| 2023 Frontier League season | |
|---|---|
| League | Frontier League |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | May 11 – September 3 (Playoffs: September 5 – September 17) |
| Number of games | 96 (768 games in total) |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| East Division | |
| League champions | Québec Capitales |
| West Division | |
| League champions | Evansville Otters |
| Frontier League Championship | |
| Champions | Québec Capitales |
| Runners-up | Evansville Otters |
The 2023 Frontier League season is the 30th season of professional baseball in the Frontier League, an independent baseball league in the United States and Canada, since its creation in June 1993. There are 16 Frontier League teams, split evenly between East and West divisions.
The Québec Capitales entered the season as the defending champions, having defeated the Schaumburg Boomers, three games to one, in the league's 2022 championship series.[1]
In 2023, the Capitales successfully captured their second consecutive championship by defeating the Evansville Otters in five games.[2][3]
Season schedule
The 16 teams in the league are split evenly between two divisions, East and West. The Empire State Greys return as a traveling team with a roster of players from the Empire Professional Baseball League.[4]
The season will be played with a 96-game schedule; teams play either three or four series against their divisional rivals while facing the eight teams from the other division at least one series each. The top three teams in each division will qualify for the 2023 playoffs, with the first-place team already qualifying for the division championship, and the second and third place teams playing each other in a wild card game.[5]
Regular season standings
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | y - Québec Capitales | 95 | 60 | 35 | .632 | -- |
| 2 | x - New Jersey Jackals | 95 | 60 | 35 | .632 | -- |
| 3 | x –Sussex County Miners | 95 | 55 | 40 | .579 | 5.0 |
| 4 | e – Tri-City ValleyCats | 95 | 55 | 40 | .579 | 5.0 |
| 5 | e – New York Boulders | 96 | 54 | 42 | .563 | 6.5 |
| 6 | e – Ottawa Titans | 96 | 48 | 48 | .500 | 12.5 |
| 7 | e –Trois-Rivières Aigles | 95 | 38 | 57 | .400 | 22.0 |
| 8 | e – Empire State Greys | 95 | 18 | 77 | .189 | 42.0 |
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | y –Gateway Grizzlies | 96 | 59 | 37 | .615 | -- |
| 2 | x –Schaumburg Boomers | 95 | 54 | 41 | .568 | 4.5 |
| 3 | x –Evansville Otters | 96 | 52 | 44 | .542 | 7.0 |
| 4 | e - Washington Wild Things | 96 | 47 | 49 | .490 | 12.0 |
| 4 | e - Joliet Slammers | 96 | 46 | 50 | .479 | 13.0 |
| 6 | e –Windy City ThunderBolts | 95 | 43 | 52 | .453 | 15.5 |
| 7 | e –Florence Y'alls | 96 | 38 | 58 | .396 | 21.0 |
| 8 | e –Lake Erie Crushers | 96 | 37 | 59 | .385 | 22.0 |
- y – Clinched division
- x – Clinched playoff spot
- e – Eliminated from playoff contention
Statistical leaders
Hitting
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR | Keon Barnum, James Nelson | New Jersey Jackals, New Jersey Jackals | 30 |
| AVG | James Nelson | New Jersey Jackals | .388 |
| RBIs | Alfredo Marte, Josh Rehwaldt | New Jersey Jackals, New Jersey Jackals | 90 |
| SB | Jairus Richards | Gateway Grizzlies | 75 |
Pitching
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| W | Cole Cook | Joliet Slammers | 12 |
| ERA | Cole Cook | Joliet Slammers | 2.23 |
| SO | Collin Sullivan | Gateway Grizzlies | 135 |
| SV | Frank Moscatiello | Québec Capitales | 20 |
Awards
End of year awards
| Award | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Most Valuable Player | James Nelson | New Jersey Jackals |
| Pitcher of the Year | Cole Cook | Joliet Slammers |
| Rookie of the Year | Noah Myers | Evansville Otters |
| Manager of the Year | Steve Brook | Gateway Grizzlies |
Playoffs
Format
The second-place team will host the third-place team from their division in a wild card game. The winner of these games will face their division winners in a best-of-three divisional series, with the division winners hosting games 2 and 3 (if necessary). The championship playoffs shall be scheduled to begin on the second day following the scheduled completion of the division playoffs. The championship series will be a best-of-five format. The team advancing with the best regular-season record will host games 3, 4, and 5 (if necessary). In the event of a tie, tie-breaking procedures as outlined in league rules will be utilized.[8]
Playoff bracket
| Wild Card Game | Division Series (best-of-three) | Championship Series (best-of-five) | |||||||||||||||||
East Division | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | New Jersey Jackals | 4 | 2 | 6 | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | Sussex County Miners | 0 | 1 | Québec Capitales | 3 | 14 | 15 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | New Jersey Jackals | 5 | E | Québec Capitales | 7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 12 | ||||||||||
West Division | W | Evansville Otters | 6 | 6 | 14 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Evansville Otters | 4 | 5 | 9 | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | Evansville Otters | 4 | 1 | Gateway Grizzlies | 3 | 15 | 7 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Schaumburg Boomers | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
See also
References
- ↑ "Quebec Capitales Win Frontier League Championship". flobaseball.tv.
- ↑ "Quebec Capitales win 2023 Frontier League Championship". independentbaseball.net.
- ↑ "Le Québec est Magnifique Again With Repeat Frontier League Title". flobaseball.tv.
- ↑ Reichard, Kevin (February 12, 2022). "New for 2022: Empire State Greys". Ballpark Digest. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- ↑ "2023 Schedule Announced - Opening Day Thursday, May 11". frontierleague.com.
- ↑ "Frontier League - standings". frontierleague.com.
- ↑ "Frontier League - stats". frontierleague.com.
- ↑ "2023 Playoff Format - Frontier League". frontierleague.com.