Players of the Month: May
Hitter of the month:
LF – Justin Upton
May totals: 343/418/546 – 6 HR, 4 2B, 23 RBI
There is little doubt the Padres’ left fielder was the brightest spot in an otherwise dreary month. There is reason to shudder when imagining what May ’15 would have been like without the younger Upton who lead the team in nearly every major offensive category while posting an OPS almost 200 points higher than his nearest competitor. Not only is Upton hitting the ball, he is stealing bases (9 in the month), drawing walks (13) and scoring runs (19). Unfortunately the trade rumors are brewing and only a good June can quiet them down.
Pitcher of the month:
RHP – Tyson Ross
May totals: 1-3, 3.16 ERA, 0 HR allowed
Here we are: still waiting for the pitching to come around. While Tyson Ross’ May was pretty good, it was certainly not his best as a Padre. It was, however, better than anyone else in the month. Ross’ performance was aided by his ability to keep the ball in the yard. Ross did not surrender a home run in May and he hasn’t allowed a home run since the first inning of the Astros game on April 28th (Evan Gattis was the culprit). Undoubtedly, Ross’ ability to dodge the long ball is due to his increased ability to induce groundball outs (2.74 GO/AO ratio). However, the disturbing trends of allowing stolen bases (14) and issuing walks (2.43 k/BB ratio) need to stop if Ross is going to reclaim the form that made him the Padres’ best pitcher last season.
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