All-Star Pitchers and Postseason Awards

Houston Astros prospect Mark Appel started the 2010 All-Star Game as a member of the Newport Gulls.
Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Keene’s Tommy Doyle and Danbury’s Nick Gallagher got the nod last week as their divisions starters in Sunday’s NECBL All-Star Game, the league deciding they were the best of the best. If you look at their numbers, the spots are well-deserved: Gallagher leads the South in ERA, Doyle has an abundance of strikeouts and a microscopic WHIP and ERA.

A Jeff Zimmerman article I read a few years back, however, made me curious to see if either of the pitchers that got chosen as starters end up winning that season’s Robin Roberts Pitcher of the Year Award like Laconia’s Tim Viehoff did last season?

I decided to look back in the league’s history to 2002, which is as far as I could tell that the league began naming All-League Teams. Each season, the NECBL names a Pitcher of the Year, a Top Pro Prospect, and First and Second Team All-League. That makes for two awards a season that a starter could win, as well as a nod to one of the team’s.

First off, I looked at how often the Pitcher of the Year winner was that year’s All-Star Game Starter. Out of 14 possible Pitcher of the Year winners, seven — or 50% — of them started the All-Star Game. Three of those players have come in the last four years, with Viehoff, Plymouth’s Thomas Jankins and Vermont’s Alex Haines all earning the honor.

Last year’s matchup, between Viehoff and Mystic’s Willie Rios, was historic. Rios was named the Top Pro Prospect, just the fourth to win that honor and start in the All-Star Game. Rios was also a second-team selection while Viehoff was the first, so the two combined for four total honors – just the third in league history.

In 2011, Haines was both the Pitcher of the Year and the Top Pro Prospect, also earning a first-team selection. His opponent, Newport’s Dan Wright, was no slouch, as he was also a first-team nod. The other time two pitchers combined for four was in 2010, when Newport’s Mark Appel (Top Pro Prospect, first team) faced Danbury’s Mike Hauschild (Pitcher of the Year, first team).

Most of this makes common sense. To win an end of the season award, you have to have a good start to the summer. However, pitchers do tail off, which is why 10 of the 28 pitchers didn’t receive any sort of postseason recognition. That includes 2014 starter Richard Vrana (Sanford), 2013’s Will Blalock (Laconia), and 2011’s Justin Wiley (Laconia).

That makes this year so interesting. Doyle and Gallagher are among a talented group of pitchers dominating the NECBL this summer.  Winnipesaukee’s duo of Denis Lyman and Andrew Politi easily could’ve been picked over Doyle, and there’s strong cases for the likes of Sanford’s William Tribucher and Valley’s Mark Washington. Gallagher has plenty of competition as well. It’ll be interesting so see where the pair end up, as at least one starter each of the last 14 years has earned some form of postseason recognition.