the league in those: SLG (.602), RC/27 (8.9), OPS (.991), and total average (1.073). He tied with fellow DH-only Shohei Ohtani for 6th in OBP (.389).

Pederson finished 10th in HR (39) though his other combined counting stats fall short of other candidates (85 runs, 78 RBI, a meager 19 doubles, and 257 TB). He did finish 3rd in AB/HR (10.9), which improved at each stop (11.9, 11.7, 9.5). Combined, Pederson appeared in 139 games but just 118 starts, on par with Matt Wallner.

Corey Seager, SS, Sardine City: .272/.324/.529/.853

If you're looking for a big bopper who also plays a key position, you can't go wrong with Seager, who made 146 starts at SS. But he also may be another guy who gets overshadowed at times because of a teammate, in this case Judge, but he's also like Ramirez in that he's been putting up numbers of years now. Seager tied for 5th in voting last year and also as far back as 2017.

Last season, he matched Wallner for 7th in the league with 42 HR and tied with Judge for most HR vRHP (40). Seager finished 5th among all batters with 120 RBI.

Seager's 13.7 AB/HR is right there with Rooker and Ohtani, good for 8th in DMBL. Like Ramirez, he also sported a 15-game hit streak. 

Victor Robles, CF, Allentown: .321/.383/.470/.853

If we're going to decimal points, Robles missed out on the batting title by a fraction. Technically, his .321 average was a shade behind Jose Iglesias, who did it with Blue Ridge and Arkansas.

Robles led the league in batting vRHP (.341) and his 159 hits vRHP were 2nd only to Luis Arraez of Florida. He also topped DMBL with 59 doubles, an incredible 53 (almost 90 percent of them) vRHP. He also led the league in BABIP (.400), just ahead of Wallner (.392). 

Robles may only have had 8 HR and 64 RBI but he was a table-setter and those guys can often get overlooked. He ranked 8th in OBP (.383) and his 91 runs were just outside the league's top 10 (Sardine City's Christian Yelich and Freddie Freeman of Poovey Farms tied for 9th with 98 runs). 

Robles helped make stolen bases sexy again, leading the league with 55, just ahead of Vancouver's Xavier Edwards (53), but far ahead of the field (Ronald Acuna, Jr., was 3rd with 34). The duo tied for 7th in the league in hits (183). He also added 11 intentional walks, tied for 8th in the league. He also ranked 8th in RC/27 (7.1), just ahead of Yordan Alvarez (7.0) and Jose Ramirez (6.9).

Juan Soto, OF, Livingston: .248/.366/.498/.865

Soto's power surged this season with 39 HR tied for 10th in the league with Mookie Betts and Joc Pederson though he finished with just 82 RBI because he was always at the top of the lineup. and why not, he 

The sultan of swing ranked 2nd in the league in walks (117) and runs (116), led the DMBL in plate appearances (749), and tied for 3rd in K/BB (1.3), being the sparkplug for the league's 3rd-best offense. Soto ranked 7th in RC (122.9) while not missing again, with 117 starts in OF and the rest at DH.

The 2019 DMBL Series MVP was a strong Mitchell contender in 2021 (3rd), and in 2022 (4th) and received a single 5th place vote in 2023, finishing tied for 11th (with Nolan Arenado of Tucson and Alex Bregman, who split time that year between El Paso and Erie).

Mookie Betts, 2B/OF, Livingston: .280/.355/.533/.888

Eligible all over the diamond, Betts primarily played 2B (125 starts) with some time in LF (36 starts) and a lone cameo at SS but he hit like a true slugger: 39 HR (T10th), 102 RBI (9th), and 100 runs (7th), along with finishing 5th in both EBH (81) and TB (346).

He also was 10th (with Mountain Top's Yordan Alvarez) with 182 hits, as well as OPS (.888). His 121.6 RC ranked 8th and he matched Judge for 6th overall in K/BB (1.4). His 11 GWRBI tied for the team lead with Max Muncy and Jazz Chisholm.

Bobby Witt, Jr., SS, Hopatcong: .307/.361/.506/.867

It was a breakout year for the 25-year-old prospect after a modest 2024 rookie campaign that saw him appear in 88 games. Three teammates topped 30 HRs (DH Marcell Ozuna, 35, 3B Royce Lewis, 33, and C Kyle Higashioka (?!), 30) so he didn't even lead his team in HR (24). Even Ozuna might be a longshot with his DH-only season but Witt played 162 games at SS, finished 5th in the batting race (.307) and only Ohtani had more hits (195). His 114.8 RC ranked 10th overall and he tied for 10th with Empire City's Ketel Marte (another dark horse?) with 322 total bases. Witt found himself across the top 10 in BA, OBP, SLG, and OPS vRHP (.326/.384/.569/.953) and his 6.7 RC/27 was just outside the top 10.

For the record, he finished with 82 RBI and 95 runs and had a rather quirky 3-9 SB; yes, that's 25% success rate!