Bowling Green Hot Rods May Pitcher Of The Month

The Candidates: Marquis Fleming, Joseph Cruz, Mickael Jarman. Fleming only gave up one earned run for the month in 9 relief appearances. He was 1-1 with a 0.60 ERA over 15.0 innings, but only struck out 8 batters. Cruz was 1-2 with a 1.90 ERA in 5 starts. In 23.2 innings he struck out 28 and walked 6. Jarman went 3-2 with a 3.21 ERA in 5 May starts. He struck out 17 and walked 6 in 28.0 innings, but did allow 3 home runs.

The Winner: Joseph Cruz. The 20 year-old righthander is off to a great start in 2009 with a 2.08 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 30.1 innings. He was drafted by the Rays out of East Los Angeles Junior College in the 30th round of the 2007 draft. In 2008 he pitched for Princeton and had a 3.17 ERA in 13 starts with 62 strikeouts in 54.0 innings. For his minor league career Cruz has a 2.77 ERA and has averaged 10.2 strikeouts and 2.3 walks per 9 innings pitched.