May 2024 offered little competition to Aaron Judge of the Yankees. LaMonte Wade of the Giants tied Judge for highest OBP with a .488, mark, but did so in many fewer plate appearances. In terms of power, Judge left everyone in the dust with a .928 slugging percentage. Jose Ramirez of the Guardians came in second at .686. (In crew, this is called winning by the curvature of the earth.) Although Judge failed to hit a triple, he led in both doubles and home runs. Just to top it all off, his BA of .371 was second to Luis Arraez of the Padres at .389. His 26 extra-base hits tied Ty Cobb for most in May since 1920 (Cobb did it in 1921). He is also the 21st player to have at least 26 EXBH in any month since 1920, and list is full of Hall of Famers, including Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth of the Yankees.

Aaron Judge is easily the Baseball Musings Offensive Players of the Month for May 2024.

Five pitchers with at least 25 IP in May posted ERAs below 1.00. Chris Sale of the Braves led that group with a 0.56 ERA. He also led that group in K per 9 at 12.7, walks per 9 at 0.56, and did not allow a home run. His strikeouts almost doubled his hits allowed, 45 to 23. The K rate led the majors, only George Kirby of the Mariners posted a lower walk rate, and only Tanner Houck of the Red Sox pitched more innings without allowing a home run.

Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians and Andres Munoz of the Mariners each pitched extremely well as closers, but given the innings difference with Sale, it’s tough to put them at the top of the list.

Another easy choice, Chris Sale takes home the Baseball Musings Pitcher of the Month for May 2024!