2023 Frontier League season explained

2023 Frontier League season
League:Frontier League
Sport:Baseball
Prevseason Year:2022
Duration:May 11  - September 3
(Playoffs: September 5  - September 17)
No Of Games:96 (768 games in total)
No Of Teams:16
Season2:East Division
League Champs2:Québec Capitales
Season3:West Division
League Champs3:Evansville Otters
Finals:Frontier League Championship
Finals Champ:Québec Capitales
Finals Runner-Up:Evansville Otters
Prevseason Link:2022 Frontier League season
Nextseason Link:2024 Frontier League season
Nextseason Year:2024

The 2023 Frontier League season was the 30th season of operation (29th season of play) of the Frontier League (FL). The regular season began on May 11, 2023, when the Florence Y'alls were hosting the Gateway Grizzlies at Thomas More Stadium.

The playoffs concluded on September 17, with the Québec Capitales defeating the Evansville Otters in the finals in five games, winning their second consecutive championship and 9th in franchise history.

Team and rule changes

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.

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.

The league's player compensation budget increased by $230,000 compared to 2022. Teams were required to spend a maximum of $365,000 on their 24-player rosters with a minimum of $13,800 per player. Veterans could earn up to $22,800, and each team's highest-paid player could make as much as $27,300. For players aged 23 and younger, only 50% of their salary counts towards the cap.

Regular season standings

Pos!scope="col" width="25%"
TeamGWLGB
1y – Québec Capitales956035.632--
- style="border-top:3px solid blue;"2x – New Jersey Jackals956035.632--
3x – Sussex County Miners955540.5795.0
- style="border-top:3px solid red;"4e – Tri-City ValleyCats955540.5795.0
5e – New York Boulders965442.5636.5
6e – Ottawa Titans964848.50012.5
7e – Trois-Rivières Aigles953857.40022.0
8e – Empire State Greys951877.18942.0
Pos!scope="col" width="25%"
TeamGWLGB
1y – Gateway Grizzlies965937.615--
- style="border-top:3px solid blue;"2x – Schaumburg Boomers955441.5684.5
3x – Evansville Otters965244.5427.0
- style="border-top:3px solid red;"4e – Washington Wild Things964749.49012.0
5e – Joliet Slammers964650.47913.0
6e – Windy City ThunderBolts954352.45315.5
7e – Florence Y'alls963858.39621.0
8e – Lake Erie Crushers963759.38522.0

Sussex County earned the second wild-card spot in the East Division because of a 7-2 head-to-head record against Tri-City.[2]

Statistical leaders

Hitting

StatPlayerTeamTotal
HRKeon Barnum, James Nelson 30
AVGJames Nelson .388
RBIsAlfredo Marte, Josh Rehwaldt 90
SBJairus Richards 75

Pitching

StatPlayerTeamTotal
WCole Cook 12
ERACole Cook 2.23
SOCollin Sullivan 135
SVFrank Moscatiello 20

[3]

Awards

End of year awards

AwardPlayerTeam
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 hosted the third-place team from their division in a wild card game. The winners of these games faced their division winners in best-of-three divisional series, with the division winners hosting games 2 and 3 (if necessary). The championship series was a best-of-five format, with the team advancing with the best regular-season record hosting games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary).[4]

Playoff bracket

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Frontier League - standings . frontierleague.com.
  2. Web site: Miners Squeak in the Playoffs, Cats Just Miss Out . frontierleague.com.
  3. Web site: Frontier League - stats . frontierleague.com.
  4. Web site: 2023 Playoff Format - Frontier League . frontierleague.com.