May Awards

I will once again be giving out the monthly player and pitcher of the month. I will do one a day until I get through all the teams. Today I am starting with the Twins.

• Twins Pitcher of the month: Nick Blackburn- Nick Blackburn has been by far the most consistant pitcher for the Twins all season. After going 2-1 with a 4.02 era in April Blackburn improved that in May by going 3-1 and a very good 3.08 era in the month. In the Month of May Blackburn made 6 starts and pitched 38 innings which is 6.3 innings a start. He gave up 38 hits in the 38 innings, but that doesn't bother me because he pitches to contact and will always give up his share of hits. He walked 13 and struck out 21 during the month which is a very good ration because that is only 2.9 walks per 9 innings which is still very goood. He held hitters to a very modest .259 opponents batting average. Nick Blackburn is doing everything you can ask out of him and more by carrying the load when some of our other starters are not doing their job. The bottom line is if Blackburn can have the next 4 months like the first 2 he will have a very solid year and be one of the top pitchers for the Twins.



• Also receiving consideration: Kevin Slowey, RA Dickey

• Twins hitter of the month: Joe Mauer- This decision was not as easy as I thought it would be as Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer put up very good months as well. The bottom line though was Joe Mauer put up one of the greatest months in Minnesota Twins history and this month will be remembered as the month Joe Mauer took the next step in his greatness. Another reason Joe was selected was you need to remember he missed all of April and there were some who wondered if he would need time to get going. The answer to that was answered on his first at bat when he clubbed a homerun to left field. Take a look at these May stats and be prepared to be amazed. Joe hit .414 along with 7 doubles and a triple along with an astonishing 11 homeruns. You need to remember in 532 at bats last season Joe only hit 10 homeruns so to hit 11 in one month is amazing. Mauer also drove in 32 rbi's in the month of May which is a career high for most rbi's in a month. Joe walked a very impressive 19 times with only 16 strikeouts in 99 at bats. The stats that just blow me away though is his on base percentage which right now is an unbelievable .500 which means he gets on base 1 out of every 2 plate appearances which is crazy to even think about. His slugging is way up to as he is slugging at a crazy rate of .838 which would be number 1 in baseball if he had enough at bats. You don't even want to know what his OPS is because noone has ever had an ops as good as Mauer's was in the month of May as it was 1.338. Joe Mauer is amazing and he just seems to get better and better every month. In my opinion he is the best player in the game and that is why it is so important for the Twins to get him signed.



• Also receiving consideration: Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel

Everyone what do you think of these two receiving the awards if anyone disagrees with my picks let me know or if you have anything to add let me know. You can email me at travis_aune@yahoo.com or leave a comment here at Travis Talks.