NEW YORK — Cincinnati Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett has been voted the Budweiser Presents National League Player of the Month for his play in May.
Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor has been voted the Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month.
Gennett batted .398 (37-for-93) with 16 runs scored, six doubles, eight home runs and 24 RBI over 26 games played to claim his first career NL Player of the Month Award.
This is Cincinnati’s first Player of the Month Award this season, and the first since Jay Bruce in May 2011.
Among qualified NL sluggers for the month of May, Scooter finished his strong month first in slugging percentage (.720); second in batting average; third in RBI; tied for third in home runs; fourth in hits and on-base percentage (.418); and tied for seventh in extra-base hits (14).
During a six-game hitting streak from May 6-12, Gennett batted .538 (14-for-26) with seven runs scored, three doubles, four home runs and 10 RBI to lead the Reds to a 4-2 record.
Beginning on May 7, the left-handed-hitting slugger homered with at least two-or-more RBI in four straight games. Since RBI became an official statistic in 1920, Gennett became the sixth player in franchise history to homer and record at least two RBI in four consecutive games, joining Devin Mesoraco (June 20-24, 2014), Bruce (September 2-5, 2012), Eric Davis (September 3-6, 1984), Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (July 22-24, 1961) and Ted Kluszewski (July 4-7, 1956).
On May 22 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the 28-year-old batted 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored, one double and a grand slam to propel the Reds to a 7-2 victory.
The six-year veteran tallied six RBI in the outing for the second time of his career, and the first since his historic four-homer, 10-RBI outing on June 6 of last season against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Across a pair of games from May 26-27, Gennett, who earned a pair of NL Player of the Week Awards this month (May 13 and May 27), notched a hit in seven consecutive plate appearances, including five singles, a double and one home run.
The impressive stretch was the longest such streak by a Reds player since Arismendy Alcántara posted a streak of seven consecutive plate appearances from April 30–May 8, 2017.
Others receiving votes for NL Player of the Month included All-Star shortstop Brandon Crawford (.412, 16 R, 9 2B, 21 RBI) of the San Francisco Giants; All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado (.327, 21 R, 14 XBH, 21 RBI) of the Colorado Rockies; outfielder Nick Markakis (.362, 42 H, 11 2B, 20 RBI) of the Atlanta Braves; first baseman Jesús Aguilar (18 R, 8 HR, 22 RBI, .565 SLG) and All-Star outfielder Christian Yelich (.330, 22 R, 12 XBH, 17 RBI) of the Milwaukee Brewers; All-Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo (.303, 16 R, 13 XBH, 28 RBI) of the Chicago Cubs; and Scooter’s teammate, third baseman Eugenio Suàrez (16 R, 15 XBH, 29 RBI, .612 SLG).
Lindor posted a slash line of .373/.432/.737 with 27 runs scored, 44 hits, 13 doubles, 10 home runs, 23 RBI, 12 walks and a stolen base over 27 games played to claim his first career AL Player of the Month Award.
Among qualified AL hitters, the switch hitter finished his strong month first in runs scored, hits, doubles and batting average; third in slugging percentage; tied for third in home runs and on-base percentage; and tied for sixth in RBI.
This is Cleveland’s first Player of the Month Award since Francisco’s double play partner Jason Kipnis in May 2015.