May Awards: New Britain Rockcats

I will be continuing my awards for pitcher of the month and hitter of the month for the month of May. Today I will be looking at the New Britain Rockcats who really took off in May. Let me know what you think you can either leave a comment or email me at travis_aune@yahoo.com.

• Pitcher of the Month: Matt Fox- Matt Fox really came onto the scene in May for the Rockcats. I was expecting Matt to kind of hit the proverbial wall this year with the Rockcats, but he has done just the opposite. After going 7-7 with a 3.37 era in 14 starts for Fort Myers last year he got promoted to New Britain. I did not know what to expect out of Fox because of all the injuries he has endured in his career. Fox did alright in April going 1-1 with a 4.15 era in 4 starts with the Rockcats. In May though he turned the corner to go 3-1 with a great 2.41era in 6 May starts. Along with that he pitched 33.2 innings which is 5.5 innings per start. He also walked 13 and struck out 24 in the month which is good because he is a contact type of pitcher as his 32 hits in 33.2 innings would attest too. The most amazing stat for me though was opponents only hit .248 against him even though he is a contact kind of pitcher.



• Others under consideration: Cole Devries, Anthony Slama

• Hitter of the Month: Danny Valencia- This was the hardest decision I think I have ever had to make when it comes to hitters of the month. Danny Valencia and Whit Robbins had such close numbers in May it was uncanny. The good part was both guys had monster months. The thing that tipped the scale in Valencia's corner is he plays a more demanding position so to hit that good and play good defense too is amazing. Danny had a decent April hitting .269 with 2 homers and 6 rbi's. However, in May Danny really ratcheted it up a notch by posting a .373 batting average. He had 12 extra base hits with 6 doubles, 2 triples, and 4 homeruns to go along with 18 runs batted in. The stat that impressed me was his walk to strikeout ratio as he only struck out 13 times while taking 11 walks. His obp was very impressive at .443 which is very very good. His slugging was awesome as well at .667 which most hitters would just dream of having. Put his great discipline at the plate with raking it when it comes over the plate and you get an unbelieveable 1.110 ops. Anyone not named Joe Mauer would love to have these kind of numbers. The bottom line is he will hit for more power as he gets older and eventually will be a 20-25 homerun a year hitter. Add in his great defense as he has only committed 6 errors and you have the Twins 3rd baseman of the future and that future could begin next spring.



• Others under consideration: Whitt Robbins, Brian Dinkelman, Rene Tosoni, Juan Portes