Tracking Awards: 5/7

AL MVP: Mike Trout (LAA): 8 HR, 21 RBI, .355 AVG, 5 SB, 215 wRC+. Last week: Trout.

Mike Trout, named the American League's Player of the Month for April, has continued his hot hitting into may (is it really "hot hitting" if he does this all the time, though?). After slashing .364/.443/.707 with seven home runs in 27 May games, he has slashed .273/.467/.636 with one home run over three May games as hamstring tightness has held him out of the lineup. He is currently riding a 17 game hitting streak, and he has reached base in 29 of his 30 games this season. His only blemish this season was an 0-4 in Ian Kennedy's gem (8 shutout innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 10 K's). 30 games in, we are seeing vintage Mike Trout.

NL MVP: Ryan Zimmerman (WSH): 13 HR, 34 RBI, .435 AVG, 1 SB, 252 wRC+. Last week: Zimmerman.

It's May 7th and Ryan Zimmerman is still slashing a ridiculous .435/.475/.907, leading the National League in home runs (13) and just about every other category. His 252 wRC+ is 30 points higher than the next best in the majors (Aaron Judge, 222) and 42 points higher than the next best in the National League (Bryce Harper, 210). He won the NL Player of the Month Award after slashing .420/.458/.886 with 11 home runs in 24 games in April, and he has only gotten better in May, slashing .500/.545/1.000 with a pair of home runs in five games. He has had at least two hits in eight of his past nine games, slashing .553/.561/1.158 and smashing six home runs over that span. I talked last week about how higher launch angles have helped Zim's production, but at this point, this is just absurd. Nothing we can do but sit back and enjoy his onslaught.

AL Cy Young: Ervin Santana (MIN): 5-0, 0.66 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 33/13 K/BB. Last week: Santana.

Coming into the week having occupied this spot in each of the past two weeks, Santana made it three weeks in a row by casually tossing six shutout innings against the A's on Tuesday, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out seven. His ERA has dropped to a minuscule 0.66 as he has allowed just three earned runs over 41 innings, and perhaps even more impressive, just 16 hits. Allowing less than a hit per two innings has led to an opponents' slash line of just .120/.199/.180. The surprising Twins are 15-13 this season, thanks in large part to Santana's dominance every fifth day.

NL Cy Young: Mike Leake (STL): 4-1, 1.79 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 27/7 K/BB. Last week: Ivan Nova.

While Leake has hung around this spot for a few weeks now, tough starts from Noah Syndergaard (1.1 IP, 5 ER) and Ivan Nova (6 IP, 4 ER) allowed him to step in despite not having the world's greatest game (7 IP, 3 ER). Largely mediocre in his first season in St. Louis (9-12, 4.69 ERA, 1.32 WHIP), Leake has been everything the Cardinals have wanted this year, putting up a 1.79 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP over six starts. Each of his six starts have been quality starts (at least 6 IP, at most 3 ER), and Adonis Garcia's three run home run on Saturday was the first home run hit off Leake this season. He hasn't put up Ervin Santana-type numbers, but in a National League where Ryan Zimmerman, Bryce Harper, Freddie Freeman, Eric Thames, etc. are hitting the snot out of the ball, what Leake has been doing has been pretty incredible. Those four hitters have combined to go 2-12 (.167 AVG) with a pair of strikeouts, no walks, and no extra base hits against Leake, with only Zimmerman and Thames picking up lone singles despite terrorizing NL pitching otherwise.

AL Rookie of the Year: Aaron Judge (NYY): 13 HR, 27 RBI, .320 AVG, 1 SB, 222 wRC+. Last week: Judge.

Earlier in the season, Mitch Haniger's hot start had him in this spot. At this point, not only is Judge looking like a unanimous AL ROY, he is competing with Mike Trout for AL MVP consideration. Judge slashed just .133/.188/.200 in his first five games, picking up a single, a double, and a walk while striking out five times in 16 plate appearances. Since then, he has been unstoppable, slashing .354/.454/.878 with 13 home runs in 22 games. I talked last week about his improved plate discipline, and that is still the case today, and the numbers show it. With three home runs in May, he and Ryan "Babe Ruth" Zimmerman are tied for the MLB lead with 13, and Judge's 222 wRC+ and .487 wOBA actually edge Trout for the AL lead (215 and .469, respectively).

NL Rookie of the Year: Antonio Senzatela (COL): 4-1, 2.84 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 20/8 K/BB. Last week: Senzatela.

For the first time since April 16th, Senzatela got the chance to pitch somewhere other than Coors Field on Wednesday, and he didn't disappoint, allowing two earned runs on six hits and one walk over six innings, striking out two Padres in San Diego. His ERA and WHIP stand at 2.84 and 1.03, respectively, which actually puts him in NL Cy Young consideration given the difficulty of pitching half your games in Coors Field and the lack of one true frontrunner in the race. Senzatela knows what kills you in Denver, so he has walked just eight of the 151 batters he has faced, good for an excellent 5.3% rate, especially for a rookie. We'll see how a full season as a Rockie goes, but he's looking great so far. 

Minor League Watch: Thomas Pannone (CLE AA): 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.61 WHIP, 39/7 K/BB. Last week: Domenic Mazza.

Thomas Pannone was the Indians' ninth round pick in 2013 out of the College of Southern Nevada, and he pitched decently but uninspiringly over his first three seasons. Pannone was good enough at Class A Lake County in 2015 (5-5, 3.02 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 84/25 K/BB) to earn a promotion to High Class A Lynchburg in 2016, where he was excellent down the stretch. After not allowing an earned run in his final 18 innings in 2016, the Indians started him off with Lynchburg again in 2017, and it was more of the same. Over five starts, he still didn't allow an earned run over 27.2 innings, giving him 45.2 consecutive shutout innings (though he did allow an unearned run on April 12th against the Salem Red Sox). In his five starts this year, he allowed just ten hits and and seven walks, striking out 39. In no start has he allowed an earned run, more than four hits, more than two walks, or struck out fewer than six. The amazing performances earned the 23 year old a promotion to AA Akron, where he has yet to pitch.