The St. Louis Cardinals announced Memphis (AAA) catcher Carson Kelly and Springfield (AA) right-handed pitcher Matt Pearce have been honored as the Cardinals Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for May for their accomplishments on the field.
Kelly, 22, the Cardinals second round (86th overall) selection out of Westview (Ore.) High School in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft batted .381 (32-84) with seven doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI over 22 games in May. The backstop's 32 hits in May were the most by any Triple-A catcher and his .447 on-base percentage was 3rd-highest among all Triple-A players. Defensively, Kelly leads all Pacific Coast League catchers in put outs (321) and double plays (5), while ranking 6th throwing out 27.6% (8 CS-29 SB ATT) of attempted base stealers. 
Kelly hit safely in 18-of-22 May games with 10 multi-hit games including four three-hit games. His .399 on-base percentage currently ranks 8th among PCL players.
"Carson delivered a strong offensive month of May, leading Memphis in batting, slugging and on-base plus slugging, while defensively helping Memphis to a 19-10 record,"said Cardinals Director of Player Development, Gary LaRocque.
Pearce, 23, the Cardinals 13th round pick (405th overall) in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Polk State (Fla.) College, was a perfect 5-0 with an 0.69 ERA over five starts compiling 39 innings pitched.
The Springfield hurler threw two complete games, tied for the most in Minor League Baseball, while his 0.69 ERA ranked 2nd only to Biloxi's Corbin Burnes (0.55) among all of Minor League Baseball pitchers in May.
Pearce finished the month with the two complete games versus Northwest Arkansas (5/21) and a four-hit shutout at San Antonio (5/26). He was named Texas League Pitcher of the Week (May 15-21).
Currently, Pearce's two complete games leads the Texas League while he ranks 3rd in ERA (2.19), 2nd in WHIP (0.97), T-4th in wins (5), 2nd in innings pitched (65.2) and is one of four league pitchers to throw a shutout.
"Matt finished May with back to back complete games, only one walk and one earned run over his last 18 innings," said LaRocque.
Pearce won his second monthly Minor League honor, earning the award in July 2016, while Kelly earned his first career Minor League monthly honor.