WTHB May 2015 Astros MiLB Players of the Month

With no further ado, I present you with WTHB's May Players of the Month ...

Derek Fisher

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

OF Derek Fisher (Quad Cities/Lancaster)
I could have gone many, many different directions with this award, but not only did Fisher have a fantastic month, he ended it by breaking a California League record in the penultimate game of the month by collecting 12 RBI in one game. Yes, in Fisher's first game with Lancaster following his promotion, he was 4-for-6 with three home runs (two of them grand slams), a double and 12 RBI and he followed up with another home run and three RBI in his second game on Sunday. In May, he hit .313/.389/.554 with 10 doubles, one triple, 5 home runs, 28 RBI and he stole 5 bases.

There were certainly many other worthy contenders and, arguably, any and all of the following players were deserving. Honorable mentions go to OF Domingo Santana (Fresno), Jon Singleton (Fresno), Tony Kemp (Corpus Christi), OF Danry Vasquez (Lancaster/Corpus Christi), OF Brett Phillips (Lancaster), 1B A.J. Reed (Lancaster), 3B Nick Tanielu (Quad Cities) and OF Sean McMullen (Quad Cities).

PITCHER OF THE MONTH

RHP Chris Devenski (Corpus Christi)
You may remember that Devenski was my Pitcher of the Month in May after allowing ZERO earned runs in four appearances last month. Well, Devenski couldn't quite pull that off forever and he has now allowed three whole runs in nine games (46IP). In May, Devenski was 4-0 with a 1.01 ERA and a 1.050 WHIP in 5 games (4 starts), and he has a 0.59 ERA and a 0.870 WHIP for the season. This past Friday, Devenski pitched the first five innings of a rain-shortened 5.1 inning no-hitter (with Josh Hader contributing the extra out), the first no-hitter in Hooks history.

Honorable mentions go to RHP Vince Velasquez (Corpus Christi), RHP Mike Hauschild (Corpus Christi), LHP Brian Holmes (Lancaster/Corpus Christi), RHP Daniel Mengden (Quad Cities/Lancaster) and RHP Akeem Bostick (Quad Cities).

Chris Devenski

RELIEF PITCHER OF THE MONTH

RHP Travis Ballew (Corpus Christi)

I am particularly happy to hand out this award. Ballew's 2014 season did not go as planned, but so far in 2015, he is showing definite signs of his former dominance. In May, Ballew made 12 appearances out of the bullpen (13.2 innings) and compiled a 0.00 ERA and a 0.805 WHIP, walking two batters while striking out 11. For the season, he now has a 1.13 ERA and a 1.000 WHIP.

Honorable mention goes to RHP Tyson Perez (Fresno), RHP Richard Rodriguez (Fresno) and LHP Mitch Lambston (Fresno).

Travis Ballew

CATCHER OF THE MONTH

Jacob Nottingham (Quad Cities)
Nottingham took it to another level in May, hitting .355/.406/.591 in 23 games (17 of those behind the dish). He collected eight doubles, one triple, four home runs and 20 RBI. For the season, he has a 57% caught stealing rate.

Honorable mention goes to Tyler Heineman (Corpus Christi/Fresno).

Jacob Notthingham

April Players of the Month:
SS Carlos Correa
RHP Chris Devenski
RHP Ryan Thompson
C Tyler Heineman