Sunday, May 31, 2009

Pittsburgh Pirates May Awards

For April's awards, click here.

Hitter of the Month: Andy LaRoche
LaRoche had a pathetic April due to a very, very slow start. But since then he has been hitting the cover off the ball. After batting .254 in April, LaRoche has rebounded to bat .330 in May and has raised his BA to .299.

Andy also has put together 2 11-game hitting streaks this year and his .411 OBP in May led the team. He also has slugged .457 for the month, which is 2nd on the team.

LaRoche hit 6 doubles, 2 homers, and drove in 14 batters in 28 games.

Pitcher of the Month: Zach Duke
Duke become's North Side Notch's first repeat winner of this award as he had yet another stellar month. Duke posted a 2-3 record and a 2.98 ERA in 6 starts over the month of May. He also picked up his 2nd complete game of the year.

Duke walked just 11 batters as opposed to his 26 strikeouts in 42.1 innings.

He also was the only Pirates' starter to finish the month with an ERA under 4.00.

Minor League Hitter of the Month: Miles Durham
Durham, 26, was the Pirates' 22nd round pick in the 2006 draft. He is currently playing in Lynchburg. Durham had a spectacular month batting .333 with 6 HR and 21 RBI. He posted an OPS of .948. Durham gets most of his playing time in right field. If he can continue to put numbers up that are close to the ones he put up in May, you can expect him to move to Altoona soon.

Minor League Pitcher of the Month: Brad Lincoln
This one's a no-brainer, and Pirates' fans should be happy about that. Lincoln, 24, was the Bucs' 1st round pick in 2006 out of Houston. After missing all of 2007 and some of 2008 due to arm surgery, Lincoln looks to have returned to the prospect he was when the Bucs picked him 4th overall in '06. Lincoln has started 5 games in May and has allowed runs in only 2 of them. He is 1-1 with a 0.80 ERA in 33.2 innings over that span. He struck out 29 batters while only walking 6. On May 21st, Lincoln hurled a 2-hit, complete game shutout against Bowie. He hasn't allowed a run since May 15th. Look for Lincoln to keep this up and move to AAA soon. He is looking like a very strong candidate to be called up in September for a few starts as well.
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