Starting pitcher Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves has been voted the National League Pitcher of the Month for May, and rookie starting pitcher Luis Gil of the New York Yankees has been named the American League Pitcher of the Month for May, in addition to being named AL Rookie of the Month for May. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Sale earned his fifth career Pitcher of the Month Award after previously winning in June and July 2018; June 2015; and May 2012, becoming one of 18 pitchers in history with at least five monthly awards and the eighth left-hander of the group. He is the first Brave to win the award since his rotation-mate Max Fried took home the honors in September 2021. Luis Gil received his first career Pitcher of the Month award and is the first Yankee to be voted a Pitcher of the Month since defending AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole won last April. Along with winning Pitcher of the Month, Gil was also named the AL Rookie of the Month, becoming the fifth pitcher in MLB and fourth in the AL to win both awards within the same month, joining the Angels’ Matt Shoemaker (August 2014); the Rays’ Chris Archer (July 2013); the Rays’ Jeremy Hellickson (May 2011); and the Marlins’ Dontrelle Willis (June 2003).

Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves
• Across five starts, the left-hander pitched to a perfect 5-0 record with a 0.56 ERA (2 ER/32.0 IP) while allowing 23 hits with just two walks, 45 strikeouts, a 0.78 WHIP, a .193 opponents’ batting average and 12.66 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The 35-year-old led the Majors in ERA; ranked second among NL pitchers in strikeouts and WHIP; and tied for seventh in opponents’ average.
• The Florida native won seven consecutive starts from April 19th through May 26th, marking the second-longest winning streak of his career behind a nine-game stretch to open the 2016 season. It was the longest winning streak by a Braves starter since Russ Ortiz won eight straight starts from June 18 through July 29, 2003.
• The seven-time All-Star struck out a season-high 10 batters on May 8th against Boston, the second game of a four-game streak in which he struck out at least nine batters. Overall, Sale tallied at least eight strikeouts in all five of his starts last month and became just the third Braves starter since 1966 with at least 45 strikeouts in May, joining Spencer Strider, who struck out 57 batters in May 2023, and Hall of Famer John Smoltz, who struck out 46 batters in May 1996.
• The 2018 World Series Champion with the Red Sox did not allow a run in three straight starts from May 8th-20th, tossing 20.0 consecutive scoreless innings. During the dominant stretch, he allowed 13 hits with just one walk, 28 strikeouts, two hit batters, a 0.70 WHIP and a .178 opponents’ average. Sale has allowed two-or-fewer runs in eight of his starts this season and one-or fewer runs in six of his starts this year. He has struck out at least seven batters in all but two of his starts in 2024.

Luis Gil, New York Yankees (@thegil81)
• Over six starts, the right-hander went unbeaten with a 6-0 record and a 0.70 ERA (3 ER/38.2 IP), while allowing 14 hits with 12 walks, 44 strikeouts, a 0.67 WHIP, a .109 opponents’ batting average and 10.24 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The 26-year-old led the Majors in wins, opponents’ average, and WHIP; ranked second in ERA and innings pitched; and ranked third in strikeouts.
• The Dominican Republic native hurled a career-high 8.0 innings on Wednesday at Los Angeles (AL), allowing just one run on two hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. The dominant start lowered his ERA to 1.99, after he entered the month of May with the mark at 4.01.
• The rookie struck out 14 batters over 6.0 innings on May 18th, setting a Yankees’ rookie record to surpass the previous record of 13 strikeouts by Orlando Hernández on August 13, 1998. From the fourth inning through the sixth inning, Gil recorded seven straight strikeouts.
• Gil tossed at least 6.0 innings and did not allow more than one run in all six of his starts in May, joining Steve Kline (1972) as the only hurlers in Yankees history to pitch at least 6.0 innings while allowing no more than one run in six consecutive starts. Overall, he is just the 14th pitcher since 1901 under the age of 26 to have at least six consecutive starts of 6.0 innings while allowing no more than one run.
• The Yankees hurler leads qualified rookies this season in wins (7), strikeouts (79), opponents’ batting average (.135); ranks second in WHIP (0.95); third in ERA (1.99); and is tied for third in games started (11) and innings pitched (63.1).

Others receiving votes for NL Pitcher of the Month included Tyler Glasnow (1-2, 3.48 ERA, 5 GS, 31.0 IP, 18 H, 9 BB, 42 SO) and rookie Gavin Stone (3-1, 1.97 ERA, 5 GS, 32.0 IP, 27 H, 5 BB, 23 SO) of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Others receiving votes for AL Pitcher of the Month included Seth Lugo (5-0, 1.79 ERA, 6 GS, 40.1 IP, 28 H, 9 BB, 43 SO) of the Kansas City Royals; Garrett Crochet (4-1, 0.93 ERA, 5 GS, 29.0 IP, 16 H, 5 BB, 38 SO) of the Chicago White Sox; and Reese Olson (1-1, 0.64 ERA, 5 GS, 28.0 IP, 14 H, 8 BB, 21 SO) of the Detroit Tigers.