The San Francisco Giants found a way to grind out another extra-innings win on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies and Luis González played a big part with four hits and two RBI.
In the middle of May, Luis González was optioned back to Triple-A, but that didn't keep him from being named the league's top rookie.
Major League Baseball announced Friday that González was voted the National League's Rookie of the Month after batting .368 and slugging .500 in 23 May appearances. González was optioned at one point as the Giants got LaMonte Wade Jr. and Tommy La Stella back, but he returned to the active roster four days later and has been an everyday player for the Giants over the last couple of weeks.
González became the third Giants rookie to win the monthly award, joining Buster Posey (July, 2010) and Pedro Feliz (July, 2001).
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González capped his big month with a career-high four hits on Tuesday night, helping the Giants win in extra innings. That raised his average to .347, the highest ever for a Giants rookie through May. González is currently at .324 and has been 29 percent better than league average by OPS-plus.
González had seven doubles, a homer, 13 RBI and three steals in May, vaulting himself into the early running for NL Rookie of the Year. He also made three relief appearances for the Giants, all in blowouts.
"It's exciting. The more track record he has, the longer this stretch of good performance goes, the more dependable he becomes, the more likely it is that we have not just a fill-in outfielder this year while LaMonte Wade Jr. is down but a guy that we can count on going forward," manager Gabe Kapler said earlier this week. "And not just in 2022, but in years to come. It's fun to kind of get lost in those thoughts for a little bit and think about what might be, if we have a regular Major League outfielder on our hands in Luis González."
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González, 26, joined Seattle Mariners top prospect Julio Rodriguez as the league winners. The Players of the Month were Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals, and Texas' Martin Perez and Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler were Pitchers of the Month. The American League Reliever of the Month was Clay Holmes of the Yankees, and the NL winner was Pittsburgh's David Bednar, the older brother of Giants 2021 first-round pick Will Bednar.
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