Photo: Jordan Walker (Springfield Cardinals Fanatic Photos)
It is again time to select The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Month. This article covers play during May across the four full-season affiliates. The two short-season rookie level clubs will not be considered since they have not yet begun play.
This was a close decision as the top two prospects were neck-and-neck all month. One led all finalists in average and slugging while the other led in OBP and OPS. Ultimately, it is Jordan Walker who earned the crown, with Alec Burleson coming up just short.
As a reminder, this is NOT the “Pitcher of the Month Among Top Prospects”. Every player in the system has an equal chance, with only their performance during the month used to differentiate the best of the best. Age and level, which are key prospect considerations, are not factors here.
Guidelines
To qualify, a player must have had at least 50 plate appearances in April. To make the list of finalists an OPS over .810 was required, a much lower mark than last month (.900) as there were fewer offensive breakouts.
There are nine finalists from all four full season levels, with Peoria only represented by the recently promoted Masyn Winn, who now suits up for Springfield. The strongest affiliate was Triple-A Memphis, as the team has five of the nine finalists on its roster.
We will take two views of the data. The first look will be at rate stats, followed by counting stats. Names are listed in the same sequence in both tables, in descending OPS order. Leaders are bolded.
Rate Stats – Finalists
| Hitter | Team | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Jordan Walker | Springfield | .311 | .418 | .578 | .996 |
| Alec Burleson | Memphis | .357 | .388 | .592 | .980 |
| Masyn Winn | Peoria/Springfield | .316 | .367 | .571 | .938 |
| Conner Capel | Memphis | .317 | .371 | .476 | .847 |
| Nolan Gorman | Memphis | .271 | ..338 | .508 | .846 |
| Ben Deluzio | Memphis | .257 | .353 | .486 | .839 |
| Luken Baker | Memphis | .245 | .308 | .511 | .819 |
| Osvaldo Tovalin | Palm Beach | .298 | .359 | .457 | .816 |
| Brady Whalen | Palm Beach | .284 | .372 | .444 | .816 |
Only three batters broke the .900 OPS mark – Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, and Masyn Winn. The other finalists all had fine months, but they do not measure up to this trio, so these are the only three names that I seriously considered for the title of Player of the Month.
Winn’s season-opening success earned him a promotion to Springfield at the end of May, and all he did was knock two home runs, one inside the park and one way over the fence, in his first seven games in Double-A. Still, each of his slash numbers lagged behind Burleson and Walker, leaving him short of earning the monthly honor.
Burleson led all finalists in batting average by a wide margin as he batted .357 while no one else cleared .320. His .388 OBP was the second best among finalists, behind Walker’s, and though his slugging percentage edged Walker’s, he finished a touch behind in OPS.
Walker was the only finalist to clear .400 in OBP and his .418 OBP was 30 points better than Burleson’s. Walker was also one of two finalists, with the other being Burleson, to rise above a .575 slugging percentage.
Even though the former first round pick finished second in slugging, he still showed more pure power than Burleson as his isolated power (.267) was 32 points higher than the Memphis outfielder’s. It is this combination of on-base skills and power that earned Jordan Walker our May Player of the Month recognition.
Further down the table, Conner Capel and Brady Whalen finished with OBPs above .370, which actually was better than Masyn Winn. Whalen and teammate Osvaldo Tovalin carried the Palm Beach lineup this month, and their impressive performances are even more impressive considering that the Florida State League generally saps power with its MLB sized stadiums and winds near the Florida coast.
Counting Stats – Finalists
| Hitter | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB | CS |
| Jordan Walker | Springfield | 24 | 90 | 23 | 28 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 16 | 25 | 4 | 2 |
| Alec Burleson | Memphis | 24 | 98 | 16 | 35 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 24 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 0 |
| Masyn Winn | Peoria/Springfield | 25 | 98 | 16 | 31 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 24 | 8 | 0 |
| Conner Capel | Memphis | 20 | 82 | 11 | 26 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 22 | 4 | 2 |
| Nolan Gorman | Memphis | 15 | 59 | 12 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 23 | 2 | 0 |
| Ben DeLuzio | Memphis | 21 | 74 | 12 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 10 | 0 |
| Luken Baker | Memphis | 25 | 94 | 12 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 18 | 8 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Osvaldo Tovalin | Palm Beach | 25 | 94 | 17 | 28 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Brady Whalen | Palm Beach | 24 | 81 | 12 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 17 | 2 | 0 |
Walker’s excellent OBP is explained by the fact that he led all finalists in walks with 16. The next closest finalist was Whalen, who had 10. Undoubtedly, this contributed to him leading all finalists in runs. However, despite the high walk total, he also led the table in strikeouts, though that’s justified a little bit by the fact that he was tied for the most plate appearances.
Another highlight is Burleson’s 35 hits. He led the entire system in hits in the month of May as he averaged almost a hit and a half per game. He hit practically everything that was thrown at him as he tied for the fewest strikeouts among finalists as well while hitting the second most home runs, behind only Luken Baker.
On that note, Luken Baker really tapped into his power in the last month as his seven homers far surpassed his two in the prior month. He seems to have broken out of his extended slump that lasted through all of April and into May.
Two more of Baker’s teammates are worth noticing. Like Baker, Conner Capel broke out of an April slump with a strong May and his success was joined by that of speedster Ben Deluzio, who stole 10 bases in May, which only trailed Mike Antico’s 13 for Peoria for the most in the organization last month.
Though Baker may have led all finalists in home runs, Winn took the crown in both doubles and triples as his combination of speed and power helped him take plenty of extra bases. This helped give him the third highest slugging percentage despite only hitting two homers in the month (only one of which left the park).
TCN’s May Player of the Month – Jordan Walker
Jordan Walker’s stellar professional career continued in May with him dominating the Double-A level despite being over four years younger than his average competition. The 21st overall pick from 2020 has blazed through the minors, debuting in 2021 and crushing both Single-A levels before earning his Double-A debut at the start of this season and hitting the ground running.
Walker’s .996 OPS was an improvement on his measly .817 mark in April, the second worst monthly OPS of his career. That’s right. He’s only ever finished a month with a sub-.800 OPS once in his career. That’s not too shabby.
TCN’s 2nd ranked prospect was not a finalist for the award last month, but he still had a strong performance. He took the extra step this month with an OPS just shy of 1.000 to earn our Player of the Month honors due to his strong blend of power and on-base skills.
How April’s Winner Fared in May
Moisés Gómez followed up his outstanding April with another strong month, posting a .799 OPS in May, While that wasn’t good enough to make him a finalist for our Player of the Month again, and it was a significant step down from his inaugural month in the organization, it was still a respectable effort.
The outfielder clubbed six home runs, which put him second to only Luken Baker in May. His 15 RBI were tied for the most among Springfield hitters, and he crossed the plate the second most times for the Double-A affiliate behind only Jordan Walker.
The powerful 23-year-old struck out a whopping 35 times in 101 plate appearances (34.7% K-rate), which was a marked increase from April when he fanned 18 times in 70 appearances (25.7% K-rate). He did walk nine times and was hit by three pitches, which helped him raise his OBP to .327 despite a .226 average.
On the season, Gómez still has an OPS over 1.000 (1.096), 17 home runs, and a wRC+ of 163 at the Double-A level.
What’s Next
This concludes our Pitcher and Player of the Month selections for May. The St. Louis Cardinals should follow soon with their picks for the best minor league pitcher and the top hitter in May, which will be updated here.
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