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. 

Cutters, Kershaw crush Straphangers in Game 7 to win second World Series title

Clayton Kershaw capped a dominant postseason run with his second shutout of the World Series for Hoboken in a 12-0 blowout of Sardine City in Game 7. It's the second DMBL World Series title in five years for the Cutters, who came back from a game down for the third consecutive round.

Pederson homers twice to back Kluber

Joc Pederson smacked 2 solo home runs to back Corey Kluber's 4th win of the postseason, leading Sardine City to a 5-2 win in Game 3 over Hoboken.

Grandal's 9th inning HR ties Game 2, Ortiz wins it in 10th for Cutters

Yasmani Grandal's 9th-inning home run off Koji Uehara tied the game and an inning later, David Ortiz's fourth hit gave Hoboken a 6-5 victory over Sardine City in Game 2 of the DMBL World Series.

Cutters force Game 7 with Kingsnakes

Clayton Kershaw won his fourth start of the postseason and his second elimination game to will No. 3 Hoboken to a Game 7 against 2nd-seeded and defending champion Tucson with Friday night's 5-1 victory.

Hoboken evens series on 10 walks

In one of the most bizarre games in league history - playoff or otherwise - Tucson took a combined no-hitter into the 9th inning despite trailing 3-1 thanks to 10 walks by its starting pitcher.

Batting stars of spring training

We all know spring training numbers don't matter. For instance, Adam Dunn of Las Vegas would project to 81 doubles and 81 walks in 2013, based on his spring training appearances (he was 1-for-1 with a double and a walk in just two games). But even the limited 30 games this spring can offer some small window into what can be expected during the 2013 regular season.

BATTING

Blue Ridge's Andrew McCutcheon could be a leading candidate for the Mitch in 2013, based on his spring. The centerfielder powered a big Bombers offense, leading the league in slugging (.602), total bases (74) and tied for home runs (9), and finished second to Ryan Braun in RBIs with 29. He was among three Bombers in the top 10 in runs scored. Braun, the Sardine City slugger, led the league in RBIs with 31 and also tied McCutcheon for the league lead in home runs.

Amityville's Andre Ethier also put up an impressive spring, with a line .315/.371/.584, whacking eight doubles and scoring 20 runs.

Five players, including two Boston Baked Beans, hammered eight homers to finish second: Mark Trumbo and Pedro Alvarez, Bridgewater's Carlos Beltran, Evan Longoria of Sardine City and Hillsborough rookie Chris Carter (who had a league-high 30 strikeouts).

Philly's Roger Bernadina played over his head almost all spring and lost the "batting title" in the final days to Livingston rookie Yasmani Grandal (.340), whose teammate Coco Crisp led the league in steals (8). Luis Cruz was another Endzone Animal who played above his head, finishing second in the batting race at .336, while smacking 14 doubles. He crushed lefties (1.128 OPS) and held his own versus righties (.762).

Livingston shortstop Ian Desmond owned the longest hit streak of the spring, at 17 games, one better than Amityville's Howie Kendrick. Melky Cabrera of Arkansas led the league in hits with 45 while 2011 Mitchell Award winner Joey Votto of Hopatcong scored a league-high 28 runs. Both batted .331 to tie for fourth.

FIRST ROUNDERS, ROOKIES
Grandal was among the bright spots among those picks in the early rounds of the 2013 draft. Will Middlebrooks repaid Hillsborough's faith for moving up to snag him with the second overall pick. If there were spring training rookie of the year candidates, he'd be among them, hitting .302 and slugging .540 while leading all rookies in RBIs with 26 -- third in the league -- and seven homers. He also was among the league leaders in hits and total bases while playing full-time at third base.

On the down side of the first round: Hopatcong's Brandon Moss, chosen third overall, struggled mightily, hitting just .159/.203/.246 with 25 strikeouts and 4 walks in 23 games. Fellow first-rounder Jed Lowrie didn't fare much better, hitting .173/.287/.280 while getting most of the ABs in Hoboken at shortstop. Like most of the first-rounders, Allen Craig, selected after Moss by Amityville, had a modest spring, with a line of .276/.339/.419. He did slug .577 against left-handed pitching.

Playing primarily first base against right-handers, Matt Carpenter, the first of the Las Vegas Rat Pack's two first-round picks, sported a line of .253/.387/.360. Perhaps most impressive for the 10th overall pick were his 17 walks against nine strikeouts. It was the polar opposite of Rowdy's first round selection, (eighth overall) Chris Davis, who had 28 strikeouts and 4 walks. It was night and day for the Roddy Pipers' first basemen, mashing left-handers (1.011 OPS) but certainly not righties (.528 OPS). The last first-rounder, Vancouver's Wade Miley, was solid in three starts (3.63 ERA, 1.21 WHIP,  0-2) but was outshined by teammate Jacob Turner, taken several rounds later, who turned in a stellar spring: 1.27 ERA, 1-1, and 1 shutout in 4 starts.

Todd Frazier, taken 15th overall by Blue Ridge, showed some pop, slugging four homers and seven doubles, which contributed to a line of .259/.296/.509 while manning third base in all 30 games. Justin Ruggiano, the 13th overall selected, played right field for Philly most of this spring, hitting a respectable .278/.333/.436.

Rookie Anthony Rizzo wasn't selected in this year's draft (Arkansas scooped him up last year, with fellow prospect Matt Harvey) but he had an impressive .338/.356/.549 line, primarily against right-handers.

For a look at some of the pitching stars of the 2013 DMBL spring training, see our earlier post.