MLB Enters May

Roster Depth, Weather Impact and MLB Honors in May

By David A. Avila

Depth begins to show during the month of May and teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers, who lead their respective divisions, will discover where they truly stand in the coming weeks.

Just ask the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

One other factor is the weather.

A year ago, the Angels were the talk of baseball as they led the American League West behind a powerful hitting attack spearheaded by Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. Then the collapse began after a skirmish with the Seattle Mariners.

The Angels finished 33 games behind the powerful Houston Astros who eventually won the World Series.

Depth in every baseball roster comes from several ways, either through free agency, trades or more often from a healthy and vibrant farm system. The Pirates have very good scouting and young talent always coming up from the minor leagues. Experience may be one thing they are lacking.

Pittsburgh leads the NL Central by a game and a half over Milwaukee Brewers. With 20 wins, only Atlanta has won more games as of now.

One team struggling at the moment has been St. Louis Cardinals who were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers and now are being swept by the Angels too. But the Cardinals are a pitching-strong team and usually turn things around when the hot weather arrives.

Many teams play better in the cold and others in the heat.

Over the years teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers always turn up the heat when the weather gets warmer. Up until mid-May last year the Dodgers were out of synch and then they caught fire. Eventually they turned into a juggernaut and won a record 111 wins. Their most wins in franchise history.

The late Spring and early summer saw the Washington Nationals catch fire in 2019 and eventually streak all the way to World Series victory.

Will Pittsburgh and Texas be cold weather team are hot blooded during the summer?

Best Hitter for April - Luis Arraez

Still leading the Major Leagues in hits Luis Arraez continues to flaunt an educated bat as he enters the month of May batting .427 as of Thursday May 4. The infielder for the Miami Marlins was traded from Minnesota for three players that included pitcher Pablo Lopez, shortstop Jose Salas and outfielder Byron Chourio.

Seems the Marlins got a good deal as they have the NL best hitter for average at .429 and an a 1.027 OPS.

The 26-year-old second baseman from Venezuela bats left and does not strike out much. Only five whiffs this year so far.

Players and Pitchers of the Month

Atlanta Braves Ronald Acuna Jr was voted Player of the Month for the National League and Toronto Blue Jays Matt Chapman took honors for the American League.

Acuna, an outfielder, sports a 1.004 OPS with a .353 batting average to go with 15 stolen bases that lead the Major Leagues. No doubt he is fully healed and is the NL Player of the Month.

Chapman, a third baseman, has a 1.152 OPS and a .384 batting average and 21 RBIs to be this month’s best AL player.

In pitching veteran southpaw Clayton Kershaw won honors for the NL Pitcher of the Month with a 1.89 ERA and a 200th career win recently. It was also the seventh time the Los Angeles Dodger pitcher has won Pitcher of the Month.

New York Yankee Gerrit Cole was voted AL Pitcher of the Month as he pitched a Major League leading 40 2/3 innings and did not allow a home run. The Yankees have not lost a game he pitched. Cole has a 1.11 ERA and 44 strikeouts.

Rookie of the Month honors went to Josh Jung of Texas Rangers and James Outman of Los Angeles Dodgers.

Relievers of the Month were Felix Bautista of Baltimore Orioles and Josh Hader of San Diego Padres.

Hot Player

Oakland A’s Brent Rooker continues to lead his team in hitting. After waiting for years in the minor leagues he finally got an opportunity and has made the best of it.

Rooker, 28, plays outfield for the A’s and has slugged nine homers to go along with a .321 batting average and 1.125 OPS.

Since putting on the A’s uniform he’s managed to make the most of the opportunity to play regularly.

“I think there is a level of comfort here and I’m in the lineup every day and can compete,” Rooker to MLB Network on Thursday. “The numbers over the past month I don’t know if it can be repeated.”

One significant change has been eliminating chasing after bad pitches. Though the A’s are mired in last place, Rooker and the team remain confident.

“We had a couple of big walk-off wins. My multi-homer game in Baltimore was pretty special,” said Rooker. “The message throughout our clubhouse is to keep the blinders on and believe in each other.”

Sweeps

Los Angeles Dodgers swept both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies to close out a homestand with a six-game winning streak.

Los Angeles Angels swept St. Louis Cardinals in three games.

It was good to be a Los Angeles-based team.

(Photo by Pittsburgh Baseball Now)