Major League Baseball announced today that lefthanded pitcher Steven Matz was named the National League Rookie of the Month for May.
Matz, who turned 25 on May 29, went 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA (seven earned runs/34.1 innings) in five starts in May. He issued four walks, struck out 31 and opponents hit .180 against him in May.
Overall, Matz leads all rookies in wins (seven), ERA (2.60 - minimum 30.0 innings) and strikeouts (53).
Matz is 11-1 in 15 career regular season games in the majors. He won seven straight starts from April 17-May 25, becoming the first Mets pitcher to do so since Steve Trachsel in 2006. According to Elias, Matz is one of two lefties since 1900 to win 11 of their first 15 major league starts, joining Kazuhisa Ishii of the Dodgers in 2002.
Matz is the third Mets player to earn Rookie of the Month honors, joining infielder Justin Turner (May, 2011) and Jacob deGrom (July, 2014 and September, 2014). The Award was established in 2001.
Matz will receive a specially designed engraved trophy to commemorate his honor.