2019 Kevin Mitchell Award candidates

It could be a wide open race for the 2019 Kevin Mitchell Award, or it could very well be a cakewalk, who knows.

2019 batting leaders

The battling title came down to the final weekend of the season, Allentown got another monster season out of Mike Trout plus rookie Max Muncy and Manny Machado, and two batters reached the 50-homer mark.

Batting title comes down to final series

The 2019 batting crown will come down to the final series of the season with two players almost identically tied.

2018 batting leaders

Marietta thrashed Vancouver 14-1 in the regular season finale in a game that didn't matter all of that much because the Mighty Men had already locked up the No. 5 seed and the Iron Fist had all but sewn up the No. 3 seed.

2017 batting leaders

Two rookies polished off historically good years in 2017 amid the usual stalwarts in the league's batting leaders while the batting race saw a dark horse take over down the stretch.

2016 league batting leaders

No records were shattered during this season but there were some impressive efforts from batters in 2016, and one quirky DMBL mark was matched.

Batting leaders of the second half

Albert Pujols of Philly is a perennial all-star and his second half of the 2009 season was an all-around monster. He was on the second-half leaderboard in just about every offensive category -- if he wasn’t leading it -- slugging .684 with an OBP of .396, 101 hits, 26 doubles, 27 HRs, 67 runs and 77 RBIs.

Aubrey Huff of Hillsborough, who probably had the best first half of any batter, cooled off but not all that much: 16 Hrs, 64 RBIs and 64 runs. Nick Markakis also proved to be a key cog in the lineup, scoring 60 runs and hitting a league-best 30 doubles.

David Wright of Arkansas had an all-around great second half, with 19 HRs and 68 RBIs, slugging .573 and an OBP of .394. Vancouver’s Chase Utley was solid, hitting 19 doubles, 16 HRs, 51 runs and 64 RBIs. Wright’s teammate Skip Schumaker, a 9^th-round pick this year, won the second-half batting title but fell percentage points short of catching Carolina’s Dustin Pedroia for the 2009 batting crown.

Carlos Quentin rebounded with 21 HRs, 59 runs and 61 RBIs for Sardine City. Hoboken’s Adam Dunn also salvaged his 2009 season with a productive second half, smacking 21 HRs, with 48 RBIs and “only” 77 strikeouts while hitting .290 and slugging .598. Hoboken catcher Mike Napoli was a model of consistency, smacking 26 HRs in both the first and second halves of the season (and taking the 2009 home run title). He did have 103 strikeouts but no one could touch Newark’s Jack Cust in that category, with 124 Ks (though he did smack 21 HRs).

Las Vegas was powered by Carlos Pena who smacked 19 HRs and hit .332 to go with a ridiculous .465 OBP and .712 SLG in 63 games. Veteran Brian Giles of Marietta swatted 29 doubles and hit .319 along with an outrageous 51 BBs against just 28 Ks.

Marietta’s Milton Bradley, the top pick in the ‘09 draft, had a solid if unspectacular second half, with 19 doubles, 12 HRs, 57 runs and 102 strikeouts against 53 BBs. Teammates Jason Bay and Adrian Gonzalez provided the power for the Mighty Men with 18 HRs each.

As always it seems, Jose Reyes of DC led the league with 9 second-half triples.

Some second-half numbers that might surprise: Eric Hinske’s 16 HRs and 51 RBIs to complement Torii Hunter’s 18 HRs and 50 RBIs for Amityville. Perennial home run king, and ’09 All-Star starter, Ryan Howard of Hillsborough hit just .229 with 13 HRs.

Hillsborough’s Shin-Soo-Choo continued to make his case for a batter to take the Listach award, hitting 28 doubles, 22 HRs, 55 RBIs and 57 runs. His competition for the hardware, Chris Davis of Las Vegas started all 82 games in the first half and led rookies with 18 HRs and 58 RBIs. To say he tailed off would be an understatement, losing his job and finding his way into only 44 games where he had just 2 HRs and 19 RBIs. Fellow rookie Jay Bruce of DC continued to hit, with 16 HRs in 68 second-half games, and a .291 average.

Second half batting leaders

BA

Schumaker, ARK .354

Pedroia, CAR .337

Wright, ARK .334

Pujols, PHI .332

CPena, LV .332

H

Pedroia, CAR 111

Wright, ARK 108

Pujols, PHI 101

MOrdonez, CAR 99

CJones, NWK 98

HR

Pujols, PHI 27

Napoli, HBK 26

Choo, HIL 22

Dunn, HBK 21

Quentin, SAR 21

Cust, NWK 21

RBI

Pujols, PHI 77

MRamirez, NWK 70

Napoli, HBK 70

JHamilton, MAR 69

Wright, ARK 68

Huff, HIL 64

Utley, VAN 64

R

Pujols, PHI 67

Huff, HIL 65

Napoli, HBK 61

Berkman, ARK 60

Markakis, HIL 60

2B

Markakis, HIL 30

Giles, MAR 29

Choo, HIL 28

Rollins, PHI 26

Pujols, PHI 26

SB

Rollins, PHI 19

BUpton, SAR 18

Reyes, DC 13

BRoberts, PHI 13

Kinsler, HBK 12

First half, batting review

At the halfway point of the 2009 DMB season, let’s take a look at potential award winners and some of the surprises from the first half:

Batting

Hillsborough's Aubrey Huff got off to the league’s fastest start and has managed to keep up the pace. He’s putting together what could be the strongest case for the Kevin Mitchell Award for the league’s most valuable batter. Huff went into the break as the league’s leader in batting average (.352), slugging (.673) and runs scored (77), while ranking second to Philly’s Mark Teixeira in OBP (.420). He also is second in HRs (26) and eighth in RBIs (65). If not for teammate Ryan Howard's massive power numbers (a league leading 30 HRs and 80 RBIs), it's possible we'd be talking triple crown potential for Huff. Both have been driving home youngster Nick Markakis, who has a team-high 29 doubles, along with 75 runs scored.

Only the Hitmen and Newark ended the first half with more than 500 runs scored. The Crunch with Punch has relied on the old faithful to pace the offense. Longtime Sugar Bear Manny Ramirez has enjoyed a resurgence this year with a team-high 23 HRs and 77 RBIs, and he’s joined by Jack Cust and JD Drew who both have 21 HRs while Jason Giambi, in his return to Newark had 19 first-half dingers.

If Philly can stay in the playoff race, Teixeira might be Huff's stiffest competition for the Mitch. The Animals’ DH ranks in the top five in just about every batting category except slugging (6th) and home runs (9th).

Marietta sits atop the standings (ending the first half on a nine-game winning streak), powered with an offense led by an impressive crew of batters. The only drawback to the Mighty Men’s success might be that a first-half Kevin Mitchell Award ballot could be split among several batters. Marietta is not represented among the top 10 in home runs, however, Josh Hamilton ranks second in batting (.348) and fifth in RBIs (68), backed up by Kevin Youkilis’ 61 RBIs. Milton Bradley is the league leader in doubles and along with Brian Giles is top 10 in runs. With Hamilton and Youkilis, Adrian Gonzalez makes it three Mighty Men among the top 10 in the league in slugging.

Carolina’s strength lies in its starting rotation but the team’s offensive fireplug is Dustin Pedroia. Last year’s Listach Award winner went into the break as the league leader in hits (122), is second in doubles (29), and third in batting (.339).

Ryan Ludwick’s power numbers have lifted Arkansas to within striking distance of a postseason spot. Like Marietta, Arkansas has several cogs to its offense with David Wright, Skip Schumaker and Lance Berkman. But it’s Ludwick who’s among the league leaders in home runs (23), RBIs (67), slugging (.601), runs (60). Only Huff has more extra base hits than Ludwick (49).

DC and Hoboken are on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs but they’re both surprisingly led by their catchers. Brian McCann of the O-Bombers and Mike Napoli of the Cutters rank 3-4 in slugging and OPS. McCann also is fourth in the league in batting (.336). Any conversation about the Cutters usually starts with Miguel Cabrera but this year, it's Napoli who's carried the offense for the Cutters. He's blasted a team-high 26 HRs in the first half (3rd in the league) and is on pace to challenge the franchise record set by another catcher of Italian descent named Mike (Piazza hit 51 in 2002).