Cleveland Indians: Francisco Lindor wins AL Player of the Month

Cleveland Indians players typically do not receive much national attention in the regular season. This month, however, a certain star in the city has won the Player of the Month award for the American League in the month of May.

The Cleveland Indians offense started off slower than molasses in the summertime. However, something clicked in the month of May for the entire offense and they surged to the top of the league as a unit.

This can mostly be accredited to the team’s superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor. His month of May was electrifying and earned him Player of the Month honors.

Lindor’s month was a hot one as he slashed .373/.432/.737 with 10 home runs and 23 runs batted in. He also sported an OPS of 1.169 and 44 hits.

Of those 44 hits, Lindor smashed 23 of them for extra bases. He hit 13 doubles to go with his 10 home runs. Lindor has always been a special player and it is nice to see him get honored at a league level this month after blowing up offensively.

Lindor capped off his amazing month on Thursday in Minnesota. In the game he went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two home runs and four runs batted in. His second home run in the game put Cleveland in front for good in their eventual 9-8 win over Minnesota.

Lindor is the first player for Cleveland to take home the American League Player of the Month award since Jason Kipnis did it in May of 2015, according to this tweet from Jordan Bastian.

In that month Kipnis hit .429/.511/.706 with four home runs and 17 runs batted in. He also slapped 51 hits in the month, 22 of which went for extra bases to the tune of 15 doubles and three triples.

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The offense in Cleveland heated up in the month of May and the hope is that things continue this way. If Kipnis could get back to even a fraction of his May 2015 form, this offense could really explode with Lindor.