|
|
skip to main
|
skip to sidebar
Does anyone want the final, sixth playoff seed? As many as five teams might still have a shot to make the 2013 playoffs but it's almost as if some teams are doing anything they can to avoid it. Three playoff hopefuls have lost anywhere from four to seven games in a row as we head into the season's final two weeks.
Much of the playoff hunt has been set for some time, with the top 5 teams pulling away from the rest of the league in recent weeks. As far as seeding, Las Vegas has caught Philly for the top seed to make things interesting in the final weeks but most of the rest of the playoff dance card seems all but filled out: Hopatcong is on the cusp of clinching the top wild card and Hoboken is just a few games from putting away the Van Slyke Division.
The #6 seed has changed hands about three times in the past week, held at some point by Rowdy and Sardine City, but heading into Sunday's doubleheader this how it looks:
#6 Arkansas, 69-74, --
#7 Rowdy, 68-76, 1 1/2 GB
#8 Sardine City, 67-76, 2 GB
#9 Blue Ridge, 66-78, 3 1/2 GB
#10 Amityville, 64-79, 5 GB
Should the Golden Falcons hold on, it would be their first trip to the postseason since 2006. Rowdy just missed the playoffs last year but participated in 2011 as the Carolina Mudcats, as did Sardine City. Amityville last year secured the 4th seed while Blue Ridge has never made the postseason since joining the league in 2008. The way things are shaking out, whoever makes the playoffs could be the first sub-.500 squad to make the postseason.
Let's take a look at the contenders (who may be hoping to get into the lottery rather than the playoffs):
Arkansas, 69-74
Games remaining: 19 -- 11 road/8 home
Strength of schedule: .541 winning percentage for opponents
- 9 games versus teams with better records, including 7 against top 2 seeds (4 v. Las Vegas, 3 v. Philly)
- 10 games versus teams with worse records (including 5 v. Sardine City).
The Golden Falcons boasted an impressive road record earlier in the season and though it's evened out a bit, they're still 37-33. Could that be a good sign? They're the only team with a losing record that's better than .500 on the road (32-41 at home). They wrap up the year with a five-game road trip: two at Philly and a three-game set at Sardine City which could be a showdown for the 6th seed as the Straphangers currently trail by 3 1/2 games. The teams also meet earlier for two games in Arkansas.
Rowdy, 68-76, 1 1/2 GB
Games remaining: 18 -- 9 road/9 home
Strength of schedule: .601 winning percentage for remaining opponents
- 13 games v. teams with better records (5 v. Hoboken, 4 v. Philly, 2 each v. Las Vegas and Vancouver)
- 5 games v. teams with worse records (including 2 v. Sardine City)
Rowdy lost out on the playoffs in last season's final game and only has two games (v. Sardine City) against teams jockeying for the final spot. The Roddy Pipers are just 1 1/2 games back of the final spot but have lost four in a row and face the most daunting schedule of any playoff contender the rest of the way.
Sardine City, 67-76, 2 GB
Games remaining: 19 -- 9 road/10 home
Strength of schedule: .516 winning percentage for remaining opponents
- 12 games v. teams with better records (including 5 v. Arkansas, 4 v. Vancouver)
- 7 games v. teams with worse records
The five remaining games between Sardine City and Arkansas could have a big impact on who gets the last playoff spot and conversely, who goes into the draft lottery. The Straphangers have to turn it around though after losing six straight.
Blue Ridge, 66-78, 3 1/2 GB
Games remaining: 18 -- 5 road/13 home
Strength of schedule: .441 winning percentage for remaining opponents
- 3 games v. teams with better records (including 2 v. Philly and 1 v. Rowdy, who's just 2 games better)
- 15 games v. teams with worse records
As if winning 14 straight wasn't enough good news, the Bombers have the most home games remaining of any of the playoff contenders. Plus, Blue Ridge faces just one powerhouse opponent (Philly) the rest of the way, and only Amityville faces a weaker remaining schedule. The Cinderalla story for Blue Ridge could very well continue the rest of the season. The Bombers also enjoy three off days this week before playing their final 14 games.
Amityville, 64-79, 5 GB
Games remaining: 19 -- 11 road/8 home
Strength of schedule: .438 winning percentage for remaining opponents
- 4 games v. teams with better records (2 v. Hopatcong and 2 v. Rowdy)
- 15 games v. teams with worse records (5-game trip to end season; 2 v. Brick City, 3 v. Livingston)
The Ant Slayers have been in a downward spiral this week but if any team in the playoff hunt has an opportunity to turn things around -- and quickly -- it's Amityville. They face just one team with a winning record in their final 19 games (Hopatcong) and the only other team with a better record is Rowdy, who's only 3 1/2 games better.
It will be a year full of milestones if Todd Helton keeps this up. On Tuesday night, the longtime DMBLer became the sixth player in league history with 2,000 games played, and now only two other players stand ahead of him in career doubles.
 Helton, drafted by the Hoboken Cutters in the 7th round this year, smacked two doubles in Monday night's win over Marietta, passing Edgar Martinez to move into third all-time. He started the year tied for sixth with Barry Bonds (487), and also passed Ivan Rodriguez (490) along the way. The only players left ahead of Helton are Chipper Jones (535), who is chasing Manny Ramirez (538).
A career-high 63 doubles in 2001 -- his first with Stanhope/Marietta -- kicked off a stretch of eight straight seasons of at least 38 doubles. That stretch also included eight out of nine seasons with at least 159 games played.
Helton has but one home run so far this year, 286 for his career, good for 26th all-time, although he recently was passed by current teammate Miguel Cabrera. The lefty slugger also overtook Jeff Bagwell (2,047) for 13th in career hits, and moved into 15th all-time in RBIs, passing Jim Edmonds (1,129), as he tries to compile a Hall Of Fame resume.
Derek Jeter recaptured the all-time hits record just days into the 2013 season, overtaking Vladimir Guerrero, who caught the Marietta shortstop late last season.
 Jeter had one hit in the season opener against Bridgewater to reach 2,700 hits. He then collected two more hits in the 19-inning nightcap of the opening day doubleheader to match Guerrero at 2,702 hits.
The 2,703rd hit of Jeter's career was an infield single to short off lefty reliever Luis Avilan in the eighth inning of Friday night's 5-3 loss at Hoboken.
It was just a year ago that Jeter tied Barry Bonds for first all-time in career hits, before surpassing Bonds during Passover. Looming not far behind, however, was Guerrero, who surpassed Jeter with a strong finish to end the 2012 season.
Chipper Jones of Newark (now Brick City) announced his final season will be 2013 and enters the year third all-time in hits, with 2,671, barely 30 behind Guerrero and Jeter. Alex Rodriguez, who came over to Las Vegas from Hopatcong in the offseason, is the only other active player in the top 10, with 2,567 hits, starting this year just eight hits behind Bonds.
Jeter began his 17th season in Marietta this year, averaging 169 hits per season. He entered the year first all-time with 2,420 games played -- an average of 142 games per year. He has never played fewer than 101 games (2011) and that was an abberation because he's played at least 150 games 13 times, and a full 162 games three times.
If it's the last that the DMBL will see of Chris Carpenter he certainly went out in a blaze of glory.
Carpenter, who will turn 38 later this month, recently said he fears that he may never pitch again after continuing symptoms from a blot clot in his shoulder. And don't confuse him for the soon-to-be 48-year-old Cris Carpenter, whose career consisted of eight relief appearances in 1993 with Austin.
 Carpenter arguably saved his best seasons for last, tasting postseason glory in two of his final three years. He was on the mound in Game 7 to clinch the Bridgewater's first title in 2010, striking out 10 and walking two while going the distance to secure a 7-1 win over Newark. Marietta's rotation was so stacked last season that he didn't make an appearance in the Mighty Men's four-game sweep of Vancouver in the DMBL World Series.
The New Hampshire native pitched nine seasons across 13 years in the DMBL. He broke in with Columbia as the first pick of the fifth round in the 1999 draft. He spent two seasons there (only 34 starts) before a brief three-game stint with Philly in 2001. After few years off, Carpenter came back strong in 2005 when Tijuana made him its first-round selection (11th overall, after Khalil Greene and before Danny Kolb). He made the move with the franchise to South Boston, and won a career-high 17 games in 2006 before splitting 2007 between South Boston and Vancouver. The Gang dealt him straight up to the Iron First for Prince Fielder.
Then, Carpenter was hit with the injury bug again, taking off 2008 and 2009 before finishing his career with a flourish. Bridgewater (which still played in D.C. at the time) wisely plucked Carpenter in Round 7 of the 2009 draft as an ineligible player, since he was still recovering from Tommy John surgery. He returned in glorious fashion, going 16-10 with career bests of 3.59 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and nine complete games, in leading them to the postseason.
 After bringing Bridgewater its first championship, Carpenter was dealt to Marietta in a complex, three-way deal involving Las Vegas, which included the likes of Josh Hamilton, David Price, Mark Teixeira and Alex Gordon, among others.
Carpenter made his name as a gutty workhorse in the clutch, eclipsing 200 innings in his last three seasons, including a career-high 234.3 (and career-high 179 Ks) in 2011 with the Mighty Men. Over his career, he averageD one complete game every eight starts; his 26 complete games (along with seven shutouts) rank in the top 20 all-time, in just 221 career starts (11.75 percent CG %). His seven shutouts ties him for 20th all-time, with seven other pitchers, including several still active.
Carpenter is 88-73 (.537), which ranks him about 30th in all-time wins, tied with Jason Schmidt, one better than Hideo Nomo and Henderson Alvarez, and one behind David Wells. He posted six winning seasons and lost precisely 10 games in four different seasons (only one of which was under .500). Interestingly, Nomo was the last pick of the 4th round in 1999, by Arkansas, just before Carpenter. He has a career ERA of 4.67 ERA and WHIP of 1.39.
Hall of Fame? Not quite. Damn fine career? You bet!
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.
We all know spring training numbers don't matter. For instance, Adam Dunn of Las Vegas would project to 81 doubles and 81 walks in 2013, based on his spring training appearances (he was 1-for-1 with a double and a walk in just two games). But even the limited 30 games this spring can offer some small window into what can be expected during the 2013 regular season.
BATTING
Blue Ridge's Andrew McCutcheon could be a leading candidate for the Mitch in 2013, based on his spring. The centerfielder powered a big Bombers offense, leading the league in slugging (.602), total bases (74) and tied for home runs (9), and finished second to Ryan Braun in RBIs with 29. He was among three Bombers in the top 10 in runs scored. Braun, the Sardine City slugger, led the league in RBIs with 31 and also tied McCutcheon for the league lead in home runs.
Amityville's Andre Ethier also put up an impressive spring, with a line .315/.371/.584, whacking eight doubles and scoring 20 runs.
Five players, including two Boston Baked Beans, hammered eight homers to finish second: Mark Trumbo and Pedro Alvarez, Bridgewater's Carlos Beltran, Evan Longoria of Sardine City and Hillsborough rookie Chris Carter (who had a league-high 30 strikeouts).
Philly's Roger Bernadina played over his head almost all spring and lost the "batting title" in the final days to Livingston rookie Yasmani Grandal (.340), whose teammate Coco Crisp led the league in steals (8). Luis Cruz
was another Endzone Animal who played above his head, finishing second
in the batting race at .336, while smacking 14 doubles. He crushed lefties
(1.128 OPS) and held his own versus righties (.762).
Livingston shortstop Ian Desmond owned the longest hit streak of the spring, at 17 games, one better than Amityville's Howie Kendrick. Melky Cabrera of Arkansas led the league in hits with 45 while 2011 Mitchell Award winner Joey Votto of Hopatcong scored a league-high 28 runs. Both batted .331 to tie for fourth.
FIRST ROUNDERS, ROOKIES
 Grandal was among the bright spots among those picks in the early rounds of the 2013 draft. Will Middlebrooks repaid Hillsborough's faith for moving up to snag him with the second overall pick. If there were spring training rookie of the year candidates, he'd be among them, hitting .302 and slugging .540 while leading all rookies in RBIs with 26 -- third in the league -- and seven homers. He also was among the league leaders in hits and total bases while playing full-time at third base.
On the down side of the first round: Hopatcong's Brandon Moss, chosen third overall, struggled mightily, hitting just .159/.203/.246 with 25 strikeouts and 4 walks in 23 games. Fellow first-rounder Jed Lowrie didn't fare much better, hitting .173/.287/.280 while getting most of the ABs in Hoboken at shortstop. Like most of the first-rounders, Allen Craig, selected after Moss by Amityville, had a modest spring, with a line of .276/.339/.419. He did slug .577 against left-handed pitching.
Playing primarily first base against right-handers, Matt Carpenter, the first of the Las Vegas Rat Pack's two first-round picks, sported a line of .253/.387/.360. Perhaps most impressive for the 10th overall pick were his 17 walks against nine strikeouts. It was the polar opposite of Rowdy's first round selection, (eighth overall) Chris Davis, who had 28 strikeouts and 4 walks. It was night and day for the Roddy Pipers' first basemen, mashing left-handers (1.011 OPS) but certainly not righties (.528 OPS). The last first-rounder, Vancouver's Wade Miley, was solid in three starts (3.63 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 0-2) but was outshined by teammate Jacob Turner, taken several rounds later, who turned in a stellar spring: 1.27 ERA, 1-1, and 1 shutout in 4 starts.
Todd Frazier, taken 15th overall by Blue Ridge, showed some pop, slugging four homers and seven doubles, which contributed to a line of .259/.296/.509 while manning third base in all 30 games. Justin Ruggiano, the 13th overall selected, played right field for Philly most of this spring, hitting a respectable .278/.333/.436.
Rookie Anthony Rizzo wasn't selected in this year's draft (Arkansas scooped him up last year, with fellow prospect Matt Harvey) but he had an impressive .338/.356/.549 line, primarily against right-handers.
For a look at some of the pitching stars of the 2013 DMBL spring training, see our earlier post.
Will success in what is essentially 30 practice games translate into
wins in the regular season? Who knows, but let's take a look at the 2013
spring training results and see if we can't take away some kind of
predictions for teams and players.
If spring training is
any indication, the four division winners would be Philly, Blue Ridge,
Las Vegas and Rowdy. Hopatcong would settle for a wildcard and the other
wild card would be decided via tiebreaker between Hillsborough and
Amityville.
Philly (21-9) edged out three teams for the best
record, one game better than Las Vegas, Hopatcong, and
Blue Ridge (20-10). Seven teams
finished .500 or better, including three at .500. Livingston and
Marietta brought up the rear, finishing 11-19. A six-game winning streak
by Rowdy to complete spring training saved the Van Slyke division from
having all four squads finish below .500. The coldest teams to conclude
the spring were Hillsborough and Newark, both losing five straight.
Philly
and Las Vegas led the league in runs with 163 (5.4/game) while Newark (which has since changed its name to Brick City Batmen) packed the
weakest punch (98/3.3). On the flip side, Philly and Hopatcong yielded
the fewest earned runs (98/3.3) compared with Sardine City's league-high
(140/4.7). Boston sported the worst run differential at -41, with Bridegewater next at -32.
Some of the biggest names in the league
sat all spring, among them Marietta closer Mariano Rivera and Hoboken
ace Clayton Kershaw. Other big names got a taste of playing time, such as Hillsborough's Justin Verlander and top overall draft pick Kris Medlen of Las Vegas.
PITCHING
 Hopatcong's Jake Peavy
made a case for being a McDonald candidate this spring, leading the
league with a 0.91 WHIP, 8.6 R/9 and 48.3 innings pitched (tied with
Newark rookie Yu Darvish). Peavy, who made all of one start for the Floating Fish last year (the season finale), tied with Philly's Trevor Cahill and Jarrod Parker
of Amityville for the most victories and best record at 5-0. Peavy also
was among the top 10 in ERA (2.98, 7th) and strikeouts (26, T-5th).
Peavy's
competition for best pitcher of the spring came mostly from Parker, who
was tops among starters in ERA (1.54) and also quality starts (6, tied
with Phil Hughes of Blue Ridge). Other impressive performances came from Hopatcong veteran Andy Pettitte, coming back from a year off, who finished 3-1 with a 2.20 ERA, including two complete games and a shutout. Darvish led the league in strikeouts (41) and K/9 (7.6) but also walks (33).
Leading
the league in saves, tied with 12, were Blue Ridge's David Hernandez
and Philly's Ryan Cook, and between them only blew one (Hernandez).
Cook did not allow an earned run -- and only two hits -- in 13.7 innings. Other stellar relievers this spring were Octavio Dotel of Livingston and
Vancouver's Brad Ziegler. Both sported league-best WHIPs of 0.80, along
with respective ERAs of 0.83 and 1.15.
 The Blue Ridge bullpen also saw the top two relievers in holds, Tim Byrdak (7) and Mitchell Boggs (6).
Boston had two of the busiest relievers, with Rafael Soriano tops in
appearances with 20, followed by teammate Greg Holland with 19, who tied
with Bridgewater lefty Robbie Ross. Amityville's Craig Kimbrel looks poised to avoid a sophomore slump,
compiling seven saves in 11 games, with 16 strikeouts in
12.3 innings, good for 11.7 K/9. He also had a sterling 0.73 ERA and
0.65 WHIP.
An impressive bullpen was found in Arkansas where three relievers had ERAs of less than 1.00 ( Casey Fien, Sergio Romo and Drew Storen). Fien was a workhorse, logging 28.7 innings in 17 games, while sporting 0.63 ERA and 0.66 WHIP.
 The Falcons also boasted a triumvirate of impressive rookies in their rotation. Matt Harvey, drafted as an ineligible prospect last year, ranked third in the league with 32 strikeouts, going 3-2 with a respectable 4.50 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. Four of A.J.
Griffin's six starts for Arkansas were considered quality. The first-rounder went 2-4
with a 4.30 ERA and 1.23 WHIP while logging a team-high 44 IP. Second-rounder Alex Cobb was perhaps most impressive, compiling an ERA of 2.52 and 1.23 WHIP, with 3 wins against 2 losses.
Hillsborough kept the reins on Justin Verlander, who made just three starts but six appearances this spring. He had an impressive shutout but his spring totals were hardly Verlander-esque: 5.91 ERA, 1.73WHIP. The Hit Men's first-round selection saw more action but not much success: Lance Lynn compiled a 5.08 ERA and 1.49 WHIP while going 1-2 in six starts.
Even first overall pick Kris Medlen had to shake off some cobwebs this spring, going 1-1 with a mediocre 4.05 ERA but a 1.10 WHIP for Las Vegas. The Rat Pack's
second first-rounder, reliever Huston Street, made 11 appearances with a
3.68 and 1-0 mark.
Next time we'll take a look at the batting stars of spring training and the rest of the 2013 first-rounders.
|
