2024 Eck Award Winner: Shelby Miller

Newark's Shelby Miller finished 2nd to Hopactong's Jhoan Duran for the league in saves but came out on top when it came to the 2024 Eck Award.

Duran led the DMBL with 31 saves, edging Miller, and both blew 5 saves but Miller's 6-3 mark versus Duran's 3-5 record proved the difference for the award recognizing the league's top closer. The accolade is based on a formula that awards pitchers 3 points for each save and 2 points for relief wins while deducing 2 points for each blown save and each loss.

		Sv	BSv	%	W	L		PTS
1	MillerS, NWK	30	5	0.857	6	3		86
2	DuranJ, HPG	31	5	0.861	3	5		79
3	PhillipsE, SCS	24	3	0.889	3	1		70
4	Hader, EC	27	2	0.931	1	5		69
5	WilliamsD, ERI	26	7	0.788	6	4		68
--	BautistaF, ARK	22	1	0.957	6	4		68
7	Fairbanks, TUC	14	3	0.824	12	0		60
8	HolmesC, SF	25	4	0.862	3	7		59
9	Kimbrel, PHI	24	5	0.828	7	9		58
10	Lawrence, DD	23	5	0.821	6	7		57
11	Alzolay, MC-ERI	17	8	0.680	8	3		45
12	RomanoJ, ALN	18	6	0.750	4	5		40
13	Maton, VAN	15	2	0.882	2	5		35
14	Hamilton, LIV	8	1	0.889	7	1		34
15	Kahnle, SF	17	6	0.739	4	7		33

Miller first came on the DMBL scene in 2011 when he was drafted as an eligible SP prospect by Hoboken in the 15th Round (201st overall) and spent the season on the reserve list. Days before the 2012 keeper deadline, the Cutters traded him to Las Vegas with SS Hanley Ramirez and a 2013 5th rounder in exchange for DH David Ortiz, and 5th and 12th round picks in 2013. (Ortiz would later help Hoboken win its first title in 2013. The next year, Ramirez, playing with San Francisco (which relocated from Las Vegas after an ownership switch) won the Mitchell Award and denied the Cutters a chance to repeat, defeating them in the finals. Ortiz would aid Hoboken to win its 2nd title in 2017.)

Oh, back to Miller, who has since made the rounds through the league. Still ineligible, he spent 2012 with Las Vegas before being shipped to Livingston after the season along with CF Curtis Granderson, SPs Brett Anderson and Daniel Hudson, 1B Kendry Morales and a 4th rounder for C Jonathan LuCroy and a 1st rounder.

After another year on the ineligible list, it turned out that 2014 would be his rookie season. He went 7-5, 4.30 ERA before Livingston traded him to Sardine City where he would go 3-8, 5.56 ERA + 1 save -- a combined 32 starts. The June deal saw Miller packaged with SP Archie Bradley and SS Javier Baez in exchange for SPs Andrew Cashner, Dillon Gee, and Kyle Zimmer, OF Austin Meadows and a 6th rounder.

He was nothing if not dependable for the Straphangers. He made 62 starts (14-30) over the next two seasons, logging 190+ innings in each while going 6-16 for a 109-loss team in 2015 and 8-14 the next year. He was left unprotected in the offseason and drafted in the 13th round of the 2017 draft by Arkansas, who gave up on him by May and released him without ever taking the mound.

After a few years off and some arm trouble, Miller shifted exclusively to the bullpen and impressed enough that Newark drafted him last year near the top of the 4th Round (62nd overall).

Empire City's Josh Hader - who went on to win MVP honors in the playoffs - was the top left-hander, finishing 4th while leading the league in save percentage (.931). Tucson's Pete Fairbanks led relievers with a remarkable 12 wins (against 0 losses!), enough to secure a 7th place finish.

The highest finisher from 2023 results was Felix Bautista of Arkansas, who finished 4th in 2023. This year, he tied with Erie's Devin Williams for 5th. Last year, Sardine City's Daniel Bard took home the award. His set-up man, Evan Phillips, finished 3rd this year.

It's the first Eck Award for the Newark franchise since 2009 when Joey Devine won. The Sugar Bears took home the trophy four other times: John Smoltz in back-to-back years (2003-04) and John Wettleland in 1996 and 1998.

As far as unheralded middle relievers, Hillsborough's Matt Brash led the league with 26 holds, followed closely by Erie's Bryse Wilson with 25, and two others with 24 (Kevin Ginkel of Arkansas and Michael King of Livingston).

In the department of inherited runners scored percentage, Andrew Nardi of Arkansas fashioned the top mark, 0.063 (2-of-28), followed by Empire City's Jose Leclerc, 0.094 (3-of-32), and Vancouver's Tom Cosgrove, 0.097 (3-of-31).