Minnesota Twins June Awards

I will be doing my month awards once again as we move onto the month of June and see who exceeded expectations to grab the Pitcher and Hitter of the Month. I will be starting my tour of all the teams with the Twins and work my way down all the way to Beloit. I will not do Elizabethton or the GCL because they just started their seasons, but I will be adding them next month when i look back at July. I hope you all enjoy and if anybody has a disagreement with me you can either leave it in the comment box or email me at travis_aune@yahoo.com.

• Pitcher of the Month: Joe Nathan- Joe Nathan stole the show in June for the Twins. Nick Blackburn would of been a very solid pick as he went 1-2 with a very good 2.37 era in 5 June starts. For him not to get it there had to of been a performance pretty outstanding. Joe Nathan put up one of the greatest months from a closer in Minnesota Twins history. Joe appeared in 12 games for the Twins and went 0-0 with a 0.00 era in June. He pitched 11.2 scoreless innings and picked up 11 saves in the month of June. In 11.2 innings Nathan only gave up 4 hits along with a very impression 1 walk and 18 strikeouts to pace the Twins. The most impressive stat of all though was opponents hit only .105 against him in June. Normally, I prefer giving this award to a starting pitcher, but Nathans stats were too good to pass up. Joe Nathan in my opinion is the best closer out there and I am so glad the Twins decided to show him the money because as bad as our bullpen has been this year can you imagine what it would of been like without the anchor at the end in Joe Nathan. On the year Nathan has a 1.45 era and 20 saves and appears on his way to another All-Star game for the Twins.
• Others Considered: Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker, Matt Guerrier

• Hitter of the Month: Jason Kubel- It is not very often that you hit .357 for the month and not win player of the month award. Jason Kubel beat out Joe Mauer even though Mauer hit .353 for the month of June. The reason I gave it to Kubel is because of production. In the month of June Jason Kubel hit .291 with an incredible 8 homeruns and 17 rbi's along with 5 doubles and 10 walks. Kubel had an obp of .371 with a slugging percentage of .628 for an ops of .999. Jason Kubel really struggles against left handed pitching as he is only a .185 hitter against lefty's. However, against right handers he is just killing the ball hitting .352 with 13 homeruns and 38 rbi's and an ops of 1.062. Jason Kubel has really come into his own in the DH spot and gives the Twins a third dangerous hitter from the left side to go with Mauer and Morneau. If need be he can play the occasional outfield and not hurt the team too bad, but his best position with his knees and defensively is DH. On the year Kubel is hitting .308 with 13 homeruns and 42 rbi's which would be up there for an All-Star selection, but with the game in the National League he won't make it. This was a tough decision between Kubel and Mauer in June so I am wondering if you all think I made the right decision.