Cleveland Indians Minor Leagues Review: May’s best hitters and pitchers

Today we take a look at the best players at each level of the Cleveland Indians minor league system in the month of May.

As we did after the month of April, today we’ll take a look at the minor leaguers who had the best months of May in the Cleveland Indians system. As with April, some top prospects will appear on this list along with a few surprises.

Left-handed starter Thomas Pannone and infielder Sam Haggerty took the crowns as the top pitcher and position player in April, but who will take the crowns this month?  We first start with a look at the Tribe’s Triple-A club, the Columbus Clippers.

Best Columbus Position Player: Eric Stamets

Key April Stats (with Columbus):  .396 AVG, .473 OBP, .917 SLG, 1.389 OPS, 6 HR, 7 2B,16 RBI

Honorable Mention

Richie Shaffer: .250 AVG, .430 SLG, .766 OPS, 4 HR, 4 2B, 19 RBI
Bradley Zimmer: .326 AVG, .558 SLG, 1.000 OPS, 2 HR, 4 2B, 4 SB

Eric Stamets takes the top spot with the Clippers despite spending over a third of the month with Double-A Akron. Stamets began the season with at Triple-A Columbus but was sent down on April 22 before returning to the Clippers on May 14.

Despite only playing in 14 games for the Clippers in May, Stamets easily was the top hitter for the club. The Dublin, Ohio native smashed six home runs in just 48 at-bats to go along with seven doubles, giving him an insane .917 slugging percentage.

Last month’s top hitter, Richie Shaffer, had another good month, even topping Stamets with 19 runs batted in. He added another four home runs as well and a reasonable .766 OPS. Top prospect Bradley Zimmer started off the month on fire, hitting a stout .326 with a 1.000 OPS; however, he was called up to the big leagues on May 16, resulting in just 11 games played for the Clippers in May.

Best Columbus Pitcher: Ryan Merritt

Key April Stats: 5 starts, 3.23 ERA, 1.37 WHIP,  2.3 BB/9,1 CG

Honorable Mention

Kyle Crockett: 10 apps, 1.46 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 10.2 K/9

Unlike April when Mike Clevinger flat-out dominated, Ryan Merritt takes the top spot for the Clippers this month mostly on just a solid/steady performance. He did post a solid 3.23 ERA and threw a complete game but for the most part, his numbers weren’t anything overly special. Still, the left-hander limited walks as he tends to do and averaged over six innings a start, proving he’s a guy that’s capable of filling in at the big league level should the need arise this summer.

Once again coming in as an honorable mention is reliever Kyle Crockett. The left-hander continues to rack up the strikeouts in relief with 14 in just 12 1/3 innings of work. He’s has been a steady force in the Columbus bullpen all year and after his second consecutive solid month was recently rewarded with a big league call-up as well.