MLB Awards Watch: Top 5 AL MVP candidates through May
Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
One third of the 2015 Major League Baseball season has been documented to this point. After the month of April was complete, the five frontrunners for AL MVP honors looked like this. Now, with May having come and gone, there are some changes. The MLB awards watch is heating up, and some uncharacteristic names are making bids for individual relevancy.
Players like Jason Kipnis and and veteran Torii Hunter both had pretty strong May’s. While they might not crack the top five this month, if they stay hot, there’s a real chance they could be featured on the list following June.
Kipnis set a new Cleveland Indians franchise record for hits in the month of May with 51, slashing a distinctively superior .429/.511/.706 to all his AL competition. He is now hitting a solid .340 on the season, good for second best in the American League. Add to those numbers a five home runs, five stolen bases and 25 RBI and it’s clear the 28-year-old second baseman really is developing into a special everyday player.
Hunter, meanwhile, finished with the second most RBI (25) in the month of May and is a large reason his Minnesota Twins went 20-7 this past month and now find themselves in a race for the AL Central title with the Royals and Tigers. He is now hitting .279 with seven homers and 32 RBI as a whole.
Other honorable mentions in this category would have to go to catcher Stephen Vogt (.322-11-38) of the Oakland Athletics and Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer (.302-7-31).
Prince Fielder also deserves real consideration in this category. The 31-year-old is having a remarkable comeback season, and his hitting stats suffer the misfortune of him having only started 10 games at first base in 2015. The other 41 have been at the designated hitter position, and the BBWAA typically frowns on handing the MVP over to one dimensional position players. But if Fielder is capable of getting the 25-26 Texas Rangers into the postseason and keeps up his momentous ways at the plate, he has to be considered a threat to win the award. He’s currently hitting .359 with 10 long shots and 38 RBI.
Next: Number 5