National League Awards Predictions
Player of the Month in the NL was actually a tough one going into the last week of May. I give it to Bryce Harper over Shohei Ohtani by a HAIR. They both launched 7 long balls in May, along with several other extra-base hits (Harper with 5 Doubles, Ohtani with 3 two-baggers and a triple). Their averages on the month were nearly identical with Harper hitting .313 and Ohtani just a point behind at .312; where Harper separates himself are in the RBIs and Walks with 24 and 16 versus Ohtani’s 19 and 10. If Ohtani takes anything away from Harper, it’s his blazing speed as he stole 8 bags against Bryce’s 2SB in May, but that’s about it.
Pitcher of the Month for the National League looks like a lock for the reinvented Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves. He goes into June with the best record of any NL Starter at 5-0 along with some insane metrics like 12.66K/9, 0.56BB/9 and 0.00HR/9 (Best in NL for May). I would attribute his success to the infield defense that the Braves have, as he put 49.3% of balls in play against him on the ground. This all ties into one of the most important stats, his 0.56ERA, which is why he leads the NL with a 1.7 fWAR. The Wins are a stat that are slowly but surely losing their value, as we take into account how much offensive support a pitcher gets, as well as defensive support these days.
Reliever of the Month in the National League will be a race of Matt Strahm of the Phillies and Jeremiah Estrada of the Padres, who both sported an ERA of 0.82 with a 2-0 record over 11 Innings thrown going into the end of May, but Strahm was 2-1 with a 0.00 ERA over 11.1IP in a dozen appearances. Both are simple late game setup guys, neither having any Saves, but the Closers didn’t close as well as they should have in May for the NL teams.
With Shota Imanaga pitching coming down to earth with a 1-1 record in 5 Starts and a 2.67 ERA to go with it for May, a new name for Rookie of the Month has emerged. Joey Ortiz, 25-year old Third Baseman for the Brewers has played in 23 Games in May and turned heads. He hit a total of 4HR while driving in 12RBI and hitting .307 overall. He’s also got 7 Doubles and a Triple to go along with the 9 Walks, and only 11 Strikeouts in 75 At-Bats. He first came up with the Orioles in 2023 as a “Glove First” guy, but has quickly put that to bed after being traded for Corbin Burnes in the offseason. I will say, though the offense definitely does need to catch up with the pitching this season, especially so with the NL Rookies, besides Ortiz who shows a mastery of the strikezone.
American League Awards Predictions
Player of the Month in the AL is a runaway train called AARON JUDGE of the Yankees. He quite literally sealed the deal on the last day as he went 3-4, scoring twice on two home runs while driving in 4 runs for a total of 9 bases. The day before, he only had one hit, but it also happened to be a home run, adding another 4 bases to his monthly total which came out to 90 in May. Not only did this monster of a man hit 14 bombs, he had a dozen Doubles, scored 28 Runs, and had 27RBI to go with his .371 Average over 27 Games. His fWAR of 2.7 is tops, and nobody is close (second best is Jose Ramirez’s and Bobby Witt Jr’s 1.7 fWAR each) but again, this is partially why the Yankees are in first place going into June. Massive offense, and an amazing rotation.
Pitcher of the Month for May is one of those awards where Wins may be shown to be an aging statistic. It’s also one of those awards where someone can’t win two in a month, or else this would end with Luis Gil of the Yankees, plain and simple. But since that’s not what’s going to happen, Garrett Crochet of the flailing White Sox will be getting this award. Sure, Gil had a flawless 6-0 record, and Crochet went 4-1, but that single loss was to the juggernaut team in the Orioles. He also still held his May ERA to just 0.93 over 29 innings. He also grabbed an astounding 38 strikeouts while only giving up 5 free passes. If we’re looking at peripheral stats, Crochet has Gil beat during May in K/9, BB/9, GB% and xFIP. His 1.2 fWAR on the month should be good enough to take the honors, but there’s always the chance that MLB could let Tarik Skubal take it, or Gil because he was just so darned dominant.
Emmanuel Clase of the 1st place Guardians only improved upon his already stellar start to the season, lowering his ERA from 0.59 to 0.32 while racking up 9 Saves and 2 Wins over 13 Appearances. For May, he gave up only a single unearned run, struck out 14 in 13IP, and walked only 1 batter to go with his 0.00 ERA. His peripheral stats such as the ridiculous .107 BABIP, 67.9% ground ball rate, and no home runs were a big factor in my decision. He was tied in fWAR with 3 other Relievers, and Griffin Jax was placed ahead of him due to some other peripheral stats that he did better in, but Clase had more Saves and more Wins, which is why his team is in first, and not Jax’s Twins in the Central. I take Emmanuel Clase for the AL Relief Pitcher of the Month
Rookie of the Month for May in the AL will most likely go to the Yankees young Starting Pitcher who had a clean sweep of Orioles, Astros, Rays, White Sox, Mariners and Angels for a 6-0 May with a miniscule 0.70 ERA over 38.2 IP while collecting 44K. No other pitcher in the American League can touch Gil’s dominance, and no hitter had a month like he did, either. This one is rather easy, in my opinion. He also lowered his season ERA to just 1.99, putting him in near top 10 Starter territory in the American League.
