Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, who made his Major League debut exactly one year ago today, has been voted the Budweiser Presents National League Player of the Month for May.

In 28 May contests, Puig led the Majors with a .398 batting average (43-for-108) and a .492 on-base percentage. His 43 hits paced the N.L. and set a new Los Angeles record for hits in the month of May. The 23-year-old also led the Senior Circuit in RBI (25), slugging percentage (.731), extra-base hits (19) and total bases (79). His eight homers tied Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton for the league lead while his 20 runs scored were tied for fourth.

The last Dodger player to win multiple Player of the Month honors was Mike Piazza, who won the prestigious award four times between 1994 and 1997.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka. h/t to Eric Stephen for the stat)

Puig reached base safely in each of his games played during the month and collected hits in 26 of the 28 contests. The Cuban slugger belted 10 doubles during the month and swiped four bases. Puig’s bat helped one of the top offensive teams in the N.L. to 15 May wins, and the Dodgers led the league with 276 hits and 139 runs scored during the month. Puig notched his 21^st multi-hit effort of the season, which was one of 12 such performances during the month, on Wednesday, May 29 as the Dodgers dropped a 6-3 decision to the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates. He is currently tied for the Major League lead with 22 multi-hit games this season.

The young star etched his name in the Dodger record books yet again after posting eight consecutive games from May 9-17 with at least one extra-base hit and one RBI. The streak eclipsed Pedro Guerrero’s previous club record of seven such outings (July 31-August 9, 1985). From May 12-18, Puig posted a .348 batting average (8-for-23) with three home runs and 10 RBI en route to his second N.L. Player of the Week recognition in as many seasons. The sophomore standout saw his career-high 16-game hitting streak (dating back to April 30) end with a hitless outing in a May 18 loss to the Diamondbacks, but he followed with a three-hit day on May 20, scoring a pair of runs and driving in one in a 9-4 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field.

Puig, who is tied for second in the N.L. with four outfield assists on the season, also made a number of defensive gems during the month, highlighted by a spectacular diving grab against the Mets on May 22. Puig got off to a hot start last month, tying a career high (two times) with a four-hit game in a 9-4 win in the front end of a doubleheader at Minnesota on May 1st. He finished with six hits on the day after going 2-for-6 in Game 2. This is Puig’s second career N.L. Player of the Month Award after having been voted both Player and Rookie of the Month for June 2013, which was his first month in the Majors.

Other players receiving votes included Stanton (.367, 21 R, 36 H, 8 HR, 20 RBI, .684 SLG, .479 OBP); April’s Budweiser Presents N.L. Player of the Month Troy Tulowitzki (.341, 21 R, 30 H, 7 HR, 15 RBI, .614 SLG, .429, OBP) of the Colorado Rockies; and Arizona’s A.J. Pollock (.375, 17 R, 33 H, 10 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, .659, .427).

The Budweiser Presents National League Player of the Month for May 2014, Yasiel Puig, will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, in recognition of his accomplishment.

(Article courtesy of Dodgers PR Department)