R.I.P. Jose Fernandez

The DMBL recently lost a budding superstar in Jose Fernandez, who was killed in a boating accident in September.

Who will get the nod to start for Micro?

A number of the Micro Conference's No. 1 starting pitchers will have a chance to make their case for the 2014 All-Star Game in Durham, with some final jockeying to possibly determine who will be named the starter (which is based on the number of votes cast).

Brick City's Jose Fernandez has been living up to the billing so far in the first half of 2014. Heading into his final start on Saturday before the All-Star break with an 8-3 mark, this year's first overall pick leads the DMBL in ERA (1.79), WHIP (0.94), batting average (.194), hits/9 (5.9), and R/9 (8.6), to go with 4 complete games, which ranks third in the conference. He trails a number of other starters in wins (8) but will his peripherals be enough to convince voters to make him the starer for the Micro Conference?

Hoboken ace Clayton Kershaw leads the Micro's in wins (10-3) and is likely to add to his leading 130.7 innings in his final start before the break on Saturday. He's also the conference co-leader with 5 complete games, ranks fourth in the league with 117 Ks, trails only Fernandez in ERA (2.76), and sports a sterling 1.05 WHIP.

With Kershaw, fellow left-hander Cliff Lee (8-6) leads the league with five complete games but is alone in quality starts (14) and within the Diamond Conference is tops WHIP (0.97). He's currently tied with teammate Hisashi Iwakuma for second in the conference with 120 innings and should add to the total as he's scheduled to start Saturday in the final game before the All-Star break. Lee is second only to Fernandez in R/9 (8.7) and has registered 108 Ks.

"I've got your All-Star vote? Exxxcellent..."

Yu Darvish's 146 strikeouts easily leads the entire league, far head of the 122 of Hillsborough's Max Scherzer, and 11.8 K/9. The Brick City hurler can be wild (evidenced by a 9K, 8 BB performance this year) but warrants consideration for the final five (7-4, 3.31 ERA, 1.14 WHIP), especially for votes who favor strikeouts.

Matt Harvey (8-3, 2.82) is putting together a fine sophomore season for Arkansas. He's second in the conference in quality starts (13), innings (124.7) and strikeouts (119).

'Hey Stump -- catch this!"

There are others who might garner attention for the five starting spots on the Micro Conference, if you're looking for under-the-rader candidates to fill out your ballot. Not to be overlooked is Allentown's Iwakuma (6-6, 3.45). The .500 record could be a turn-off (as well as the league-high 26 home runs), but in addition to logging 120 innings he sports a 1.07 WHIP, third-best in the Diamond and is tied for 4th overall in the league in R/9 (9.8), with Kershaw and Scherzer.

If you're only looking at wins, there's Hoboken teammates Mike Leake (9-6) and Hiroki Kuroda (9-5) but you'd have to overlook some things, like Leake's 5.01 ERA/1.39 WHIP and Kuroda's only slightly better (4.80/1.40) but does have three complete games. Left-hander Madison Bumgarner has a losing record (4-7) but has been solid for Blue Ridge (3.71 ERA, 1.33 WHIP), striking out 102 in 104.3 innings. Others who might go unnoticed judging only their records are Sardine City's Nathan Eovaldi. Just 6-5, Eovaldi has a 3.50 ERA in 110.7 innings but also a 1.33 WHIP. Hey, at least they're not Zach Greinke, who's suffered through a 1-12 first half with Saskatoon.

A look at the Micro all-star ballot

Yesterday we looked at bats who could make the Diamond Conference all-star team, so today we take a gander at the positions players who might warrant your ballot for the Micro Conference.

'The beard? Is fake'

C: Saskatoon's Yadier Molina has been a stalwart behind the plate for years and is enjoying a solid year, leading conference catchers with 91 hits and 26 doubles while hitting 4 HRs and 34 RBI; he's also gunned down 11 would-be base stealers and is tops with 23 assists. Brick City's Wilson Ramos leads the conference's catchers with 17 HRs but if you're looking for defense, you won't find it there: he's yielded a league-high 32 stolen bases. If it's defense you're looking for, Buster Posey of Arkansas leads the Diamonds with 13 caught stealing but there is a drop-off in his offense so far this year with his .230 BA and .624 OPS.

1B: If you're looking for the traditional power first baseman, your man in the Micro Conference might be Adrian Gonzalez of Allentown (.285/.349/.470). He leads the bunch with 13 HR, to go with 54 RBI. Sardine City's Eric Hosmer (.313/.350/.421) leads in hits (99) and matches Gonzo's 54 RBI. Hoboken's Ryan Howard (.297/.351/.459) -- who once blasted 65 HRs in a season -- has hit 24 doubles but just 4 HR and 28 RBI. Michael Cuddyer of Vancouver (.296/.351/.463) also has eligibility in OF and was putting together a fine season before hitting the DL last week with 13 HR, 51 RBI.

2B: An all-star last year, Hoboken's Jed Lowrie (.292/.355/.407) leads Micro keystoners with 98 hits and 48 runs. The man he replaced, Ian Kinsler (.270/.321/.390) who's now in Allentown, has the longest hitting streak in the league this season (22 games), helping to collect 86 hits and 42 runs. If you're looking for some speed, you might consider Saskatoon's Jose Altuve (.303/.318/.352), who has 10 stolen bases and is right behind Lowrie with 94 hits, though not much pop.

'I eat peetchers like you for brea'fast'

SS: Not a banner year at SS for the Micro's. Stephen Drew of Hoboken (.255/.364/.455) has only 65 hits but 5 have been triples and 9 HR, leading the conference shortstops with 53 runs. His competition might come from Jhonny Peralta of Arkansas (.283/.329/.388), who is tops with 91 hits, to go with 19 doubles.

3B: Hoboken's Miguel Cabrera (.312/.390/.663) plans to move to 1B next year but this season he's still at 3B and putting together a mammoth year with a league-high 29 home runs and second only to Hanley Ramirez with 77 RBI. Sardine City's Evan Longoria (.291/.379/.555) is no slouch either with 16 HRs, 43 RBI and a conference-leading 29 doubles. There's also Josh Donaldson of Brick City (.271/.363/.440) who has 47 RBI.

And how many have won the Mitch?

OF: The reigning Mitchell Award winner is now in Allentown and Mike Trout (.305/.396/.595) has a solid sophomore season so far, with 57 runs scored, 19 doubles, 5 triples, 17 home runs and 39 RBI. Sardine City 1st rounder Christian Yelich (.337/.413/466) seems to be batting in the neighborhood of .333 virtually all year and heads into the break as a serious batting title contender. He does lack some pop with 4 HRs. Wil Venable might be considered a journeyman but he's leading the Arkansas offense with 12 HR and 54 RBI, and also has a conference-leading 13 SBs.

In Vancouver, they may lack some in the power department but Michael Brantley (.332) and Carl Crawford (.328) have been chasing a batting title with Yelich. Saskatoon's Allen Craig has reached 100 hits already and bopped 21 doubles, though only 28 RBI. If it's free-swinging power you want, you might want to look again in Allentown where veteran Marlon Byrd is slugging .541, with 13 homers and 21 doubles, or in Hoboken where 18 of of Justin Maxwell's 59 hits have been home runs for a .561 slugging percentage. Teammate Ryan Raburn also has 20 homers, but also has already surpassed 100 strikeouts. Blue Ridge's Nelson Cruz (.258/.300/.484) has driven in 51 runs on 19 home runs.

DH: The primary word in DH is hitter and a few batters in the Micro have raked in the first half. Hoboken's David Ortiz (.315/.385/.653) is nearly matching his teammate, Miguel Cabrera, trailing him for the conference lead in RBI (74) and home runs (27). He leads the conference in runs scored (65) and tied with Craig for the high in hits (100). Edwin Encarnacion (.273/.349/.549) powers the Blue Ridge Bombers offense behind his 21 HRs, 63 RBI and 22 doubles. He also has a keen eye with 35 BBs to just 37 Ks. If you're looking for Yan Gomes (.337/.393/.558) on your ballot he's been the primary DH for Saskatoon but has spelled Molina behind the plate in 14 games so far this year. The rookie leads the conference in batting average, along with 90 hits 11 homers and 4 triples.

Tomorrow: A look at the Diamond Conference's best bets for for all-star starting pitchers.

Relievers throwing goose eggs

It took nearly a third of the season but Greg Holland of the Durham Bulls finally gave up an earned run. Holland was the last reliever in the DMBL this season to be unscored upon, until Friday night's 10-1 thrashing at the hands of the Sardine City Straphangers.

The former second-round pick in 2012 went one out into his 19th appearance before surrendering a run. He walked Craig Gentry to lead off the 8th, uncorked a wild pitch before getting Eric Hosmer out, but then yielded a run-scoring single to Ryan Braun. Holland would give up another run in the 9th before giving way to Francisco Rodriguez, who also hasn't been scored upon -- but he's only made two appearances.

In all, Holland went 21 2/3 scoreless innings, yielding just 6 hits to go with an impressive 34:4 K/BB ratio. He collected 14 saves and was 1-0 during the stretch (his lone win coming May 29 in a three-inning hitless effort in his previous outing, in which he struck out six).

The previous scoreless reliever was Brick City's Ed Mujica, who had gone 11 appearances before yielding a run. The right-hander got as far as 17 scoreless innings, including 14 strikeouts without a walk and just 8 hits, before giving up an eighth-inning jack to Nelson Cruz in a May 21 game. He would later give up two more runs, including a solo shot by Prince Fielder in the 10th, going a season-high four innings.

There also was Livingston's lefty, Alex Torres, who reached 18 2/3 scoreless innings, his streak broken in a May 19 game by a Jason Heyward home run in his 11th appearance.

Hillsborough's Jose Veras was the only other reliever besides Holland to touch 20 innings, reaching 20 2/3 scoreless before a run-scoring single a few Fridays ago. He also boasted 21 strikeouts against 5 walks while collecting 5 saves. He blew the save and took a loss in his 16th appearance, a May 13 game at Marietta.

Another Sunday, another no-hitter

Brick City's Scott Feldman shut down the Allentown Mules, 4-0 on the road in Sunday's game one, tossing the second no-hitter in the DMBL this season and the second in as many Sundays. Last week, Bridgewater's Homer Bailey no-hit Sardine City.

It's the first no-hitter for Brick City since moving from Newark, and the 13th in league history. As the Sugar Bears, Newark saw a no-hitter by Randy Johnson against Kentucky in 2001.

The 31-year-old Feldman struck out five and walked none but hit three batters -- losing his chance at the DMBL's first-ever perfect game. Leading off the 3rd inning, Feldman hit Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who was erased when Mark Trumbo hit into a 5-4-3 double play in the next at-bat. With one out in the 7th, Feldman nailed Mike Trout and leading off the 9th hit pinch-hitter Neil Walker, who like Salty was eliminated on a GDP, this time 6-4-3 by Jimmy Rollins.

The 6-foot, 7-inch Hawaii native improved to 3-0 in tossing his first shutout of the year, lowering his ERA to 2.74 on the season. He was backed by home runs from Avisail Garcia and Gordon Beckham. John Lackey also went the distance for the Mules but allowed 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 7 to take the loss.

Allentown may be hitting a league-low .223 through Sunday's doubleheaders but the Mules still feature a lineup that includes Trout, Adrian Gonzalez and Giancarlo Stanton.

The surprise pitching gem stole the headlines from Sunday's other big story, on the batting side: home runs by Pedro Alvarez in three straight at-bats in Durham's 7-4 victory at Empire City.

Second-half winners and losers

Powered by a 15-game win streak, and winning 20 of 21 games in the final quarter of the season, Blue Ridge had the biggest turnaround in the second half. The 13-game improvement pushed the Bombers to a 45-34 record but it wasn't enough to clinch a playoff berth. Despite an eight-game drop-off in the second half, it was Arkansas that held on to secure the sixth and final playoff spot. The Golden Falcons enjoyed a 43-39 first half but stumbled to a 35-45 mark in the second half.

The Fisk division had two of the top turnarounds in the second half. Livingston Lords of Swing finished 69-93 overall but nearly went .500 in the second half, going 40-41 -- 11 wins better than their 29-51 first half.

Had the playoffs been based on the second half standings, it would have been Blue Ridge that had the sixth-best record. The only other change to the final playoff setup -- had they been based on the second half standings -- was Hoboken and Vancouver changing places as the 3rd and 4th seeds, respectively, thanks to the Cutters' six-game improvement versus the Iron Fist's five-game decline.

Both the league's top two teams remained consistent, with Philly notching 58 wins in the second half, after a 59-win first half, staying one game better than Las Vegas, which went 57-23 in the second half after a 56-26 first half. Brick City had the worst record in the second half, going 26-54, four wins fewer than they had in the first half. The biggest drops in the second half were by Bridgewater, 14 fewer wins and Amityville, 11 fewer wins.

Kruk
Philly, 58-22 (+1)
Hopatcong, 47-34 (-3)
Bridgewater, 26-53 (-14)
Brick City, 26-54 (-4)

Drabek
Las Vegas, 57-23 (-1)
Arkansas, 35-45 (-8)
Hillsborough, 35-46 (-2)
Amityville, 32-46 (-11)

Van Slyke
Hoboken, 52-30 (+6)
Rowdy, 37-42 (-2)
Marietta, 33-47 (0)
Boston, 31-47 (+2)
Fisk
Vancouver, 50-32 (-5)
Blue Ridge, 45-34 (+13)
Livingston, 40-41 (+11)
Sardine City, 37-45 (+1)

Next up, we'll take a look at the best individual performances during the second half of the 2013 season.

Blue Ridge keeps heat on Arkansas

The final 10 games (give or take) of the 2013 season are upon us and still the playoff race has yet to be resolved. Four teams are within four games of each other for the sixth and final playoff spot. Meanwhile, a battle is still on for the number-one seed as Philly has opened a 2 1/2-game lead on Las Vegas for home-field throughout the playoffs.

There's at least been some continuity as Arkansas has held on to the sixth spot for the past week but the view from behind has shifted as Blue Ridge continues to pile up the W's, passing Rowdy and Sardine City to pull within 1 1/2 games of the Golden Falcons. A week ago, the Bombers were 3 1/2 back of the Wild Card but have continued one of the great runs this season.

Whoever grabs the sixth seed likely will face No. 3 Vancouver in the first round of postseason while the others go into the draft lottery, a.k.a., the Yasiel Puig/Jose Fernandez sweepstakes. Two of the teams still in the hunt are assured of finishing below. 500, having suffered their 82nd loss.

Let's take a look at where they stand and what's on the horizon in the season's final 10 games:

Arkansas, 74-78, ----
Remaining schedule: .519 win percentage
v. Sardine City
2 @ Boston
2 v. Las Vegas
2 @ Philly
3 @ Sardine City
Arkansas just sort of treaded water last week, going 3-4, which was good enough, for now. The good news is that the Golden Falcons get Matt Harvey back from injury and should be able to squeeze two more starts out of him, including a likely start against Las Vegas while also avoiding Kris Medlen, who could return from the DL after their series. The bad news is their opponents' winning percentage is .521 thanks to a gauntlet of two-game sets against Vegas and Philly before their three-game season finale with Sardine City. Arkansas could bury the Straphangers with a win tonight (A.J. Griffin v. Brandon McCarthy) but they may have to start worrying about other teams at this point. The Golden Falcons have little room for error if they want to finish better than .500; they'll need a run of no worse than 8-2; no worse  than 7-3 to finish an even .500.

Blue Ridge, 72-79, 1 1/2 GB
Remaining schedule: .463 win percentage
@ Hillsborough
2 v. Philly
3 v. Livingston
2 @ Boston
3 v. Hillsborough
Blue Ridge has put together one of the great runs of the 2013 season, and quite possibly one of the best ever, at least to finish a season. Their only loss in the past 2+ weeks was a 2-1 setback against Brick City, otherwise we're talking about a 21-game win streak. Still, they've won 20 of their last 21 games, which came after a three-game skid, including a new 5-game win streak after their 15-win streak ended. All this after selling at the trade deadline (dealing Gio Gonzalez and David Hernandez). Their toughest opponent will be Philly but it's only two games this week. While Arkansas is dealing with powerhouses Las Vegas and Philly later this week, the Bombers get to face off against Livingston and Boston. Of the remaining teams, only Arkansas and Blue Ridge have any shot (albeit long) of finishing better than .500; the Bombers can only loss two more if they have any hope of avoiding a losing record.

Rowdy, 72-81, 3 GB
Remaining schedule: .595 win percentage
@ Philly
2 v. Amityville
3 @ Hoboken
2 v. Sardine City
2 v. Philly
The Roddy Pipers are still hanging around after an up-and-down stretch, going 3-4 to gain no ground on Arkansas. They face the toughest schedule over the final 10 games, including six games against playoff-bound Hoboken and Philly, two more against possibly a third playoff team in Sardine City, as well as two versus Amityville, who's just barely hanging on to a flicker of hope.

Sardine City, 70-82, 4 GB
Remaining schedule: .497 win percentage
@ Arkansas
2 v. Brick City
2 @ Vancouver
2 @ Rowdy
3 v. Arkansas
As long as Sardine City can remain within 3 games or less of Arkansas, they'll be within striking distance, with that three-game season finale in their back pocket. But that's the problem, at present they stand 4 games back as they enter Monday night's critical matchup at Arkansas. The Straphangers have stumbled badly of late, with just one win sandwiched around three losses last week to go 1-6, on top of a six-game skid two weeks ago, making them just 3-12 over their last 15 games. They had won 8 of 9 before that ugly stretch.

Amityville, 69-82, 4 1/2 GB
Remaining schedule: .439 win percentage
v. Livingston
2 @ Rowdy
3 v. Hillsborough
2 @ Brick City
3 @ Livingston
Amityville continues to face the weakest competition, at least according to opponents' win percentage, but it hasn't helped. The Ant Slayers are running out of time but they do have an extra game to play and have won three straight after losing three in a row last week. Either way, they probably will need quite a bit of help from others to make a run of destiny.

Brick City Bonanza

The Opening Day cuts always seem to attract the vultures, as a lot of teams' castoffs are quickly redistributed around the league. But one team seemed to feed the vultures more than others, and that team is the newly christened Brick City Batmen.

The Batmen, formerly the Newark Sugar Bears, were one of a handful of teams that maxed out their rosters in the draft. Former owner Craig Garretson was notorious for often making the final draft pick every season. So right from the start, the Batmen had a large number of cuts to make. But two days before Opening Day, Brick City signed three additional players, forcing them to make 13 total cuts. Let's take a look at who got scooped up:

The number 1 target of the Batmen castoffs was Clay Buchholz. Buchholz was claimed by 5 teams, finally ending up on Philadelphia. Buchholz debuted in 2010 with Blue Ridge and then was traded twice in 2011, ending up with Hoboken. Buchholz was only moderately successful in the DMBL, owning a 19-19 career record with a 4.24 ERA and 1.38 WHIP, but is still only 28 and has some upside.

Next, Amityville claimed 27-year old pitcher Jake Arrieta. Arrieta had a disastrous season for Livingston last year (4-15, 5.90) but the Ant Slayers see some potential in him. It's doubtful that we will see Arrieta in the DMBL this season though.

Marietta, who was denied in their claim for Buchholz, settle for 26-year-old Ivan Nova. Nova had a solid rookie season for St. Louis last season (13-9, 4.63). Marietta plans to send Nova to the minors, however, and re-examine him next season.

Blue Ridge was busy scraping the bottom of the waiver barrel. The Bombers earlier snagged Andrew Miller from Hillsborough's scrap heap. That same day, they also grabbed rookie right-hander Zach McAllister from Brick City. McAllister has already been sent down to Blue Ridge's farm team, but may resurface if the Bombers need a spot starter or if injuries hit.

Hoboken claimed ineligible pitcher Jeff Niemann, who started his DMBL career with the Cutters back in 2010. Niemann has yet to have a successful season though, owning a career 11-26 record to go along with a disastrous 6.39 ERA.

Finally, the Sardine City Straphangers grabbed promising right-hander Andrew Cashner. Cashner holds some potential to become a starting pitcher, but will start the year pitching relief for the Sardines' AAA team. Cashner missed much of the previous season with an injury and will attempt to recover arm strength in the bullpen. Whether he'll see any action with the big club remains to be seen.

So who didn't get claimed? Outfielder Gerardo Parra could get some looks later when teams are in need of an outfielder. Rookie Lucas Harrell could find a role when injuries hit someone's pitching staff. Nate Eovaldi and Jordan Lyles are young enough that a team may stash them for the future. Other teams looking for a comeback player may take a chance on Gavin Floyd, Bud Norris or J.A. Happ.