Kris Bubic of the Kansas City Royals named the American League Pitcher of the Month for May

Starting pitcher Kris Bubic of the Kansas City Royals has been voted the American League League Pitcher of the Month for May, and starting pitcher Robbie Ray of the San Francisco Giants has been named the National League Pitcher of the Month for May. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Bubic earned his first career Pitcher of the Month Award and is the first Royal to win the award since fellow rotation-mate and southpaw Cole Ragans took home the honor in August 2023. Bubic is just the fourth left-handed Royal (sixth occurrence) to win the award, joining Larry Gura (2x: July 1980 & September 1981); Charlie Leibrandt (2x: April & September 1985); and Ragans. Ray won his second career honor after previously winning as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays in August 2021 of his Cy Young Award winning season. He is the first Giants pitcher to win the award since left-hander Blake Snell won last August and is the sixth Giants’ left-hander (seventh occurrence) to win the award, joining Bob Knepper (May 1978); Vida Blue (June, 1978); Noah Lowry (August 2005); Madison Bumgarner (2x: May & August 2014); and Snell. It is the first time a pair of left-handers have won the award in each league since Cristopher Sánchez (NL) and Garrett Crochet (AL) last June.

Kris Bubic, Kansas City Royals (@kris_bubic)
• Across five starts, the 27-year-old went unbeaten with a 3-0 record and a 0.56 ERA (2 ER/32.1 IP) while allowing 20 hits with eight walks, 33 strikeouts, a 0.87 WHIP, a .182 opponents’ batting average and 9.19 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.

• The Cupertino, California native ranked second in the Majors in ERA; ranked seventh in WHIP; and eighth in opponents’ batting average.
The 40th overall selection in the 2018 Draft is just the second Royals pitcher to make at least five starts in a month and maintain an ERA below 0.60, joining Zack Greinke, who had a 0.50 ERA in five starts during March/April 2009 of his AL Cy Young season. Additionally, he is one of seven Royals pitchers (eighth occurrence) to win at least three games in a calendar month with an ERA below 0.60, and the first to do so since Danny Duffy in March/April 2021 (3-1, 0.39 ERA).

• The Stanford University product posted three scoreless starts, dealing 5.0 innings on May 3rd at Baltimore; 7.0 innings on May 8th against Chicago (AL); and 7.0 innings on May 19th at San Francisco. Along with his 7.0 scoreless innings on April 22nd against Colorado, he is one of five starters in the Majors this season with three starts of at least 7.0 scoreless innings and one of two with at least five strikeouts in each of the starts, joined by reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. Bubic’s eight starts of at least 6.0 innings and no more than one run allowed are the most in the Majors this season.

• The southpaw struck out at least five batters in four of his five starts, punching out seven on May 8th and tying a career high with nine strikeouts on May 13th at Houston and May 25th at Minnesota. He is the fourth pitcher in Royals’ history to allow two-or-fewer runs and record at least 30 strikeouts in a four-game span, joining All-Stars Ragans (8/23-9/10/2023); Greinke (2x: 4/8-4/24/2009 & 9/23/2008-4/18/2009); and Bret Saberhagen (9/17-9/30/1989).

• After making 27 relief appearances in 2024, Bubic’s 12 starts are tied for fourth-most in the Majors this season, while his 1.43 ERA is the best mark among qualified pitchers. He is just the third pitcher in Kansas City’s history to throw at least 6.0 innings while allowing one run-or-fewer in five consecutive starts, joining Ian Kennedy (7/3-8/20/1016); and Gura (8/12-9/1/1981). Bubic closed his month with four consecutive starts of at least 6.0 innings and one-or-zero runs, and extended his streak to five straight starts with 7.0 innings of one-run ball on Sunday against Detroit, tying the franchise record.

Robbie Ray, San Francisco Giants (@robbieray38)
• Over six starts, the 33-year-old went 4-1 with a 1.38 ERA (6 ER/39.0 IP) while allowing 23 hits with 11 walks, 45 strikeouts, a 0.87 WHIP, a .169 opponents’ batting average and 10.38 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.

• The Brentwood, Tennessee native tied for the Major League lead in wins; ranked second in strikeouts; fourth in innings pitched; fifth in ERA; sixth in opponents’ average; and eighth in WHIP.

• The 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner became the first Giants starter with at least 45 strikeouts and an ERA under 1.50 in a single month since Kevin Gausman struck out 49 with a 0.73 ERA in May 2021. He became the seventh Giants southpaw (17th occurrence) with at least 45 strikeouts in a single month, joining Bumgarner (6x); Rube Marquard (4x); Carlos Rodón (2x); Ray Sadecki (2x); Billy O’Dell; and most recently Snell, who struck out 53 en route to being named Pitcher of the Month last August.

• The 2017 NL All-Star dealt at least 6.0 innings in all six of his starts, matching a season-high 7.0 innings on May 2nd against Colorado, May 19th against Kansas City and May 31st at Miami. He allowed three-or-fewer hits in four starts and struck out at least seven batters in all but one start. Currently, he has thrown at least 6.0 innings with at least five strikeouts and allowed three-or-fewer runs in seven consecutive starts since April 26th, marking the longest such streak by a Giants starter since Logan Webb did so in seven consecutive starts from August 6-September 7, 2021. No San Francisco pitcher has had a streak longer than seven games since Bumgarner accomplished the feat in nine straight starts during the 2016 season.

• The 12th round selection in the 2010 MLB Draft (by WSH) carried a perfect 7-0 record into his final start of May before taking a loss in his 12th start of the year on May 31st at Miami, becoming the first Giants starter since Hall of Famer Juan Marichal in 1966 to tally at least seven wins and remain undefeated through his first 11 starts of a season.

• The 11-year veteran earned a win in each of his first three starts to begin the month, marking his second three-game winning streak of the year. After allowing a home run in back-to-back starts on April 16th at Philadelphia and April 21st against Milwaukee, he has not allowed a longball in seven straight starts (46.0 IP), going 49.1 consecutive innings since allowing a homer to rookie Caleb Durbin of the Brewers in the second inning on April 21st.

Others receiving votes for AL Pitcher of the Month included Tarik Skubal (2-0, 2.20 ERA, 6 GS, 1 SHO, 41.0 IP, 22 H, 3 HR, 2 BB, 59 SO) of the Detroit Tigers; Framber Valdez (4-1, 2.36 ERA, 6 GS, 1 CG, 42.0 IP, 29 H, 3 HR, 11 BB, 42 SO) of the Houston Astros; Carlos Rodón (3-0, 1.47 ERA, 5 GS, 30.2 IP, 20 H, 2 HR, 7 BB, 38 SO) of the New York Yankees; Zack Littell (4-0, 2.88 ERA, 6 GS, 1 CG, 40.2 IP, 37 H, 8 HR, 3 BB, 26 SO) of the Tampa Bay Rays; and Joe Ryan (3-0, 1.86 ERA, 5 G, 4 GS, 29.0 IP, 16 H, 3 HR, 5 BB, 33 SO) of the Minnesota Twins.

Others receiving votes for NL Pitcher of the Month included Andrew Abbott (3-0, 0.55 ERA, 6 GS, 32.2 IP, 22 H, 1 HR, 10 BB, 33 SO) of the Cincinnati Reds; Bailey Falter (3-0, 0.76 ERA, 6 GS, 35.2 IP, 17 H, 1 HR, 13 BB, 19 SO) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; Chris Sale (2-0, 1.11 ERA, 5 GS, 32.1 IP, 24 H, 2 HR, 10 BB, 40 SO) of the Atlanta Braves; Corbin Burnes (2-1, 1.67 ERA, 4 GS, 27.0 IP, 17 H, 2 HR, 8 BB, 29 SO) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; and Kodai Senga (3-2, 1.89 ERA, 6 GS, 33.1 IP, 24 H, 2 HR, 19 BB, 34 SO) of the New York Mets.