Starting pitcher Luis Gil of the New York Yankees has been voted the American League Rookie of the Month for May in addition to being named the AL Pitcher of the Month for May, and third baseman Joey Ortiz of the Milwaukee Brewers has been voted the National League Rookie of the Month for May. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Gil became the first Yankees rookie to win a monthly award since Miguel Andujar won in June and August 2018. Overall, it is the 11th honor for a Yankee rookie with Gil becoming the seventh different Yankee and first pitcher to take home the honor. Along with winning Rookie of the Month, Gil was also named the AL Pitcher of the Month, becoming the fifth pitcher in MLB and fourth
in the AL to win both awards within the same month, joining the Angels’ Matt Shoemaker (August 2014); the Rays’ Chris Archer (July 2013); the Rays’ Jeremy Hellickson (May 2011); and the Marlins’ Dontrelle Willis (June 2003). Ortiz is the first Brewers rookie to take home monthly honors since Keston Hiura in July 2019. It is the eighth time a Brewers rookie has been named Rookie of the Month, with seven different players claiming the award.
Luis Gil, New York Yankees (@thegil81)
• Over six starts, the right-hander went unbeaten with a 6-0 record and a 0.70 ERA (3 ER/38.2 IP), while allowing 14 hits with 12 walks, 44 strikeouts, a 0.67 WHIP, a .109
opponents’ batting average and 10.24 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The 26-year-old led the Majors in wins, opponents’ average, and WHIP; ranked second in ERA and innings pitched; and ranked third in strikeouts.
• The Yankees hurler leads qualified rookies this season in wins (7), strikeouts (79), opponents’ batting average (.135); ranks second in WHIP (0.95); third in ERA (1.99); and
is tied for third in games started (11) and innings pitched (63.1).
• The Dominican Republic native hurled a career-high 8.0 innings on Wednesday at Los Angeles (AL), allowing just one run on two hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. The
dominant start lowered his ERA to 1.99, after he entered the month of May with the mark at 4.01.
• The rookie struck out 14 batters over 6.0 innings on May 18th , setting a Yankees’ rookie record to surpass the previous record of 13 strikeouts by Orlando Hernández on August 13, 1998. From the fourth inning through the sixth inning, Gil recorded seven straight strikeouts.
• Gil tossed at least 6.0 innings and did not allow more than one run in all six of his starts in May, joining Steve Kline (1972) as the only hurlers in Yankees history to pitch at least 6.0 innings while allowing no more than one run in six consecutive starts. Overall, he is just the 14th pitcher since 1901 under the age of 26 to have at least six consecutive starts of 6.0
innings while allowing no more than one run.
Joey Ortiz, Milwaukee Brewers (@headhunjoe)
• The 25-year-old hit .307 (23-for-75) with four homers, 12 RBI, seven doubles, a triple, nine walks, 16 runs scored, a stolen base, a .587 slugging percentage and a .391 on-base
percentage in 23 games last month.
• The California native led qualified rookies in slugging, OPS (.978), extra-base hits (12), total bases (44) and runs scored; tied for second in homers and doubles; ranked third in
OBP; tied for fourth in hits and walks; and ranked fifth in batting average.
• The New Mexico State product recorded a hit and a run scored in six straight games from May 13th-19th, marking his longest career hitting streak. He joined Hall of Famer Robin
Yount (1974) as the only Brewers’ rookies under the age of 26 to record a hit and score a run in six consecutive games.
• The fourth-round selection in the 2019 MLB Draft homered in back-to-back games for the first time in his career on May 7th and May 9th and accomplished the feat again on May 15th and 17th, clubbing a three-run go-ahead shot on May 17th at Houston. His four homers were the most among NL rookies and were tied with Gary Sánchez for the second-most
among Milwaukee hitters in May behind Willy Adames’ five home runs.
• The versatile infielder reached base safely in 20 of his 23 games last month, with hits in 16 of the games. He entered the month on a five-game on-base streak and reached in his first four games in May to extend the streak to a career-high nine games. He reached base safely in eight straight games from May 13th-21st, boasting a .500 on-base percentage with a 1.214 OPS.
Others receiving votes for AL Rookie of the Month included second baseman Colt Keith (.342, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 5 2B, 5 BB, 10 R, 1 SB, .493 SLG) and outfielder Wenceel Pérez (.241, 6 RBI, 4 2B, 3 3B, 8 BB, 13 R, 2 SB) of the Detroit Tigers; outfielder Wilyer Abreu (.233, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 5 2B, 1 3B, 8 BB, 11 R, 3 SB, .453 SLG) and infielder/outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela (.239, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 3 2B, 3 BB, 13 R, 3 SB, .435 SLG) of the Boston Red Sox; and relief pitchers Cade Smith (2-0, 0.79 ERA, 11 G, 1 SV, 11.1 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 16 SO) and Hunter Gaddis (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 12 G, 12.1 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 SO) of the Cleveland Guardians.
Others receiving votes for NL Rookie of the Month included shortstop Masyn Winn of the St. Louis Cardinals (.309, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 7 2B, 3 BB, 6 R, 3 SB, .469 SLG); starting pitchers Gavin Stone (3-1, 1.97 ERA, 5 GS, 32.0 IP, 27 H, 5 BB, 23 SO) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-1, 3.48 ERA, 5 GS, 31.0 IP, 32 SO) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; starting pitcher Paul Skenes (2-0, 2.45 ERA, 4 GS, 22.0 IP, 5 BB, 30 SO) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; relief pitcher Jeremiah Estrada of the San Diego Padres (2-0, 0.77 ERA, 1 SV, 10 G, 11.2 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 23 SO); relief pitcher Bryce Jarvis (0-1, 2.19 ERA, 11 G, 12.1 IP, 6 SO) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; and outfielder Jacob Young (.237, 7 RBI, 3 2B, 6 BB, 9 R, 5 SB, .314 OBP) of the Washington Nationals.