Published On: July 27th, 2014

The sixth installment of the weekly player rankings takes place after the NWL All-Star Game, which saw the South down the North, 3-0. Pat Porter continued to pull away from the hitters as he has hit the ball extremely well and has led Kenosha on a six-game winning streak and a second place spot in the division. On the pitching side, Matt Kent jumped from fifth to first behind dominant start after dominant start.

To refresh your memories, I use a formula similar to what is used in fantasy baseball and rank the top five pitchers and the top five hitters. Here goes week number six:

HITTERS

1. Pat Porter, Kenosha Kingfish (LW: 1)

Porter opened up a sizeable lead in the player rankings behind consistent hitting. He has a .335 average, but what stands out is 56 RBIs in 55 days. He leads the league in RBIs by double-digits, and has also scored 48 runs and hit ten home runs to go along with 15 doubles. The Kingfish have loved having the junior from Ohio State firmly entrenched in the third spot in the lineup behind the league leader in average, Chris Godinez (.390).

2. Paul DeJong, Wisconsin Woodchucks (LW: 2)

DeJong remained in the No. 2 spot after entering himself into the Woodchucks record books. His record-breaking 15th home run this season allowed him to take over the all-time lead in Wisconsin history-  a team that dates back to 1994. A sophomore from Illinois State, DeJong has 45 RBIs and runs as well as 117 total bases, second only to Porter.

3. Tyler Sullivan, Mankato MoonDogs (LW: 4)

Sullivan jumped Chris Paul as the speedy Mankato outfielder leads the league in stolen bases with 33 and also holds a .366 batting average. From Pacific, Sullivan represented the MoonDogs well in the All-Star game as he went 3-4 with a stolen base in the loss. He leads the league in runs with 49 and hits with 78 and has an 85% steal percentage.

4. Pete Alonso, Madison Mallards (LW: UR)
5. Nick Rivera, Willmar Stingers (LW: UR)

PITCHERS

1. Matt Kent, Rochester Honkers (LW: 5)

Eight innings, six innings, nine innings, eight innings- those have been the lengths of Kent's latest starts, and he's baffled hitters. The southpaw from Texas A&M holds a league-leading 2.01 ERA and is tied for the league lead in strikeouts with 57 and has also already thrown a pair of complete games. His last start, a NWL Pitcher of the Performance- was an eight inning gem where he allowed just one run while striking out five.

2. Reese Gregory, St. Cloud Rox (LW: 1)

Gregory, a sophomore from St. Cloud State, was bumped from the top spot but has still be dominant. He has 57 strikeouts (tied with Kent for the most in the league) over 54 innings- a K/9 of 9.5. He also has an incredbile 2.17 ERA and set down the South in order with two strikeouts- of Pat Porter and Pete Alonso during the All-Star game. Six of his nine starts have been six innings or more and he's gone 5-2.

3. Ryan Smoyer, Kalamazoo Growlers (LW: UR)

A workhorse for the Growlers, Smoyer has racked up a Northwoods-leading 66 2/3 innings of work and has posted a 6-1 record- the six wins also leading the league. Despite pitching more then everyone else, Smoyer still ranks second in ERA- by one point- at 2.02. He didn't give up an earned run in his last start, but sloppy defense gave him the loss- his first of the season- despite going 7 2/3 with four strikeouts. Smoyer is a sophomore from Notre Dame.

4. Rico Garcia, Kenosha Kingfish (LW: 4)
5. Tim Black, Madison Mallards (LW: 3)
 

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