Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa has been voted the Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month for May, and Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon has been voted the Budweiser Presents National League Player of the Month for May.
The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network. Correa batted .386 (39-for-101) with 24 runs scored, eight doubles, seven home runs and 26 RBI to claim his first career AL Player of the Month Award. Carlos' first monthly honor came via Rookie of the Month, which he was awarded in June 2015. Correa is the first Astros player to win AL Player of the Month since teammate Jose Altuve took home monthly honors last June. Among qualified AL leaders, the 2015 AL Rookie of the Year finished the month first in batting average and RBI; second in runs scored; third in on-base percentage (.457); fourth in slugging percentage (.673); and tied for sixth in extra-base hits (15).
On Monday against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, the Ponce, Puerto Rico native went 3-for- 5 with three runs scored, a double, one home run and three RBI. Following the game, Correa had tallied 322 hits and 50 home runs in 298 career games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 22- year-old shortstop became the second player in franchise history to compile 300 hits and 50 homers in his first 300 Major League games, joining Lance Berkman (313 hits, 58 HR). Moreover, the three-hit effort was his fifth consecutive multi-hit game, the longest multi-hit streak of his career, and the longest by an Astros player since Altuve posted a five-game streak from July 17th-22nd of last season. In Houston's final game of the month on Wednesday against Minnesota, the first overall selection in the 2012 MLB Draft tallied three hits, a pair of runs and his ninth home run of the season. With the two-run blast, Correa logged the 50th home run of his career at the shortstop position, the most in franchise history. In Major League history, only Alex Rodriguez (95) hit more home runs as a shortstop prior to turning 23 years old.
Led by their star shortstop's hot bat, Houston owns the best record in Baseball at 38-16 (.704) and leads the AL West by 11.5 games. Others receiving votes for AL Player of the Month included AL Rookie of the Month Aaron Judge (.347, 17 R, 7 HR, 17 RBI) and Brett Gardner (.327, 23 R, 9 HR, 21 RBI) of the New York Yankees; Carlos' versatile teammate Marwin Gonzalez (.382, 19 R, 7 HR, 22 RBI); last month's AL Player of the Month Mike Trout (.797 SLG, 18 R, 9 HR, 18 RBI) of the Los Angeles Angels; outfielder Corey Dickerson (.349, 27 R, 16 XBH, 15 RBI) of the Tampa Bay Rays; and Yonder Alonso (.303/.425/.803, 10 HR, 17 RBI) of the Oakland Athletics.
Blackmon hit .359 (42-for-117) with 24 runs scored, six doubles, five triples, six home runs, 29 RBI and three stolen bases to claim his first career Player of the Month Award, and the first for the Rockies since teammate Nolan Arenado in September 2015. Among qualified NL hitters, Charlie finished the period first in hits, batting average and triples; tied for first in extra-base hits (17); third in runs scored and slugging percentage (.650); tied for third in stolen bases; and fifth in RBI. Blackmon began his award-winning month on a seven-game hitting streak from May 2nd-9th, posting a .387/.424/.742 slash line during his prolific start. The Rockies went 5-2 in that span, helped in large part by his hot bat, which accounted for seven runs scored, four doubles, two triples, a home run, one stolen base and three RBI.
On May 23rd against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, Blackmon went 2-for-4 with a pair of two-run home runs, marking his first multi-homer game of the 2017 campaign. The four-RBI output gave him a Major League-leading 40 RBI on the season (47 games). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the fewest number of team games for a player to accumulate 40 RBI from the leadoff spot since RBI became an official statistic in 1920. The record of 52 team games was previously held by two American Leaguers - Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers (2009) and Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox (2016).
Over a 13-game span from May 12th-26th, Colorado's second round selection in the 2008 MLB Draft recorded a hit in 12 games, 10 of which were multi-hit efforts. The dynamic center fielder slashed .456/.475/.772 with 15 runs scored, two doubles, a pair of triples, four home runs, 18 RBI and two stolen bases during his torrid stretch. On the heels of Blackmon's productive month, Colorado enters play today in a first-place tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks atop the NL West at 34-22 (.607). Justin Bour (.344, 18 R, 11 HR, 21 RBI) of the Miami Marlins also received votes after connecting for 11 round-trippers over 19 games from May 10th-31st. The only other slugger in Marlins history to hit more home runs than Bour in a span of 19-or-fewer games is teammate Giancarlo Stanton, who went deep 12 times over 19 games in 2015.
Others receiving votes for NL Player of the Month included Bour's teammates Marcell Ozuna (.343, 18 R, 8 HR, 18 RBI) and Stanton (.299, 9 2B, 7 HR, 21 RBI); Michael Conforto (.314, 25 R, 9 2B, 7 HR) of the New York Mets; NL Rookie of the Month Cody Bellinger (.566 SLG, 22 R, 9 HR, 27 RBI) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Buster Posey (.344, .600 SLG, 15 R, 11 XBH) of the San Francisco Giants; Zack Cozart (.344, 19 R, 12 XBH, 18 RBI) and Adam Duvall (.291, 14 R, 7 HR, 28 RBI) of the Cincinnati Reds; and Charlie's teammate Mark Reynolds (.319, 16 R, 5 HR, 21 RBI).
The Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month, Carlos Correa, and the Budweiser Presents National League Player of the Month, Charlie Blackmon will each receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, for their accomplishments.