2020 Drop 100: #10 - #1

The Drop 100 is an annual project focused on highlighting and ranking 100 competitive Wiffle®Ball players based on their performance in fast pitch competition over the prior year. This is not a true talent evaluation, but rather a snapshot of prior year performance. In compiling the list, overall performance, quality of competition, amount played, and variety of competition are considered. Only fast pitch/unrestricted pitch speed competition is considered for the Drop 100. This is not a commentary on those styles of play, but rather a necessity to limit the scope of the project and to allow for more direct comparisons. Medium or fast pitch speed does not have a set definition, so in general leagues or tournaments that self-define as fast (or medium-fast), do not have a MPH restriction, and pass the “eye test” are included. Examples of those leagues are Kalamazoo and MLW. For similar reasons, leagues like HRL or GSWL Yard are not included in this year’s list. The 2020 Drop 100 Introduction podcast contains additional information on the criteria used.

#10
Gino Joseph – Pennsylvania – #22, NR
Stompers (MAW), WILL Waves (NWLAT), Juggernauts (UW), Dragons (MAW Winter Classic) Various (WILL)

Between his 2018 rookie season and 2019 sophomore year, Gino took a monumental leap forward as a pitcher in almost every facet pitching. Far more incremental and narrower improvement was needed between the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Specifically, he allowed a few too many home runs (his 4% home run rate during the 2019 MAW regular season was on the high side) and perhaps a few too many hits in general. Impressively, Gino made those incremental improvements this year – at least in Mid Atlantic – dropping his home run rate down to 1.6% and going from 13th to 4th in batting average against among qualifiers. By reducing the amount of hard-contact allowed, Gino shaved nearly a half-a-run off his MAW ERA in 2020. How he went about achieving those gains was equally subtle. His pitch selection changed some – he seemed a little more judicious in how he used his screwball – and was more willing to work off the edge of the strike zone. The latter led to a slight uptick in walks but the tradeoff – less balls right down the heart of the plate – was worth it. With those adjustments, Gino ended the year as one of the best pitchers in a pitching rich league.

He also improved offensively this past year. Joseph may never be a high average hitter, but he has legitimate batting practice/HR derby power that started to show itself in game situations in 2020. He had 13 hits during 4 regular season tournaments including 7 home runs and 2 doubles among them. His near-.300 ISO was among the best in MAW. If that’s ultimately the kind of offensive player Gino settles in as – a low average hitter capable of winning a game with one swing once or a tournament on average – that is more than enough given his tremendous value as a pitcher. Gino was at his best in both regards at MAW’s Backyard Brawl tournament in August. He hit four home runs that day (including three game winners) and allowed just two runs in 23 innings to lead his team to victory.

Joseph stayed busy throughout the truncated Wiffle® calendar. He pitched the Dragons into the semi-finals at the MAW Winter Classic in February with a 4-0 record. He played well all season in WILL and got his first taste of the NWLA Tournament as a member of the WILL Waves. He struggled to command the clean ball – 14 walks in 6 innings pitched versus the Mothmen – although he hung in there to pick up a win in his only start of the tournament.  He helped the Juggernauts climb back into contention after a rough start to the United Wiffle®Ball tournament before losing a close game to the Whippets in the first elimination round. Given how consistently he has improved in MAW over three seasons, it seems likely that Gino will figure out how to improve on his national tournament performances in 2021.

#9
Chandler Phillips – Michigan – #29, #99
El Diablos (WSEM), WSEM Dads (NWLAT), WSEM Dream Team (UW)

Chandler Phillips took home the Clown Shu award – WSEM’s annual pitching award – for the first time in his nine-year career. He led the league in ERA (0.56), strikeouts (144), and wins (8), while throwing the second most innings (54) of any pitcher. His ERA was the best of his WSEM career and his WHIP (1.54) was his best since the 2015 season. His one issue continues to be walks. Phillips’ led the league by a significant margin with 72 walks. 1.3 walks per inning is a bit on the high side in any environment, however the free passes did not hurt him too much this year and his walk rate was the best it has been since 2015. Thanks in large part to his pitching, El Dibalos won their second consecutive WSEM championship.

In addition to his success in his home league, Chandler had a strong 2020 on the national stage. Walks did him in during his lone pool play game at the NWLA Tournament, but he turned things around with an eight-inning, one run outing against Kalamazoo in the Bracket B finals. As is always the case with Chandler, success was directly correlated to his ability to limit walks – he allowed 75% fewer walks per inning against Kalamazoo than he had in pool play. Surprisingly – given it was his first foray into a different style – Phillips was even better at United Wiffle®Ball in October. He started all three pool play games for the WSEM Dream Team and picked up complete game wins versus the Longballs and LV Wifflers. Phillips’ solo home run against Las Vegas proved the difference in that game. In all, he threw 10 2/3’s innings and allowed just three runs, two of which were charged to him after he left the game versus the Northeast Bomb Squad.

#8
Ryan McElrath – New York – #7, #1
Juggernauts (MAW, UW), Hardos (MAW Winter Classic), MAW Mafia (NWLAT)

Roughly 12 innings into Ryan McElrath’s Sunday start against the AWAA Blue Kamikazes at the NWLA Tournament, I casually commented to some of his Mafia teammates that it might be time to think about getting him out of there for his right arm’s sake. They looked at me like I had three heads. “He’s not going to give up the ball,” they said. Of course, they were right. Leaving a game in that situation just isn’t in Ryan’s DNA. You would be hard-pressed to find a competitor that gives as much of himself every single game than Ryan, with that particular 15 1/3 inning effort being further evidence of that.

Ryan led the Juggernauts to their second MAW tournament title in July at Ridley Park. After allowing a leadoff home run to the Yaks’ Adam Milsted in the quarterfinals, he threw 15 consecutive scoreless innings to beat the Yaks, Shortballs, and High Cheese. Offensively, Ryan set MAW highs in hits and walks, while slugging seven home runs. Although the outcomes for the Juggernauts in MAW and United Wiffle®Ball – and for the Mafia at the NWLA Tournament – fell below the high expectations he sets for himself and his teams, the 2018 Drop Player of the Year was once again one of the best in the game in 2020.

#7
Jordan Robles – New York – #1, #4
ERL (MAW), Hardos (MAW Winter Classic), MAW Mafia (NWLAT), Phenoms (UW)

The Catch 22 of being a player the caliber of Jordan Robles is that you naturally end up with the ball in your hands in more big game situations than the average player, which means more opportunities to stumble in the spotlight. That is why it was so notable and noteworthy when Jordan almost never lost the big game in 2019, despite pitching in as many or more than any other player. His fortunes reversed some in 2020. He was the losing pitcher in elimination games at the MAW Winter Classic, MAW Wiffle Bash in Ridley Park, MAW Backyard Brawl, MAW Draft Tournament, and United Wiffle®Ball National Championship. On the flip side, he sawed through a formidable slate of the NY Meats, Juggernauts, and Longballs to win MAW Wiffle Wars in June and – in addition to being the winning pitcher – hit the walk off home run that brought ERL their second-straight Mid Atlantic title at the end of September. Jordan still had his big moments in 2020, the wins just weren’t as lopsided in his favor as they were during his memorable 2019 run.

Despite that, Robles was still Robles in 2020. He was once again one of the sport’s stingiest pitchers when it comes to handing out walks – no matter the environment – and continued to show a willingness to take a walk, something other hitters with his hitting ability struggle to do. His underlying pitching statistics in Mid Atlantic were almost freakishly consistent with what he has done the prior two seasons. Jordan’s put his arm through a lot at 26-years old and is starting to feel some of that wear, but there were not any significant signs of decline to be found in his pitching arm. Jordan has always been more than the sum of his parts. There are players that throw harder, get better movement, and have more pitches, but nobody over the past ten years has gotten more out of what he has than Robles. The only difference between the 2019 version that won most everywhere he went and the 2020 version, is likely some bad luck and overfamiliarity. Jordan has faced pretty much everyone that is anyone over the past decade and a small new wrinkle to his pitching approach – whatever that may be – might be enough to get him back to his 2019 dominance.

#6
Johnny Costa – New Jersey – #42, #13
Usual Suspects (UW), POC (MAW)

For Johnny Costa, the 2020 season ended as it began – with a pair of game-winning hits in tournament victories.

In February at the Mid Atlantic Winter Classic, Costa came up with game winning hits in the semi-finals and finals as POC triumphed over the rest of the 16-team field. In the semi-finals, it was a 6th inning double off Ryan Bush that put POC into the finals. Once there, Costa’s 8th inning solo home run walked things off for his team. Almost exactly eight months later, Costa once again picked up a pair of critical game winning hits for his championship squad. In the final 16 at the United Wiffle®Ball NCT, Costa’s 3rd inning RBI double proved the difference in the Usual Suspects’ win over the WSEM Dream Team. In the Suspects’ very next game, Costa hit a solo home run off the O-Bombers’ Dan Haverty to get his team into the semi-finals.

In between those game-winning hits, Johnny Wiffs had another solid summer. Statistically, he was POC’s third best pitcher and hitter and a big reason why that team ended up as the second-best team in MAW in 2020. Costa fared better on the carpet than he did at the plate in MAW, allowing just two earned runs in 14 2/3 innings pitched. At the Winter Classic, Costa pitched POC’s first four games, going 3-1 overall. In doing so, he allowed Dan Whitener to go into the semi-finals completely fresh.

#5
Vin Lea – New York – #14, #14
NY Meats (MAW), AWAA Blue Kamikazes (NWLAT), Bronx Royals (UW)

“Consistently great” is probably the most succinct and accurate way to describe Vin Lea in 2020. He was not the best pitcher or hitter at the NWLA Tournament. He did not have the best offensive or defensive season of any player in MAW this summer. There were players that performed better at the United Wiffle®Ball NCT. But perhaps no other player was as consistently excellent in both of those national tournaments and during a full league season as Lea.

After not being able to throw a strike against Ridley Park at the 2019 NWLA Tournament (seven walks in two-thirds of an inning), Vin shut down that same Longballs team in a must-win came early Sunday morning at this year’s tournament. He also hit much better in his second go-around at the NWLA Tournament, finishing with a strong ­.286/.412/.446 slash line. Anytime you play on the same team as Jimmy Cole and manage to lead the team in home runs, you’ve done something right. That’s exactly what Vin did this year in MAW, when he led the NY Meats with six home runs. He was the best overall hitter on the team and threw 21 quality innings during the regular tournament season. At United Wiffle®Ball in October, Vin picked up innings throughout the tournament and pitched his squad through to Sunday by beating the Longballs on Saturday night with his arm and bat. After a couple of years of performances that fell perhaps just a tad short of the upper echelon, Lea was undoubtedly one of the best all-around fast players of 2020.

#4
Cam Farro – Pennsylvania – #23, #79
Longballs (MAW, NWLAT, UW), Blue Jays (RPWL)

Cam Farro’s ascent into the upper ranks of fast pitch Wiffle®Ball has been a steady one.

Cam started on his competitive Wiffle®Ball journey in 2018 as a 16 year old rookie with the RPWL Red Sox. Following a non-descript regular season, Cam was thrust into a bigger role in the playoffs when Red Sox captain Tyler Nachbar came down with a sore arm. Taking over as the Sox main pitcher, Cam turned his 4.71 regular season ERA into a 0.49 ERA over 41 two-out innings. Following his breakout playoff performance, Cam showed he could get things done over a full Ridley Park season in 2019. In addition to proving himself as one of the best players in Ridley Park, Cam ventured out to MAW and captured Rookie of the Year honors 2019 as a member of the Blueballs.

His rise continued in 2020. Farro put together his most complete Ridley Park regular and post-seasons by leading the Blue Jays to a RPWL title in his first year as a team captain. He was one of four qualifying pitchers with a sub-1.00 ERA in the regular season. Cam threw ten more innings in the RPWL post-season than he did during the regular season and went 7-1 – while also hitting seven home runs – for the champs.

Cam was added to the Longballs MAW roster this past year and played a major role in the Longballs’ first Mid Atlantic tournament win on Opening Day. He also broadened his horizons by competing in two national tournaments for the first time. In September at the NWLA Tournament, Farro threw 14 scoreless innings for the Longballs in his first major clean ball tournament. While he didn’t quite dominate to that same level at United Wiffle®Ball in October, he pitched well in his first NCT experience. If his career trajectory to this point continues, it is a smart bet that Farro will build off his solid first-time NCT performance with a breakout performance in 2021.

Farro is a true two-way star already and he still has significant offensive potential yet to be released. Cam’s 1.051 OPS in Rildey Park was 4th best among qualifiers. In Mid Atlantic, he raised his batting average by .055, to a very respectable .219. He continued to reach base at a high clip, with a .432 OBP in the regular season. Farro put the ball in play in just under 50% of his at bats in MAW, which is a solid percentage in a pitching-dominated league. He has a smooth, naturally powerful swing from the left-side of the plate. It wouldn’t surprise anyone at all if – after another season of facing Mid Atlantic pitchers – Farro ends the 2021 season as one of the top hitters in the organization.

#3
Tyler Flakne – Minnesota – NR, #73
HRL Dong Show (NWLAT), NY Meats (UW)

The single best fast pitch tournament performance of 2020 belonged to Tyler Flakne.

After two years away from the NWLA Tournament, Flakne returned this year in a major way. The southpaw threw parts of five games for the eventual champions, HRL Dong Show, including three complete games. In total, Flanke pitched 26 innings and did not allow a single run. He walked only six hitters (6.7% walk rate) and retired 61 hitters (68.5% strikeout rate) on strikes. These were big innings, against quality teams. 18 of the 26 innings Flakne pitched during the two-day event were against three of the four top finishers from the 2019 tournament (GBL, MAW, AWAA) and 6 more came in the tournament championship. Flakne picked up the ball time and time again in big situations and pitched a shutout every single time.

Flakne was equally as impressive on offense. His 1.005 OPS was 8th best in the tournament among regular hitters (5+ games) and even higher when adjusting for level of competition. He tied for second most home runs with four. He did most of his damage late in the tournament when the stakes were the highest. Flanke went 12 for 23 with 4 homeruns over his team’s final three games of the tournament. Unsurprisingly, Flakne was named tournament MVP for his dominant weekend-long performance.

One month later at United Wiffle®Ball, Flakne picked up where he left off in Canonsburg by tossing a pair of shutouts versus the Degenerate Gamblers and Midwest Monstars. Flakne was also an important cog in the NY Meats offense as he drew the game winning walk against the Monstars and on Sunday he contributed to the six-spot put up by the Meats against Bronx Royals.

Of all the players that competed in both the United Wiffle®Ball NCT and NWLA Tournament, nobody played as well across both as Flanke did. The only thing separating his 2020 season from being the best in fast pitch Wiffle®Ball was a full fast pitch league season to match his outstanding national tournament play.

#2
Caleb Jonkman – Indiana – #19, #41
Noodlers (CCW), Lake County Liners (Leroy), GBL Legends (NWLAT), Midwest Monstars (UW)

One thing about Caleb Jonkman is that he is not one to rest on his laurels.

In 2019, the Indiana wiffler won his second NWLA Player of the Year Award, guided the GBL Legends to their second straight runner up finish at the NWLA Tournament, and pitched a shut out . . . for the entire Leroy Wiffle®Ball season. And those are just his fast pitch accolades (Caleb is an accomplished slow pitch player as well).

Already one of the best players in the game and with the accomplishments to prove it, Jonkman branched out further in 2020, first by joining the Noodlers in the Indianapolis-based Circle City Wiffle®Ball league. Facing a slightly higher level of competition over a full season did not deter him in the slightest. Jonkman dominated Circle City on both sides of the game in his first year in the league. In a league leading 75 innings pitched, he allowed just 10 runs (0.80 ERA) while striking out 181 hitters. He batted .475/.513/1.079 – good enough for top three in each category – and belted a league leading 26 home runs. It was a dominant season-long performance, one that concluded with a championship for the Noodlers.

In another first, Jonkman competed in a non-base running/big barrel bat/altered ball tournament for the first time at the United Wiffle®Ball National Championship. He pitched well, shutting out Hazardous in the Monstars’ first game of the tournament, pitching well against the Meats before running out of gas late, and losing another well-pitched game versus the Whippets in the quarterfinals. His offense trailed a little behind his pitching in his first foray into that style of play, which is to be expected given the wildly different movement found with scuffed and cut balls.

Jonkman was just as good in his old stomping grounds as he has always been. He had another MVP-like season in Leroy and led the league in batting average and slugging. And while he did allow a run this season, he was still one of the best pitchers in that league with a league leading seven wins and a league best .155 BAA. The Legends failed to reach the NWLA Tournament finals for the first time since 2017, but Caleb did his part. His 1.204 OPS was second best among full time players (5+ games). He posted the lowest ERA of his 5-year NWLA Tournament career (0.39) and allowed only a single run on four hits while striking out 37 hitters in 15 1/3 innings pitched.

#1
Dan Whitener – Virginia – #16, #8
POC (MAW), Black Dog Country Club (UW)

Many successful Wiffle®Ball pitchers play with a chip on their shoulder. There is little money to be made in the sport and a rather low ceiling to the fame that can be achieved, so a “me against the world” attitude is sometimes the best motivator. From February through October – through sore arms and grueling tournaments – Dan Whitener pitched like a man on fire. He pitched like an athlete hellbent on proving that he is the best at what he does.

Dan’s impressive season began in February at the MAW Winter Classic. Pitching for first time all day in the semi-finals, Whitener proceeded to throw twelve scoreless against the NY Meats and Fingerballzzz on the way to POC winning the tournament. At MAW Opening Day, POC found themselves with a 1-1 record, in need of a win to advance to the elimination round, and matched up with the defending Mid Atlantic champions, ERL. Rather than roll the dice by pitching Johnny Costa for a third straight game, Whitener took the ball. Not only did he shut ERL out, but he also picked up a hit and scored the game winning run in a 1-0 victory. Dan went the rest of the way for POC that day. He threw two straight no-hitters versus the Meats and Dragons and gave up just one more hit – a home run to the temporarily unstoppable Dylan Harshaw – the remainder of the tournament.

That set the tone for Whitener the rest of the way in MAW. He threw in pool play and pitched POC into the elimination round at both July Mid Atlantic tournaments. In September at the Mid Atlantic championship, he pitched POC’s first game of the day – a tough draw against the NY Meats – which he lost 1-0 off of a Jimmy Cole solo home run. Undeterred, he kept pitching – not in every game, but a majority of them – as POC valiantly fought back to reach the finals of the 10-team double elimination tournament. He shut out ERL during regulation of the championship game – he did not allow another run that tournament after the Cole home run – before finally hitting wall and smartly removing himself from the game after feeling some forearm discomfort. Despite not being able to finish it out, Dan’s pitching performance at the Mid Atlantic Championship was – along with Tyler Flanke’s run at the NWLA Tournament – among the most impressive pitching performances of the year.

Dan also hit very well in MAW, finishing the regular season with a league leading 10 home runs and 53 total bases, while finishing third with a .525 slugging percentage.

In October, Whitener accomplished the incredibly impressive feat of eliminating the Phenoms and C4 in back-to-back games at the United Wiffle®Ball national championship. C4 hadn’t lost in an elimination round at the national championship in three years and prior to 2020, the Phenoms had only lost (in the finals) to C4 in national championship elimination rounds. Dan carved through both teams to pitch Black Dog Country Club into the finals. Once there, Whitener did not pitch poorly at all but was done in by a couple of fair pole-hugging opposite field home runs from Scott Alford and Ryan Wood, respectively.

In all, Dan threw roughly 85 fast pitch innings in 2020 and allowed just 13 runs. That works out to a minuscule 0.76 ERA per 5 innings which is rather incredible given the level of competition he faced all year long.

Congratulations to Dan Whitener on being named The Drop Player of the Year for 2020!