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May 7, 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
The DMBL's coveted Rookie of the Year Award is named after Pat Listach, who hit .315 with 212 hits as a rookie with the Columbia Crusaders in 1993, but was tragically killed that off-season in a car accident. But despite being named after a batter, just two position players have won the award in its five-year existence: Phoenix's Nomar Garciaparra in 1998, and Vancouver's Homer Bush in 2000. The award went to Arkansas RP John Rocker in 1999 and has gone to starters for two years running: Carolina's Barry Zito in 2001 and Hoboken's Joel Pineiro last year. Will a freshman slugger step forward this season to snap the pitchers' two-year run of excellence? Contenders These guys have already established themselves as key contributors to their squads and have to be considered the early favorites for the Listach.
Harrison's Alex Sanchez, a 25-year-old speed demon taken with the first pick in the third round, is hitting .257 with a sub-standard .311 OBP, but he does lead the league with 22 stolen bases (in 26 attempts, an impressive .846 steal percentage). That's twice as many steals as the second-place thief -- and more stolen bases than any team except one! He also leads the league in baserunner kills, with 11. 
Vancouver has been looking for a catcher since they traded All-Star Javy Lopez to Harrison after the 2001 season. The Fisters tried Ben Petrick, Todd Hundley and Tom Lampkin behind the dish last year, then thought they'd finally found a long-term solution by trading for rookie Shawn Wooten. But that plan went awry during the off-season when Wooten suffered a season-ending lumberjacking injury, so the Iron Fist were forced to go with a platoon of two rookies: Brian Schneider and Toby Hall. Hall, thought to be the better prospect of the two, has been a disappointment, but the 25-year-old Schneider has been all they could have hoped for. The sixth-rounder is hitting .275 (.774 OPS) with 9 2B and 2 HR, and ranks second only behind Ivan Rodriguez in throwing out baserunners. Vernon Wells, taken in the third round (31st overall) by Philadelphia, was used sparingly over the first few weeks of the season, but he elbowed his way into the starting lineup and into consideration for the Listach Award. The 23-year-old Wells is hitting .329 (27-for-82) with a .598 slugging percentage (8 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs) for 15 RBI, and has been playing sensational defense in the outfield. Pretenders These guys are still in the running, but they're going to have to kick it up a notch to figure in the ROY balloting this autumn.
Brooklyn's Chris Woodward is half of one of the league's most potent shortstop platoons with sophomore Jack Wilson. While Wilson is mauling left-handed pitching to the tune of a .406 BA, 1.006 OPS, Woodward is hitting .298 with a .540 SLG (3 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 15 RBI) in 124 AB against righties. Woodward, a fourth-round draft pick, is hitting .291 with a .846 OPS overall. Columbia's Corey Patterson is hitting a solid .280 and slugging .480 (3 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR in 75 AB), but his OBP is just .289 thanks to an atrocious 21:1 K:BB ratio. The fifth-rounder will be a special player if hitting coach Tim McCarver can find a way to harness the 22-year-old outfielder's raw talent. Dave Roberts, the second player drafted by Honolulu this year (No. 22 overall), was released before the season started but was quickly signed by Newark as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. The 30-year-old rookie is hitting .382 and is tied for fifth in the league with 3 triples, despite only having 34 at-bats. Phoenix saw Eric Hinske on the horizon in 2002, drafting him last year and putting him on their protected list. He made his long-awaited debut this spring, but so far has proven merely adequate. The 24-year-old is splitting time as the left-handed hitting half of a third base platoon, hitting .269 with a modest .760 OPS, with 9 doubles and 3 HRs. Defensively, he's also been around the middle of the pack, but scouts say he could develop into one of the game's better defenders. Bobby Kielty, Vancouver's second-round pick, is hitting just .248 with a .360 slugging percentage, but he's still managed to contribute thanks to a .373 OBP (24 BB in 125 AB). The 25-year-old switch-hitting outfielder also has 19 runs scored and 2 triples. Disappointments Before the start of the season, prognosticators were arguing over which of these phenoms would be taking home the Listach. Now they're trying to just survive their first season in The Show.
Adam Dunn, like Hinske, was a 2002 draft pick protected by Phoenix who made his DMBL debut this season, but he hasn't lived up to the hype. The 22-year-old Dunn has been used only sporadically, hitting .246 (.790 OPS) in 61 AB, with 6 2B and 2 HR, and remains a project. Toby Hall, a third-round pick in last year's draft by Vancouver, has been a bust so far, but the Iron Fist haven't given up on the 26-year-old catcher. Hall is hitting just .191 with a .505 OPS in 47 AB, and has been relegated to backing up another, less heralded rookie in Brian Schneider. Though the Vancouver front office is still touting Hall as a future All-Star, there are already whispers comparing him to another "can't miss" Vancouver catching prospect: Ben Petrick. Others Brooklyn catcher Ken Huckaby, 31, hit .250 (2-for-8) during a brief call-up from Triple-A, while 27-year-old teammate Timo Perez is hitting .264 with a .719 OPS in 106 AB, splitting time in centerfield with Darin Erstad... Columbia's Ramon Vazquez is platooning with veteran Luis Castillo at second base, but the 25-year-old could soon find himself out of even half a job. Castillo is hitting .310 overall, including .375 with a .400 OBP in limited action against righties, while Vazquez is hitting .229 and just .252 against RHP. Meanwhile, Jay Gibbons (.146, .472 OPS in 48 AB), Geronimo Gil (3-for-11) and third-rounder Carlos Pena (1-for-6) would probably be better served playing every day in the minors... Robert Machado, a 29-year-old minor league journeyman, has finally arrived in the show with the Harrison Rats, but he may not stick around for long. Machado, splitting time with Todd Hundley at catcher, is hitting just .195 (.532 OPS) in 118 at-bats... Another well-aged Newark rookie, 31-year-old Tom Wilson, was signed to platoon with Paul Lo Duca behind the plate but hasn't lived up to his end of the bargain, hitting just .160 (.450 OPS) in 25 AB... Unlike last year, when rookie Alfonso Soriano played in every game for the Mighty Men, Stanhope has been very patient with the two budding sluggers on their roster: Nick Johnson hasn't made his major-league debut yet, while Brad Wilkerson was just 3-for-18 over the first quarter of the season... Vancouver's Carl Crawford, a "five-tool" talent, hasn't made it up from Triple-A Tacoma yet this season. Phil Plantier, one of the top prospects of the last decade, was picked by baseball guru Bill James in 1991 as the player most likely to lead the majors in HRs during the 1990s. In 1994, at age 24, he hit 47 round-trippers with 118 RBIs for the Charleston Chiefs, his first and last DMBL season. He's currently an analyst for Fox Sports Net. Click Here for past articles. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
A slugger from Tijuana could very well claim the
Listach Rookie of the Year Award this fall, but which
one? Austin Kearns and Josh Phelps were
both selected by the Banditos late in the 2002 draft,
then protected this off-season. Kearns, a 22-year-old
outfielder, is hitting .302 with an .842 OPS, and
those numbers are somewhat deflated by his
uncharacteristic struggles against southpaws (.270 BA,
.668 OPS). He's also one of the league's best
defenders, leading the league in total chances and
ranking among the top three in fielding percentage and
assists, with 10. Phelps won't get any extra credit
for his glove -- the 24-year-old former minor league
catcher is now strictly a DH -- but so far he's been
one of the league's best rookie hitters: .325 BA, .372
OBP and .519 SLG, with 8 2B and 7 HR in 160 AB. The
dynamic duo certainly have made Tijuana's two-year
investment look like a wise one.
Arkansas's fifth-round pick, 25-year-old Mark
Ellis, is hitting .269 with an impressive .370 OBP
(21 BB in 130 AB), with 6 2B, 12 R and 10 RBI as the
team's starting second baseman.
Two highly touted rookie second basemen taken in the
first round of this year's draft -- Brooklyn's
Junior Spivey (second overall) and Carolina's
Mark Bellhorn (sixth) -- are off to miserable
starts. The 27-year-old Spivey is hitting .225 with a
.604 OPS, while Bellhorn, also 27, is tied for third
on the Mudcats with 7 HRs -- but he's hitting just
.177, with a .652 OPS, and 45 Ks in 141 ABs.