Players of the Month: May

OK, it's a little late to look at the league's stats in May, but hey, it's never really too late, is it? First, let's have a look at the standings, and then we'll delve into the individual league leaders.

Marietta and Hopatcong tied for the best record in May (22-9/.710) after both teams hovered around .500 the first month. On the other side of the spectrum, Hillsborough tumbled from the top spot after a .500 month:

(Record through May / Record in month of May)
1. Marietta, 37-23 (.617) -- 22-9 (.710)
2. Vancouver, 34-23 (.596) -- 17-14 (.548)
3. Hopatcong, 35-24 (.593) -- 22-9 (.710)
4. Arkansas, 35-26 (.574) -- 20-13 (.606)
5. Sardine City*, 35-23 (.603) -- 18-13 (.581)
6. Hillsborough*, 34-23 (.596) -- 15-14 (.517)
7. Philadelphia, 34-26 (.567) -- 16-16 (.500)
8. Poovey Farms, 31-29 (517) -- 18-13 (.581)
9. Tucson, 29-28 (.509) -- 18-13 (.581)
10. San Francisco, 26-31 (.456) -- 15-15 (.500)
11. Hoboken, 27-35 (.435) -- 13-19 (.406)
12. Livingston, 26-35 (.426) -- 12-21 (.364)
13. Empire City, 24-34 (.414) -- 11-21 (.344)
14. Allentown, 23-37 (.383) -- 16-16 (.500)
15. Blue Ridge, 22-38 (.367) -- 9-22 (.290)
16. El Paso, 21-38 (.356) -- 8-22 (.267)
* indicates wild card

Hopatcong did it with a league-best 184 runs scored and +82 run differential. Marietta had the second-best run differential (+68) on the strength of only 89 runs allowed (Hopatcong was second at 102).

Individually, Philly's Michael Conforto smashed opponents for a line of .321/.431/.726, leading the league in slugging and OPS (1.157) while smacking 13 homers, with 29 RBIs and 27 runs scored. On his heels was Allentown's Mike Trout, who's line of .306/.421/.711 (1.131) trailed slightly but he edged Conforto in counting categories with a league-best 14 home runs, 30 RBI and 30 runs scored.

So, the Batter of the Month award for May is essentially a toss-up. We went to other stats to see if some kind of tie-breaker could be found. Both played in 32 games, Trout started all of his while Conforto started in 29. That means Trout had more plate appearances, 145 versus 130. Conforto had 18 walks to 27 strikeouts (1.5 K/BB) while Trout had 21 walks to 29 strikeouts (1.38 K/BB). So, if you like counting categories, Trout is your Batter of the Month while if you're more of a percentage SABRmetrician who goes by OPS and such, Conforto is your guy.

Conforto and Trout were among five qualified batters that compiled an OPS of better than 1.000 during May:

• Josh Donaldson, Poovey Farms- .274/.408/.679--> 1.086
• J.D. Martinez, Vancouver- .283/.410/.602 --->1.012
• Joey Votto, Hopatcong- .325/.424/.583 ---> 1.007

Hoboken shortstop Zack Cozart came close with a. 996 OPS, Marietta rookie Max Kepler hit .993 OPS in some platoon play, and Vancouver's Alex Avila smacked 1.044 in 17 starts behind the plate (26 games in all). Arkansas catcher Buster Posey led the league in batting at .363 and he also doubled what had been the longest hit streak this year (Daniel Murphy, 14 games), going 28 games in a streak that stretched from April.

Tucson's Avisail Garcia also launched himself into the middle of the batting race with a .346 month and a league-high 45 hits, including 13 doubles. Marietta's Mike Stanton was second to Trout in home runs with 11 while Trout's teammate and the man he was traded for this offseason, Didi Gregorious, smacked 10. Donaldson was the only other batter to get to double digits.

On the pitching side, last month's Pitcher of the Month, Corey Kluber of Sardine City set a new season-high strikeout total, fanning 17 Hoboken Cutters in a 4-2 win at home, without walking a batter over eight innings. That same night, Max Scherzer fanned 14 over eight innings for Tucson, giving up 3 hits and one unearned run.

Scherzer had the better month of May though, compiling a 0.95 WHIP and 2.54 ERA while going 5-1 with 53 strikeouts in 39 innings. Sardine City's ace won four games and was second in strikeouts (64) but a more pedestrian 4.50 ERA and 1.22 WHIP.

Hopatcong had two five-game winners: Stephen Strasburg and Parker Bridwell. Bridwell relied on the Floating Fish offense, backing him with an average 9 runs per game in May starts. Strasburg relied on his pitching, with a 2.49 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 50 K over 43.1 IP. San Francisco's Chris Sale led the league in K's with 66 and was among the leaders in innings (45.1) but his other stats didn't show it (1-5, 4.57 ERA and 1.21 WHIP).

El Paso's Michael Fulmer led the league with 49.1 innings on the strength of two complete games, including a shutout. He sported a 1.07 WHIP and 2.37 ERA but went 3-2 before getting shipped to Philly in June for Jorge Alfaro. Teammate and fellow rookie Luis Castillo continued to be among the league's ERA leaders overall thanks to a 1.98 ERA last month, in spite of a 1.35 WHIP, going 1-2, before also being dealt in June (to Vancouver).

Marietta boasted three starters with 4 wins a piece (Mike Clevinger, 1.56 ERA/1.10 WHIP; Andrew Cashner, 2.65 ERA/1.16 WHIP, and Charlie Morton, 3.19 ERA/0.98 WHIP), and another went 3-1 (Luis Severino, 2.50 ERA/1.13 WHIP). Plus, the Mighty Men had a dominant reliever in Chad Green. He converted seven of eight saves with a stellar  0.80 WHIP and 0.65 ERA to go with 46 strikeouts in 27.2 innings (16 appearances).

The only reliever with more saves was Tucson's Craig Kimbrel. He converted all of his 9 saves and had a 0.71 ERA and 0.47 WHIP but did it in far fewer innings (12.2 IP, 9 appearances). For his workload and his stellar starts, we'll overlook the one blown save, and go with a reliever this month, so Green is the Pitcher of the Month for May.

Poovey Farms' Brian Kintzler was perfect on seven save opps, with a 0.94 WHIP in 17 appearances. The Dairy Cows also had a good month out of Kenta Maeda, who had the league's best WHIP (0.87) and went 4-1.

Vancouver and Hillsborough each had a trio of relievers with a strong month. The Iron Fist also had C.C. Sabathia show he's still got something in the tank, going 4-2 with a 1.82 ERA and 1.03 WHIP.

Ken Giles saved 8 of 10 games for Arkansas over 13 games, including a 1.16 WHIP. Alex Claudio saved all 7 opportunities he got for Hopatcong across 15 appearances, logging a 1.02 WHIP and 1.08 ERA. Brad Peacock also went 4-1 out of the 'pen for San Francisco. Speaking of relievers, Sardine City's Andrew Miller had 6 saves and a microscopic 0.58 WHIP and 0.52 ERA over 15 appearances. Almost lost in the Straphangers' pen was Keone Kela, who had a 0.77 WHIP in 14 games, saving 3.

As a team, Livingston had four complete games, including Ervin Santana's no-hitter. The Lords of Swing also had a strong May out of Mike Leake, who went 4-3 in 5 quality starts, with a 1.10 WHIP and 3.43 ERA.