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Redleg Nation would like to congratulate our Player of the Month for April, Brandon Phillips.
Despite missing a few games with a thumb injury, Brandon Phillips rebounded from a miserable April to post a fantastic May. For the month, everyone’s favorite second baseman batted .352 with an on-base percentage of .392, while slugging .682. Phillips led the Reds with 29 RBI in May, 12 more than his closest competitor (Jay Bruce; Phillips trailed only Prince Fielder for the National League’s highest total). BP was also second on the Reds with 7 homers, in addition to 4 doubles and two triples in 22 games.
All in all, a great month; frankly, I don’t know if the Reds could have emerged from May with a winning record without this performance by Phillips. Congratulations, BP!
Others receiving votes:
–Francisco Cordero: CoCo had an outstanding month, converting all 6 of his save opportunities with a 0.75 ERA. He struck out a hitter per inning, while walking only three. In the NL, only the ageless Trevor Hoffman had more saves with a better ERA.
–Joey Votto: April’s RN Player of the Month would have likely repeated in May if it weren’t for the ongoing problems that caused Votto to play only 17 games. Look at these numbers: .378 batting average, .541 OBP, .733 SLG. Wow. Votto also hit 5 HR and drove in 13. Get well soon, Joey!
–Johnny Cueto: Cueto has emerged as the Reds ace early in 2009, and he was sensational in May (if not quite as good as he was in April). Cueto went 3-2 in the month with a 2.72 ERA. He struck out 30 and walked 12 in 43 innings pitched (the most on the team).
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April 2009 Player of the Month: Joey Votto
BP: You’re doing great. I’m loving it. Keep it up!
Now to change the subject: has anyone looked at the Reds’ splits lately?
Jay Bruce: .272/.343/.630 (home)… .170/.250/.340 (away)
Willy Tavras: .262/.333/.369 (home) … .258/.304/.290 (away)
Brandon: .328/.395/.641 (home) … .250/.321/.440 (away)
R. Hernandez: .312/.386/.403 (home) … .256/.309/.360 (away)
Yikes. Small sample sizes obviously, but that’s alarming. Nix is about the only guy I can find with better numbers on the road.
Shouldn’t it be May 2009?
Thanks Kurt…fixed it.
Great asessments. You could also give honorable mentions to Art Rhodes and Ramon Hernandez, who has put up good numbers (after a miserable April) and played exceptional defense despite having to play out of position alot.
While I agree that BP’s the guy for May, I’m with River City, Ramon Hernandez has been a great pickup and Rhoades has been a personal relief to me because he’s ate up innings that normally would go to Weathers. Weathers scares the heck out of me every time he takes the mound.
Hernandez may not be the Reds best player this month, but you can make an argument he was the most valuable given the way he covered first base and the other options available.
And Rhodes has been wonderful, but having seen him pitch in Cleveland and given his ageI worry a little about his workload. Would be nice if some of the other guys step up a little so we can ease off him a bit.