Diamond Conference: Second base

It's not all that important when it comes to All-Star ballots but there's something about Diamond 2B that attracts pitches. Edmund Sosa of Arkansas leads the league with 19 HBP already, and within the top 10 in that category are Hopatcong's Josh Harrison (12) and Vancouver's Ty France (11).

The Diamond Conference is comprised of Arkansas, Empire City, Hoboken, Hopatcong, Loudon, Newark, Sardine City, San Francisco, Tucson, and defending champion Vancouver.

Loudon's Marcus Semien is among the league leaders in HR and would lead this group by a wide margin in most major categories like OPS, HR, RBI, runs, etc., however, he's likely to appear on the ballot at shortstop, where he's made 60 of of his 84 starts; only 24 (28.5%) have come at the keystone.

That leaves France, who finished 6th in Listach voting last year, as the leader in most key batting categories among Diamond 2B, such as, RBI (47) and runs (44), in addition to RC (49.9), RC/27 (5.8) and total bases (141).

Hoboken's Jorge Polanco is No. 1 among 2B in extra base hits (34) thanks to a leading 22 doubles (9th in the DMBL), and trails only France in RC (46.8), RBI (44) and total bases (136) while being right there in HR (12). Jose Altuve of Tucson has 12 HR to lead Diamond 2B, also helping him to a best .510 SLG despite only 8 doubles. His 5.7 RC/27 trails only France although his 33.1 RC falls to 6th among Diamond 2B.

Nick Madrigal of San Francisco has a league-best 8 triples and leads Diamond 2B in hits (90) and batting (.280). He also has 8 errors in the field, more than any other 2B but Rockland's Luis Arraez (9). Newark rookie Jonathan India leads Diamond 2B in putouts (139) yet ranks only 8th in the league in that category. He's also first in assist (224) in the Diamond.

Some sleepers at 2B in the Diamond Conference might be Newark's Tony Kemp and Josh Harrison of Hopatcong. Both surpass 40.0 RC, joining Polanco and France as the only Diamond 2B above that mark. Kemp's 5.1 RC/27 matches Polanco for 2nd among the field while leading the group in runs (46) although he's played LF for much of the season, he is eligible at 2B where India has gotten Newark's reps at the keystone.