The month of May has come and gone, but before we move on to June, it’s time to honor last month’s standout players.
Here are the Players of the Month presented by Chevrolet, Pitchers of the Month, Rookies of the Month and Relievers of the Month Award winners for May, as announced on MLB Network on Friday.
Aaron Judge, NYY, AL Player of the Month
After winning the AL Player of the Month Award three times during his 2022 AL MVP season, Judge earns his first of 2023 and sixth of his career. The 6-foot-7 slugger actually missed the first eight days of May while on the injured list, but he returned to hit .342 with 12 homers, 25 RBIs, 20 walks and a 1.356 OPS over 21 games. Visual Story >
Freddie Freeman, LAD, NL Player of the Month
For the fourth time in his career and second as a member of the Dodgers, Freeman is the NL Player of the Month. The first baseman closed out May with a 20-game hitting streak and recorded a .400 batting average, six homers, 17 doubles, 26 RBIs, 12 walks and a 1.184 OPS over 28 games. Visual Story >
Nathan Eovaldi, TEX, AL Pitcher of the Month
Eovaldi’s complete-game shutout in his final start of April was a sign of things to come, as he went 4-0 with a 0.96 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 37 2/3 innings in five starts in May. This is the first Pitcher of the Month Award of his career. Visual Story >
Michael Wacha, SD, NL Pitcher of the Month
Wacha struggled in April (6.75 ERA), but he found his groove in May, going 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA and 26 K’s in 32 innings over five starts to win his first Pitcher of the Month Award. The Padres righty only allowed three extra-base hits all month, holding opponents to a .405 OPS. Visual Story >
Josh Jung, TEX, AL Rookie of the Month
This makes back-to-back AL Rookie of the Month Awards for Jung to start 2023. The third baseman had an incredible finish to the month of May, hitting safely in each of his final 14 games with four homers, five doubles, 12 RBIs and a 1.284 OPS in that span. Jung went deep six times altogether during the month and recorded a .318/.357/.561 slash over 26 games. Visual Story >
Spencer Steer, CIN, NL Rookie of the Month
Steer collected 25 hits over 64 at-bats (.391 average) in his final 15 games of May and finished the month with six homers, 19 RBIs and a .945 OPS over 27 games overall to earn NL Rookie of the Month honors. Visual Story >
Alex Lange, DET, AL Reliever of the Month
Lange becomes the second Tigers hurler to win the AL Reliever of the Month Award, joining Shane Greene. Lange struck out 17 of the 41 batters he faced and allowed only one run over 10 2/3 innings (0.84 ERA) in May, going 7-for-7 in save chances along the way. Visual Story >
Camilo Doval, SF, NL Reliever of the Month
Now a three-time NL Reliever of the Month Award winner, Doval converted all 11 of his save opportunities in May and recorded a 1.32 ERA and 23 strikeouts over 13 2/3 innings. Visual Story >