Players of the Month: May

OK, it's a little late to look at the league's stats in May, but hey, it's never really too late, is it? First, let's have a look at the standings, and then we'll delve into the individual league leaders.

Players of the Month: April

The first month of the 2018 season is in the books, with most teams having played anywhere from 26 to as many as 30 games (equivalent to spring training, more or less). Let's have a look at who's off to hot starts:

July Players of the Month

San Francisco was the league's hottest team of July, going 21-7 and expanding their lead in the Drabek Division to 17 1/2 games. Meanwhile, the Golden Falcons posted a 19-9 record in July and getting a little breathing room atop the Fisk Division. Vancouver (17-11) has come on strong and moved up not only in the Fisk Division, but also in the wild card standings. El Paso (18-14) has come out of nowhere to even up their record before falling down under .500 just before the month ended. Sardine City (8-20) posted the league's worst record by far and has just surpassed Philadelphia as the worst team in the league.

July's JR Cigar Smokin' Batter of the Month is Jhonny Peralta of Arkansas. Now in his second year with the Falcons, the well-traveled Peralta has helped the Falcons return to glory, leading the Kruk Division by 4 games as of the end of the month. Peralta has been decent for the Falcons this year, but really cranked it up in July. Peralta hit .339 with a 1.043 OPS, smacking 13 doubles and 7 homers, with 33 RBIs and a .643 slugging. Overall, Peralta is htiting .255/.332/.442 with 17 homers and 71 RBIs. Other considerations: El Paso's Dexter Fowler (.359/.439/.521, 2 3Bs, 26 runs), Empire City's Adam Jones (.916 OPS, 10 2Bs, 8 HRs, 24 RBIs), Poovey Farms Freddie Freeman (.342/.440/.535, 11 2Bs) and Kyle Seager (.915 OPS, 9 HR, 23 R, 3 SB), Allentown's Matt Kemp (.923 OPS, 7 HR), Vancouver's J.D. Martinez (6 HR, 20 R, 24 RBIs), and Tucson's Jose Altuve (.309, 12 SBs).

July's Omaha Steaks Pitcher of the Month is Clayton Kershaw of Hoboken. Kershaw had gotten off to a mediocre start for the Cutters, but has turned on the heat in July. Kershaw won 5 of his 6 starts with a 1.80 ERA and 0.84 WHIP. Kershaw struck out 63 in 50 innings while walking only 3. On the season, Kershaw is 12-9 with a 3.23 ERA. Other notables: El Paso's Jason Hammel (3-0, 1.84, 0.72 WHIP), Marietta's Pat Neshek (2-0, 0.52, 7 SV, 0.81 WHIP), Tucson's Ken Giles (2-1, 1.56, 8 SV, 0.69 WHIP), Poovey Farms' Danny Duffy (1.13, 0.88 WHIP) and Yu Darvish (6-0, 51 K), and Arkansas' Zach Britton (3-0, 1.17, 4 SV).

Many teams endured some minor injuries during the month and San Francisco even got Anibal Sanchez back after being out for over a month. Livingston took the longest duration injury when backup catcher Ryan Hanigan took an ill-advised swim in the Amazon river and was swarmed by piranhas. Surgeons have just finished reconstructing his left arm and are now ready to move on to his right. Philadelphia's Dustin Pedroia reported feeling blase to the team doctors. While no real injury was found, doctors advised Pedroia to take a few weeks off and try to "find himself." Poovey Farms and Livingston's matchup on the penultimate day of the month knocked out both starters Yu Darvish and Chris Archer for a bit. After watching the Princess Bride, both were convinced they could survive the fire swamps. Both sustained injuries, but luckily avoided any R.O.U.S.'s.

April Players of the Month

The first month of the DMBL season has passed and there are a few surprises and some disappointments. At the top of the surprise chart has to be Poovey Farms, currently sporting the best record in the league at 18-8. The former Brick City Batmen are off to a blazing start, leading the Van Slyke Division by 5 1/2 games and currently riding a 6-game winning streak. Last year's champion San Francisco Experience sputtered a bit out of the gate, but have taken control of the Drabek Division. Meanwhile, in the Kruk Division, Tucson holds a 1-game edge over Marietta. It looks like this one will be a dogfight this season. Finally, Allentown holds a tenuous lead over Arkansas in the Fisk Division. The Golden Falcons led the division much of the month, but have now dropped five straight and have a mediocre 13-13 record.

Livingston leads the list of disappointing teams so far, sitting in last place in one of the tougher divisions. Livingston was among the league's elite last year, but it struggling this year. Last year's World Series runner up, Hoboken, is the other disappointer. Despite sitting in second place, the Cutters are one game under .500 and sit 5 1/2 games behind Poovey Farms. Vancouver seemed like they were going to be a contender this year, but have lost a string of heartbreakers that keeps them in 3rd place in the Fisk Division. The Iron Fist are 0-8 this year in 1-run games, so maybe their luck can still turn around.

April's JR Cigar Smokin' Batter of the Month is Delmon Young of El Paso. Drafted almost as an afterthought in the 10th round of the 2015 Draft, Young leads the league in batting average (.443), on base percentage (.450), hits (43), and runs created (28). Debuting in 2008 with Carolina, Young has only been a full time starter twice in his career, and one of those seasons he was traded midseason. Other notable batters this month: Allentown's Jose Abreu (.368/.395/.697, 6 HR, 21 RBI) and Mike Trout (.310/.395/.670, 9 HR, 20 RBI), Arkansas's Steven Pearce (.326/.387/.695, 9 HR, 20 RBI), Vancouver's Anthony Rendon (.347/.383/.622, 7 HR, 25 RBI), Poovey Farms' Yasel Puig (.333/.402/.635, 6 HR), and Livingston's Paul Goldschmidt (.333/.383/.562, 5 HR).

April's Omaha Steaks Pitcher of the Month is Mike Fiers of Hopatcong. You've probably read about his recent flirtation with the DMBL's first perfect game, but Fiers has been an ace all month for the Floating Fish. Despite a mediocre 3-3 record, Fiers has a 2.86 ERA and allowed 8.0 runners per 9 innings. He also has 2 shutouts this month. Fiers was the third overall pick in this year's draft. Other considerations: Fiers' teammate, Kyle Hendricks (4-1, 1.54, 8.6 R/9), San Francisco's Henderson Alvarez (6-0, 2.39), Tucson's Greg Holland (3-0, 8 saves, 0.00 ERA, 4.7 R/9), Hillsborough's Garret Richards (3-1, 2.00, 8.0), Livingston's Chris Archer (4-2, 2.63), Marietta's Michael Pineda (2.89, 8.0, 2 CGs), and Arkansas' Matt Shoemaker (3-1, 2.48, 8.9).

April Showers bring... injuries, it seems. The month brought long term injuries to several teams. San Francisco's Chris Sale was lost for a month when he decided to start watching the new Daredevil series on Netflix. Reportedly, he was so into it, that he tried to recreate the character's origin story and got hit by a truck carrying radioactive waste. It didn't turn out too well for him. Sale's teammate Hanley Ramirez was also a casualty of Sale's binge-watching. After leaving out too many crumbs from snacks and refusing to clean, a mouse infestation overcame the San Francisco locker room. Ramirez was singled out by the rodents and bitten repeatedly. He also did not gain any notable super powers. Other injuries of note: Tucson's Troy Tulowitzki (37 days), Arkansas' Justin Morneau (27) and Anthony Rizzo (21), Hillsborough's Zach Putnam (24) and Edwin Encarnacion (33), and Marietta's Justin Turner (30). Blue Ridge rookie hurler Yordano Ventura broke his funny bone, an injury that has baffled the team's doctors.