Bobby Witt Jr., Seth Lugo Named Royals Player/Pitcher Of The Month For May

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Kansas City Royals announced this morning that infielder Bobby Witt Jr. and right-handed pitcher Seth Lugo have been named Royals Player and Pitcher of the Month, respectively, for May. The awards are determined by a local media vote.

Witt Jr. ranked among Major League leaders in several offensive categories last month, including 2nd in runs scored (26), 3rd in RBI (25), tied for 5th in hits (35) and 6th in total bases (61). He matched Michael Massey for the team lead with 5 home runs and batted .315 (35-for-111) with multiple hits in 13 of his 28 games, as he currently leads the Majors with 25 multi-hit games this season. He put together a season-best 10-game hit streak from May 17-27, and on May 28, Major League Baseball announced that Witt Jr. was named American League Player of the Week for May 20-26, his first career weekly honor. He was the first Royal to win the award since Vinnie Pasquantino earned the honors for the week of Aug. 8-14, 2022, and he became the fourth Royals shortstop to ever win the award. Over that week, he landed among AL leaders in home runs (4, T-2nd), extra-base hits (6, T-2nd), hits (10, T-4th), slugging pct. (.923, T-4th) and OPS (1.356, 6th). He had a career day on May 21 vs. Detroit, becoming the third player in Royals history with a 2-homer, 6-RBI, 1-steal game, following Bo Jackson on April 14, 1987 and Carlos Beltrán on May 21, 2003. That also made him the third shortstop in Major League history with such a game, following Cal Ripken Jr. on Sept. 2, 1985 and Barry Larkin on June 28, 1991. This marks Witt Jr.’s fifth career monthly honor and first since winning the award in three consecutive months from last June through August. His five awards in three seasons are already tied for the 8th most by a Royals position player since the title was established in 1995.

Lugo went a perfect 5-0 with a 1.79 ERA (8 ER in 40.1 IP) over his 6 starts in the month of May. His 40.1 innings pitched led the Majors, while his 5 wins trailed only Luis Gil (6) for the Major League lead and his 1.79 ERA ranked 4th (min. 30.0 IP). Opponents batted just .188 (28-for-149) off him, which marked the 8th-lowest opponents’ average by any pitcher in the Majors. Lugo also recorded 43 strikeouts spanning his 6 starts—which was in stark contrast to his 23 strikeouts over 6 starts in March/April—and he trailed only Dylan Cease (47), Chris Sale (45) and Gil (44) for the most in the Majors. He limited opponents to just 2 runs or fewer in 5 of his 6 starts, and covered at least 6.0 innings in each of his outings. On May 12 vs. the Angels in Anaheim, he yielded just 1 run in 8.0 innings with a career-high 12 strikeouts and no walks, becoming the second Royal to ever toss at least 8.0 innings with 12 strikeouts and no walks, following Zack Greinke on June 13, 2010. In 12 overall starts this season, he’s tied for the Majors lead with 9 wins and 10 quality starts, and ranks 2nd in the Majors with a 1.72 ERA and 78.1 innings pitched. Lugo is one of just four pitchers in Royals history to win at least 9 of his 1st 12 starts in a season, and he’s the first to turn the trick since Royals Hall of Famer Kevin Appier went 9-2 through 12 starts in 1995. He’s the only pitcher in Royals history to win 9 of his 1st 12 starts with the franchise, besting the previous mark of 8 wins, which was done twice. The nine-year veteran has earned Royals Pitcher of the Month honors in back-to-back months to begin the season, after signing a two-year free agent contract with Kansas City last Dec. 14.