The MLB announced the names of its top players for the month of May.
Clay Holmes of the New York Yankees and David Bednar of the Pittsburgh Pirates were named the best relievers of the second month of the regular season.
Holmes, who was a teammate of Bednar back last summer but was traded to New York, is working at the Yankees’ clozer position during an absence due to an injury to Aroldis Chapman’s left Achilles tendon. In May, Holm played 14 dry innings, allowing only eight hits to opponents. Meanwhile, the right-handed reliever earned 15 strikeouts, picked up three wins and had four save situations.
Meanwhile, Bednar is performing brilliantly as the Pyretts’ closer. Last month, the right-handed pitcher earned 7 saves with 21 strikeouts, 2 walks and an ERA of 1.65 in 16.1 innings of work. Remarkably, Bednar had to pitch more than one inning for 4 of his 7 saves.
Seattle outfielder Julio Rodriguez and San Francisco outfielder Luis Gonzalez were named May’s best rookies.
Rodriguez, 21, who is off to a shaky start to his rookie season, has been on fire this past month, batting .309 slugging percentage. The Dominican has six home runs, five stolen bases, 17 RBI and an OPS of .866. Rodriguez is the first Mariners representative to win the Rookie of the Month title since August 2011, when the league rewarded Mike Karp.
Gonzalez, 26, was dismissed from San Francisco last winter after the Giants failed to protect his contract, but he soon re-signed with the Giants on a minor league deal. The outfielder didn’t make the team’s Opening Day roster for the season, but after being called up to the lineup from the farm on April 22, all he did was take productive shots at the ball. In May, the Mexican-bred hitter batted .368 average, hit 1 home run, 7 doubles, racked up 13 RBI and had a .910 OPS. In addition, Gonzalez made three appearances on the pitching slide, two of which ended without allowing an injury.
The top pitchers of the past month were Martin Perez of Texas and Zach Wheeler of Philadelphia. For both pitchers, this is the first such award.
Perez, who won the American League Pitcher of the Month award, led all starters in May with an ERA of 0.64. In six starts, he earned four wins and struck out 33 opposing hitters.
After a lackluster April, Wheeler once again demonstrated the abilities of a true rotation ace. Zach worked five starts with 2 wins, an ERA of 1.65 (3rd among National League pitchers) and 40 strikeouts (he shared third place in the league with teammate Aaron Nola).
MLB’s Player of the Month honors were well deserved for New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and St. Louis first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
Judge, who has 21 home runs to his credit, hit 12 long-range bombs in May, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts. Judge batted .311 with a .077 slugging percentage and a 1.077 OPS, and he also homered in 25 runs. Thanks in part to Judge, the Yankees currently have the best win-loss balance in the league (39-15).
Goldschmidt becomes the second consecutive player of the month for the Cardinals this year, and the third time in a row if you consider the end of last season. Nolan Arenado was named NL MVP in April and Tyler O’Neill in September 2021. In May, Goldschmidt batted with a National League-best batting average (.404) and an MLB-best OPS (1.288), while also hitting 10 home runs and 33 RBI.
For Judge and Goldschmidt, this is the third Player of the Month award of their careers. The first was awarded such an honorary title in June and September 2017, the second in June 2018 and July 2019.
