Players of the Month

Mike Trout led May in OBP with an impressive .480 mark, 34 points higher than the next nearest player, Brandon Crawford. Crawford and Trout got to their high OBPs in different ways. Trout was a 30 hit, 30 walk player, while Crawford collected 42 hits and seven walks. Trout also played more games and came to the plate more, which makes his feat a little more real. Trout also posted a .698 slugging percentage, and stole seven bases in seven tries, so he excelled at every aspect of offense in the month.

Kudos to Crawford, who hit .412 for the month of May. Scooter Gennett fell a hit short at .398. Both posted outstanding months.

Mookie Betts led the majors in slugging percentage at .766, nine points ahead of Jose Ramirez. Betts played just 24 games, however, so Ramirez has better counting numbers. Ramirez is second in home runs to J.D. Martinez, third in doubles, tied for second in runs, and fourth in RBI. His OPS is about the same as Trout, but Ramirez did more damage, so Jose Ramirez is the Baseball Musings Offensive Player of the Month for May 2018.

There are also a plethora of pitchers who pitched well enough to deserve the May honor. Justin Verlander stands out immediately for his 0.86 ERA with impressive three-true outcome numbers. Jake Arrieta, however, is right behind Verlander at 0.90, but in 11 2/3 fewer innings. James Paxton led the majors in innings pitched and posted a 1.67 ERA and pitched two complete games. Daniel Mengden posted a 1.51 ERA in the same innings as Verlander, but struck out just 5.18 batters per nine innings. That is really impressive, since that K rate is among the lowest in the majors. Sean Newcomb went 5-0 with a 1.54 ERA and did not allow a home run.

When all factors are taken into account, Verlander comes out on top. He owns the best ERA with a high number of innings, and he was superior in all aspects of the game. Justin Verlander is the Baseball Musings Pitcher of the Month for May 2018.

from baseballmusings.com https://ift.tt/2LccVe5