Top 10 ROY Candidates: The Relievers

No rookie reliever has won the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year Award since John Rocker way back in 1999, but there were some impressive candidates this season! Will the long dry spell end this season?

Al Alburquerque (NWK): The 26-year-old righty has already won the Weirdest Name of the Year Award, but how about the 'Stach? Alburquerque posted a 2.19 ERA and 12.6 R/9 while going 7-3 with 25 saves. The first pick of the 2nd Round (#17) walked 42 but also struck out 85 in 61.2 IP.

Antonio Bastardo (RWY): This 26-year-old has won the Bad Ass Name of the Year Award. What a bastardo! The lefty, taken in the 3rd Round (#36 overall), went 1-4 with 5 saves while posting a 3.02 ERA, 11.6 R/9, 42 BB and 94 K in 86.1 IP. He led all rookies with 19 holds, which was tied for 2nd most in the league.

Aroldis Chapman (HPG): The fireballing Cuban posted a 2.12 ERA and 12.7 R/9 while going 2-5 with 3 saves and 15 holds. The 24-year-old walked 40  but struck out 70 in 51.0 IP. His 2.12 ERA was best among rookie relievers. Drafted in the 6th Round (#75 overall) in 2010 by Hoboken, but was traded to Hopatcong in 2011 along with a 1st Round pick (#6 overall) for the #3 pick in 2011.

Scott Elbert (ARK): The 26-year-old lefty setup man, drafted in the 10th Round (#149 overall), had a 4.12 ERA and 13.7 R/9 while going 5-2. He struck out 76 and walked 22 in 74.1 IP.

Greg Holland (HBK): The 2nd Round pick (#30 overall) went 6-4 with 10 saves (3.75 ERA, 10.1 R/9). He logged 105.2 IP while walking 39 and striking out 134. His 10.1 R/9 was tops among rookie relievers.

Craig Kimbrel (AMI): Amityville's closer led all rookies with 28 saves. The 24-year-old righty had a 3.22 ERA, 12.6 R/9, and walked 38 while striking out 106 in just 67.0 IP. He led all rookies in inherited runners who scored percentage (.167). Kimbrel was taken in the 11th Round (#148 overall) in 2011 by Hoboken, but was traded to Amityville along with a 7th Round pick for Hiroki Kuroda and Carlos Ruiz.

Sam LeCure (AMI): "Crime is a disease... and I am LeCure!" The 28-year-old went 7-4 with 6 saves while posting a 2.88 ERA, 10.2 R/9, 38 BB and 99 K in 122.0 IP. He was quite the bargain as a 7th Round pick (#111 overall).

Fernando Salas (RWY): The 27-year-old Mexican righthander, drafted in the 3rd Round (#43 overall), went 2-2 with 2 saves, with a 3.62 ERA, 10.8 R/9, 30 BB and 78 K in 82.0 IP.

Chris Sale (BRI/LV): Drafted by Bridgewater in the 5th Round in 2011 (#70 overall), the talented 23-year-old lefthander was dealt to Las Vegas along with a 10th Round pick for Tim Lincecum and Francisco J. Rodriguez. Combined, Sale went 10-5 with 4 saves and 15 holds, and a 3.44 ERA and a 11.4 R/9, with 62 BB and 152 K in 131.0 IP. He led all rookies in relief wins, innings, and Ks.

Jordan Walden (STL): The 24-year-old went 6-2 with 3 saves while posting a 4.50 ERA and 13.9 R/9. He walked 35 and sruck out 93 in 80.0 IP. The righty was taken in the 4th Round (#57 overall).

Top 10 ROY Candidates: The Starters

Last year the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year Award went to starter Travis Wood. Will it be back-to-back years for starting pitchers? Let's take a look at the candidates.

Henderson Alvarez (VAN): The 22-year-old Alvarez went 15-14 with a 4.24 ERA and 10.8 R/9 in 225.0 IP, with 32 BB and 109 K. The 2nd Round pick (#23 overall) tied for the rookie lead in shutouts (3) and complete games (5).

Brandon Beachy (BRI): The #2 pick went 16-7 with a 4.84 ERA and 13.6 R/9, with 78 BB and an amazing 220 K in 182.1 IP. The 25-year-old led all rookies in wins, winning percentage (.696), Ks, and tied with fellow rookie Cory Luebke for the league lead in K/9 (10.9).

Josh Collmenter (HPG): Collmenter posted a 4.47 ERA and 11.5 R/9 while going 13-12 with 45 BB and 122 Ks in 217.1 IP. The 26-year-old was drafted with the final pick in the 1st Round (#16 overall).

Dillon Gee (LIV/PHI/HIL): Drafted in the 10th Round (#154 overall) by Livingston, Gee was bombed in eight starts for the Last Place (2-5, 7.36 ERA, 16.7 R/9) and was released. Philadelphia claimed him off waivers; he went 1-2 with a 6.08 ERA and 12.5 R/9 in four starts, but they released him too. Hillsborough signed him and he went 5-4 with a 4.61 ERA and 13.3 R/9 but they cut him anyway. Too bad a fourth team didn't sign him as he was improving after each stop!

Jeremy Hellickson (BR): Don't be fooled by his mediocre 11-10 record; Hellickson was pitching for 13th place Blue Ridge, who scored him just 3.7 runs per game. Hellickson posted a 3.37 ERA and 10.2 R/9, leading all rookies in both categories. Among all DMBL pitchers, he was 2nd in H/9 (6.9) and 3rd in R/9, tied for 2nd in shutouts (3), and tied for 3rd in complete games (5). Philly drafted back in 2010 in the 13th Round (#176 overall) but traded him and an 8th Round pick to Blue Ridge in 2011 for Howie Kendrick and a 1st Round pick.

Philip Humber (ARK): The 29-year-old Humber, taken #5 overall, went 15-13 with a 4.21 ERA and 12.6 R/9 with 71 BB and 162 K in 220.0 IP.

Cory Luebke (HPG): One of this year's top lefties, the 27-year-old Luebke went 13-8 with a 3.74 ERA and 11.2 R/9. The #4 overall pick gave up 80 BB while striking out 242 batters, tying with Brandon Beachy for the league lead in K/9 (10.9).

Ivan Nova (STL): It was something of a surprise when the 25-year-old Nova was selected with the #10 overall pick, but he went a respectable 13-9 with a 4.63 ERA, 12.3 R/9, and 55 BB with 120 K in 196.1 IP.

Michael Pineda (ARK): The 23-year-old Pineda, drafted in the 7th Round (#86 overall) as an ineligible prospect last year, went 9-14 with a 5.20 ERA and 12.6 R/9, and tied for the rookie lead in starts with 33.

Vance Worley (BR): The third consecutive rookie starter taken in the 1st Round at #6 overall, the 24-year-old Worley went 12-10 with a 4.19 ERA, 12.1 R/9, 69 BB, and 169 K in 195.1 IP.

Top 10 ROY Candidates: The Batters

I know, I know... you want to vote for the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year, but you're not sure who is a rookie and who isn't! Don't worry... I got your back.

Here are the top 10 rookie batters, at least according to me. There are other rookies but no one better than the guys on this list.

Remember, the ROY is for batters and pitchers, so don't just vote for all batters! The pitcher list is coming up next.

2B Dustin Ackley (SAR): Drafted in the 3rd Round (#41 overall) way back in 2010 and then traded in 2011 along with a 1st Round pick for Cole Hamels, the long wait for the 24-year-old Ackley finally ended in 2012. He hit .244/.329/.356 (.685 OPS) with 22 2B, 5 HR, 57 R, and 52 RBI, and led all rookies with 65 walks.

CF Peter Bourjos (NWK): The 25-year-old came out of nowhere (7th round pick) to hit .288/.356/.490 (.846) with 26 2B, 12 HR, 74 R and 47 RBI while playing terrific defense in center field. Bourjos led all rookies in triples with 13.

1B/OF Lucas Duda (AMI): The #1 pick in this year's draft, the 26-year-old Duda hit .261/.341/.453 (.795 OPS) with 32 2B, 25 HR, 90 R, and 96 RBI. He led all rookies in runs and RBIs.

1B Jesus Guzman (BRI): The 28-year-old Guzman hit .300/.369/.448 (.816 OPS) with 47 2B, 12 HR, 85 R, and 82 RBI. The 2nd Round pick (#18 overall) led all rookies in BA, OBP, H, 2B, and total bases, and led the DMBL in SB% (22 steals in 24 attempts, .917).

1B Eric Hosmer (SAR): Drafted in the 3rd Round (#35 overall) of the 2011 draft, the 22-year-old Hosmer made his debut this year and lived up to the hype, hitting .287/.345/.537 (.882 OPS) with 33 2B, 26 HR, 70 R and 85 RBI. He led all rookies in SLG and OPS, and tied for the lead in HRs and extra base hits (63).

OF Desmond Jennings (MAR): Drafted in the 7th Round (#98 overall) in 2010 as an ineligible prospect, Jennings finally made his debut this season and hit .253/.354/.437 (.791 OPS) with 17 2B, 17 HR, 73 R and 68 RBI. He led all rookies with 24 stolen bases.

1B/CF John Mayberry Jr. (VAN): The #11 pick hit .257/.345/.489 (.833 OPS) with 18 2B, 26 HR, 63 R and 60 RBI. The 28-year-old tied for the rookie lead in homers.

C Wilson Ramos (AMI): Taken in the 2nd Round (#22 overall), the 24-year-old Ramos hit .254/.324/.451 (.775 OPS) with 26 2B, 20 HR, 67 R, and 70 RBI. He pounded lefties for a rookie-best 1.092 OPS vs LHP.

OF Eric Thames (LIV): This 8th round pick was an unexpected power source for the Last Place, hitting .255/.295/.457 (.752 OPS) with 33 2B, 20 HR, 56 R and 67 RBI. He tied for the rookie lead in extra base hits with 63.

2B Jemile Weeks (NWK): Drafted #3 overall, Weeks hit .273/.302/.387 (.689 OPS) with 36 2B, 9 HR, 67 R, and 64 RBI. He led all rookies in at-bats and plate appearances.

A Look Back At 2012 Batting Leaders

Rowdy's Roddy Pipers dominated the league's batting categories, led by their first baseman slugger, Prince Fielder, who topped several key batting stats. Teammate Daniel Murphy had the longest hitting streak in the league at 26 games, ending in the season's final game while Hillsborough's Michael Morse ended the season on a 19-game hit streak.

Batting avg: .333, Michael Young, Rowdy
On-base %: .417, Prince Fielder, Rowdy
Slugging: .646, Fielder
Hits: 224, Young
Home runs: 53, Fielder
RBIs: 134, Fielder
Runs: 132, Fielder
Doubles: 58, Ben Zobrist, Blue Ridge
Triples: 21, Dexter Fowler, 21, Vancouver
Stolen Bases: 48, Michael Bourn, Sardine City
Stolen Base %: .917 (22/24), Jesus Guzman, Bridgewater
Walks: 127, Jose Bautista, Hoboken
Strikeouts: 235, Mark Reynolds, Livingston
Runs created: 163.1, Fielder
Runs created/27 outs: 10.2, Fielder
Total Bases: 385, Fielder
Longest Hit Streak: 26, Murphy
Giancarlo Stanton set what's believed to be a new league record for games played in season. He made 97 starts for Hoboken before being dealt to Philly for Roy Halladay and a draft pick, and made 66 starts for the End Zone Animals. That's a total of 164 games in a 162-game season!

A Look Back At 2012 Pitching Leaders, Records

Two teams lost 100 games: Philly went 61-101 and Livingston was 47-115, which matched the fourth-worst record in league history (Norfolk Ewes, 1999). The Last Placers also had a league-worst run differential of -382. The previous record was -323 by the 2007 Las Vegas Rat Pack (although run differential stats aren't available before the 1997 season).

Livingston added to the inglorious record books with two individual league records: most losses in a season. Edinson Volquez and Carlos Zambrano trotted out just about every five days, making 32 and 33 starts, respectively, but each loss 22 games.

Volquez went 4-22 with an 8.11 ERA. He had 138 strikeouts in 144.7 IP but also was second in the league in walks, 98. Zambrano was 3-22 with a 7.47 ERA, tossing 168.7 IP, and was 6th in the league in walks, with 84, and only a few more strikeouts, 97. Volquez had the better run support, 3.8 runs per game, versus 3.2 for Zambrano.

Zambrano and Volquez can look to Newark's Kyle Lohse for inspiration. Lohse endured back-to-back 21 loss seasons for New Jersey (now Hopatcong) in 2009 and 2010, and followed it up with a stellar 1-17 mark for Newark in 2011 (that's 59 losses over three seasons...). Lohse finally rebounded this season for a career year in Newark: 14-8, 3.34 ERA, 1.22 WHIP in 202 IP -- all career highs.

At least five other times in league history, pitchers have lost 21 games. Like this year 1993 saw two pitchers lose 21 games, Chris Bosio and Rick Sutcliffe, but they played for separate teams (Bosio for Charleston, Sutcliffe for Waikiki). Oliver Perez also lost 21 games for Las Vegas in 2007.

ERA: 2.85, Justin Verlander, Hillsborough
WHIP: 0.91, Verlander
Strikeouts: 242, Corey Luebke, Hopatcong
Walks: 118, Francisco Liriano, Philly
Wins: 19, Verlander and R.A. Dickey, Marietta
Win %: .792, Dickey
Avg Run Support: 6.4, Brandon Beachy, Bridgewater
R/9: 8.4, Verlander
K/9: 10.9, Luebke and Beachy
Shutouts: 4, Roy Halladay, Philly/Hoboken
IP: 243 2/3, James Shields, Newark
CG:  9, Shields
QS: 23, Josh Tomlin and Matt Cain, Hopatcong; Shields, Verlander
QS %: .719, Tomlin
Saves: 43, Mariano Rivera, Marietta
Save %: .947, Daniel Bard, Sardine City
Holds: 20, Vinnie Pestano, Bridgewater
Home Runs: 41, Tommy Hanson, Las Vegas
Games: 111, David Pauley, Livingston

Wild Day Ends Regular Season

After 162 games, and a myriad potential tiebreakers heading into yesterday's finale, the 2012 playoff teams have been determined:

#1 Marietta, 107-55
#2 Vancouver, 92-70
#3 Hopatcong, 90-72
#4 Amityville, 89-73
#5 Hoboken, 87-75
#6 Newark, 87-75

Amityville will host Hoboken to open the playoffs on Wednesday while Newark will visit Hopatcong to open their best-of-five series on Thursday, a rematch of the three-game set this past weekend.

Hoboken beat Marietta, 5-2, eliminating Hillsborough and Bridgewater (despite their 8-6 extra-inning win over Philly). The Cutters clinched the playoffs outright when Rowdy's bullpen blew a lead and lost 5-2 to St. Louis. A Pipers' win would have forced a playoff. Hoboken jumped into the #5 seed when Newark lost to Hopatcong, 5-4, finishing with the same record but a 6-4 advantage over the Sugar Bears during the season.

Young Snatches Batting Title From V-Mart

Michael Young caught Victor Martinez on the final day of the season to win the batting title, .333 to .332.

Batting out of the five-hole, Rowdy's third baseman collected 2 hits in 3 at-bats, including an all-important walk in his final plate appearance. Young was on-deck when Carl Crawford ended the game on a flyout to center. He finished the season with a league-high 222 hits in 672 at-bats (.333333).

Batting cleanup for the Mallers, Martinez went 1 for 5 to finish the year with 161 hits in 485 hits, for a batting average of .331958.

Season Finale Playoff Scenarios

The final playoff spots will be determined one way or another today, the last day of the 2012 season.

If the playoffs were to start today, the seeds would look like this:
#1 Marietta, 107-54
#2 Vancouver, 92-70
#3 Hopatcong, 89-72
#4 Amityville, 88-73
#5 Newark, 87-74
#6 Rowdy, 86-75
#6 Hoboken, 86-75
 -----------------------------------
#8 Bridgewater, 85-76, 1 game back
#8 Hillsborough, 85-76, 1 game back

Marietta and Vancouver have locked up the top two seeds, meaning a first-round bye and hosting the second round of the playoffs. If the standings hold, there would be a one-game playoff between Hoboken and Rowdy for the 6th and final seed.

Other scenarios going into Saturday's season finale:
Hopatcong
The Floating Fish clinched their first-ever division title after Thursday's win over Newark and they control their own destiny when it comes to a 3rd seed.
* Win -- clinches #3 seed outright and would face the #6 seed in the first round.
* Lose -- clinches #3 seed if Amityville also loses; if Amityville wins, they go to tie-breakers to determine #3 seed.

Amityville
The Ant Slayers also clinched their first division title earlier this week so they can't do worse than a #4 seed, but they need Hopatcong to lose if they have any hopes to jump to #3.
* Win -- hope Hopatcong loses to Newark to finish in a tie at 89-73, forcing a tie-breaker for the third seed.
*  Lose -- even if Hopatcong loses, Amityville finishes a game behind at 88-74, in the #4th seed, which would face the #5 seed in round one.

Newark
* Win -- clinches #5 seed. The Sugar Bears could finish with a better record than Amityville if the Ant Slayers lose, but as a division winner, Amityville would be the #4 seed.
* Lose -- clinches #5 seed if Rowdy and Hoboken lose but if either wins, they finish in a tie with them, so there's the potential for a three-way tie at 87 wins.

Rowdy
* Win -- clinches a minimum of a one-game playoff depending on Hoboken's outcome and eliminates Bridgewater and Hillsborough. The Pipers would secure #6 seed outright if they beat St. Louis and Hoboken loses to Marietta, and they would tie Newark for #5 seed if Sugar Bears lose.
* Lose -- hope Hoboken loses also, to force a tie; if Hoboken wins, Rowdy is out. If Bridgewater and Hillsborough both win, they tie Rowdy in this scenario.

Hoboken
* Win -- clinches at least another game to play and knocks out Hillsborough and Bridgewater. If Rowdy also wins, it sets up a one-game playoff for the #6 seed. If Newark also loses, the three teams finish in a tie for the two wild card seeds. A tie-breaker is avoided if Rowdy loses and the Cutters do no worse than the #6 seed.
* Lose -- root for Rowdy to lose to St. Louis, to set up that one-game playoff.

Bridgewater and Hillsborough
* Win -- The gentle neighbors to the west are in the same boat; they need losses by Rowdy and Hoboken to finish in at least a tie for the #6 seed. There's the potential for a four-way tie at 86-76. The Mallers phace Philly while the Hit Men take on Amityville.
* Lose -- See you in 2013.