May Awards/Fort Myers Miracle

Today, I will continue my look at the month of May in the Twins organization. Today, I look at the Fort Myers Miracle who did not have a very good month as they fell out of playoff contention in the first half. They also had a talent influx with some guys coming from Beloit and some others coming back down from New Britain. They may not have a lot of wins in May, but they had some good performances that I feel deserve to be mentioned. Let me know what you think and you can either leave a comment in the comment box or shoot me an email at travis_aune@yahoo.com and let me know what you think.

• Hitter of the Month: Joe Benson- I really wanted to choose someone that was in Fort Myers all month, but that was not possible as the offense for the Miracle in May was non-existant. Therefore I included the guys that spent half the month in Fort Myers guys like Chris Parmelee, Esterlin De Los Santos, and Joe Benson who were demoted from New Britain. Parmelee was under consideration, but since he went back up to New Britain he was disqualified and even he was still in Fort Myers I still would have gone with Benson. Joe Benson had to be upset that he was sent back to Fort Myers after hitting four homeruns and being the hottest hitter in New Britain in the month of May. However, after going down to Fort Myers he used it as a positive and not a negative to put together a good month of May. In Fort Myers in the month of May Benson hit .263 in 14 games for the Miracle. He showed his extra base power by hitting four homeruns along with five doubles along with 11 rbis. He walked eight times while striking out 14 times. He also stole four bases. Benson had a very good .364 on base percentage along with a very good .561 slugging percentage for an OPS of .925. Joe Benson really had a good month of May as he hit 8 homeruns if you combine his New Britain stats. Benson had a very good month and it won't be long until he is back in New Britain.
• Others Considered: Esterlin De Los Santos, Dan Rohlfing

• Pitcher of the Month: Liam Hendriks- After arriving from Beloit in early May Liam Hendriks kept it going all month long. After putting up a very good 1.32 in 34 innings in Beloit, he got promoted to Fort Myers and was also very good. Hendriks made four May starts and went 2-1 with a very good 2.70 era. He worked 23.1 innings so just about 6 innings a start for the Australian pitcher. In his 23.1 innings he only gave up seven runs which is very good. Now this is impressive he only walked four batters while striking out 25 batters. Hendriks held opponents to a .230 opponents batting average, which is very good. Liam Hendriks has taken huge steps in 2010 and has put his injury past behind him to become a very good prospect for the Twins. It will be interesting to see how good he becomes, because the talent is there and his arm is finally completely healthy and is finally showing it on the mound. He is definately you should keep an eye on in the years ahead as he moves through the system.
• Others Considered: Billy Bulluck, Shooter Hunt, Andrei Lobanov