After a respectable April and a decent start to the month, the wheels fell completely off the tracks in May, as we ended up with a 9-17 record for the month, putting us at 22-31 on the season. Losing 9 out of 11 to finish May was definitely not what I envisioned, and it seems like the NL South is a pretty strong division. I'm in 4th place, and Miami is in first, 10 games ahead of me. St. Louis is in 2nd 5 games out, and Houston's in 3rd 5.5 back, and all three of those teams are .500 or better.
I started to make some promotions/demotions and even made my first trade of the season, and just about every move I made centered around trying to make the league-worst bullpen better. We're hovering around a 5.00 ERA as a bullpen on the season, and it's pretty ugly all around with only a couple exceptions.
On May 2nd, I DFA'ed Alexi Ogando, who was 1-1 with a 5.14 ERA. He wasn't pitching terribly but of the bullpen pitchers, he had one of the higher salaries so I figured I'd DFA him and hope that I could find either a trade partner or he would be willing to go to AAA. To fill his spot, I called up Paco Rodriguez, who was only in AAA due to a pretty horrible spring training.
Ogando wasn't willing to go to AAA to regroup so I shopped him around but didn't find anything I was thrilled about. Eventually though, I found a trade partner in Baltimore, and I sent Ogando with 4 fringe minor leaguers that were expendable in exchange for Cesar Cabral, a AAA relief pitcher with no salary. That move was pretty much a salary dump (which really speaks to how cheap my owner is, considering he was making just $1.2 million). Also that same day (5/5), I sent Reid Brignac back down to AAA as Richard Urena was healthy again.
One week later I was back to making call-ups. I sent LF Justin Ellison down to AAA (.222/0/1, 6 Ks in 18 ABs) and called up LF Dian Toscano, who was shredding apart AAA, hitting .385 through 65 ABs. Bullpen-wise, Mike Morin was a major disappointment, as he had allowed 5 runs in just 3.2 IP in May causing his ERA to skyrocket to 8.64, so he got demoted in favor of Jose Ramirez, another guy who had a tough spring. I also demoted Manny Baneulos, as he was still scuffling to a 7.82 ERA and walking way too many batter. Norge Ruiz got the call to MLB, as he had pitched to a 2.41 in 41 AAA innings.
Later in the month I made one final move to strengthen the bullpen. I sent Arodys Vizcaino down to AAA on the 19th as he was giving up a lot of hits and his ERA was all the way up to 6.26. Rookie lefty Nelle van Leest pitched to a 1.72 ERA in AAA and got the call to the majors.
On the offensive side of things, a couple guys really had great months. Nomar Mazara won National League Batter of the Month after hitting .319 with 9 HRs and 24 RBIs in the month. Jon Singleton also got going, hitting .303 with 6 HRs and 18 RBIs, and Dustin Peterson continued to be a valuable 4th outfielder, hitting .310 with 2 HRs and 7 RBIs in just 29 ABs in the month. Unfortunately for him there's not really a way to get much more playing time as my current outfield is playing well. Inciarte only hit .236 for the month but is still overall playing good baseball, and Mallex Smith had a .256 month which is more than acceptable considering the hell he unleashes on the basepaths.
Unfortunately for the pitching, the two anchors at the back of the bullpen who'd been so reliable really struggled in May. Steve Geltz had a 9.00 ERA in 9 innings, and Drew Storen, while he did go 6/7 in save opportunities again, had a 7.20 ERA in 10 IP and took 2 losses in non-save opportunities. Fortunately for them, the rotation kept pitching well. Matt Moore went 2-2 with a 2.84 ERA in 5 starts, and in 6 starts, Ricky Lara had a 2.91 ERA. The only bad part of the rotation was Daniel Winkler, and he was moved into the bullpen in favor of Norge Ruiz by the end of the month, as he went 1-2 with a 6.92 ERA over 26 innings. If he doesn't quickly show improvement he's looking at a demotion.
May 31st League Standings
Notable May 2017 Transactions
5/12:
-Indians sign 1B Carlos Santana to 5-year, $100 million extension
5/16:
-Diamondbacks sign CF A.J. Pollock to 4-year, $62.5 million extension
Interesting May 2017 News
5/2:
-Mets SP Zack Wheeler out for season with ruptured UCL
5/15:
-Orioles RP Darren O'Day out for season with shoulder inflammation
5/18:
-Athletics SP Sean Manaea out for season with fractured elbow
5/19:
-Dodgers 1B Edwin Encarnacion hits 300th career HR
5/21:
-Cardinals SP Josh Johnson out for season with bone chips in elbow
5/21:
-Giants CF Rajai Davis out for season with torn ACL
5/21:
-Mariners 3B Kyle Seager hits for cycle in 23-0 victory over White Sox
5/24:
-Reds 1B Victor Martinez records 2000th career hit
5/30:
-Rangers SP R.A. Dickey out for season with shoulder inflammation