National League Players of the Month: May 2025

Another month of the 2025 Major League Baseball season is in the books. As hard as it is to believe, the season is already more than one-third of the way through.

After April, Just Baseball named Fernando Tatis Jr., Corbin Carroll, and Pete Alonso our NL position players of the month, while Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Nick Pivetta, and Kodai Senga took home the honors on the pitching side. Carson Kelly and Jesús Luzardo also earned honorable mentions for their strong starts.

This month, we have a whole new crop of winners, with no repeat choices from April’s list. Among the names listed below, you’ll find the reigning NL MVP and Cy Young winners, as well as another former MVP and Cy Young. You’ll also see some more surprising choices, like a pair of unlikely aces from the NL Central.

Without further delay, these are Just Baseball’s National League Players of the Month for May.

NL Hitters of the Month

Gold Medal Hitter of the Month: Shohei Ohtani, LAD

May Stats: 128 PA, 15 HR, 31 R, 27 RBI, .309/.398/.782, 2 SB, 213 wRC+, 1.9 fWAR

Who but Shohei Ohtani? The reigning NL MVP has pulled ahead as the clear MVP frontrunner once again after a phenomenal showing in May. Ohtani led the NL with 15 home runs (no one else had more than 10), 31 runs scored, a .782 slugging percentage, a 213 wRC+, and 1.9 FanGraphs WAR.

Oh, and did you hear he’s throwing bullpen sessions now? It might not be long before two-way Ohtani is a reality once more.

Silver Medal Hitter of the Month: Freddie Freeman, LAD

May Stats: 119 PA, 4 HR, 20 R, 21 RBI, .410/.462/.638, 0 SB, 202 wRC+, 1.7 fWAR

Freddie Freeman led the majors with a .410 batting average in May, his highest batting average in any month of his 16-year career. He was also one of only two qualified NL players with a wRC+ above 200, and he finished second to Ohtani with 1.7 fWAR.

With his 36th birthday coming up this September, Freeman continues to look as dangerous as ever at the plate.

Bronze Medal Hitter of the Month: Will Smith, LAD

May Stats: 91 PA, 2 HR, 15 R, 13 RBI, .370/.484/.534, 0 SB, 190 wRC+, 1.3 fWAR

Screw it, I’m picking three Dodgders. I hemmed and hawed over this choice for a long time. James Wood ranked third in the NL in fWAR. Kyle Schwarber led the Senior Circuit in WPA. Pete Crow-Armstrong drove in more runs than any other hitter while continuing to play stellar defense in center field.

However, at the end of the day, I couldn’t ignore how well Smith has hit from the catcher position. He led the NL (min. 50 PA) in on-base percentage thanks to a .370 batting average and a 17.6% walk rate. He also added eight extra-base hits, helping him finish behind only Ohtani and Freeman with a 190 wRC+.

The only knock against Smith is his lack of playing time compared to guys like Wood, Schwarber, and PCA, but the only reason he plays less often than those guys is because he plays the most demanding defensive position on the field. In my eyes, that’s just another point in his favor.

NL Pitchers of the Month

Gold Medal Pitcher of the Month: Andrew Abbott, CIN

May Stats: 3-0 (6 GS), 0.55 ERA, 32.2 IP, 33 K, 10 BB, 1.2 fWAR

Andrew Abbott made six starts in May. He gave up two earned runs. No NL pitcher (min. 20 IP) had a lower ERA.

If there was any doubt as to who would take home this month’s gold medal, Abbott settled the matter on Friday with arguably the best start of his young career. The 26-year-old held the Cubs offense, one of the best in the sport right now, to one hit over seven scoreless innings. He struck out eight and walked just one, leading the Reds to a 6-2 victory.

Silver Medal Pitcher of the Month: Robbie Ray, SFG

May Stats: 4-1 (6 GS), 1.38 ERA, 39.0 IP, 45 K, 11 BB, 1.6 fWAR

Abbott may have finished with the lowest ERA, but no NL pitcher was more dominant in May than Robbie Ray. The 2021 AL Cy Young winner led the Senior Circuit with 39 innings pitched (an average of 6.5 per start), 45 strikeouts, and 1.6 fWAR.

All six of his outings were quality starts, and his only loss – his first of the season – came in a one-run, seven-inning, nine-strikeout performance on Saturday against the Marlins.

I’d say Ray looks like the Cy Young-winning version of himself again, but if I’m being honest, he looks even better.

Bronze Medal Pitcher of the Month: Chris Sale, ATL

May Stats: 2-0, (5 GS), 1.11 ERA, 32.1 IP, 40 K, 10 BB, 0.9 fWAR

I almost went went Bailey Falter in this spot; he made one more start than Sale and finished with a lower ERA. However, Sale struck out more than twice as many batters and walked three fewer in almost the same number of innings. He finished fourth among qualified NL starters in ERA and among the top 10 in FIP, xFIP, and fWAR.

After getting off to a slow start in April, Sale is putting himself back in the conversation to defend his 2024 NL Cy Young.

Just Missed the Podium: Bailey Falter, PIT

May Stats: 3-0 (6 GS), 0.76 ERA, 35.2 IP, 19 K, 13 BB, 0.7 fWAR

Falter was one of only two qualified NL starters with an ERA under 1.00. He also led the league in WPA while giving the Pirates a chance to win all six times he took the mound.

It would be hard to justify putting a pitcher with fewer than 5.00 strikeouts per nine on the podium, but Falter still deserves recognition for the strong month he put together.