Kansas City, MO (Royals Media) – The Kansas City Royals announced today that left fielder Andrew Benintendi and right-handed pitcher Brady Singer have been named Royals Player and Pitcher of the Month, respectively, for May. The awards are determined by a local media vote.
Benintendi batted .300 (33-for-110) last month, leading all Royals in walks (14) and multi-hit games (9), while ranking 7th in the American League in hits. He recorded a nine-game hitting streak, which fell two games shy of his career high, from May 17(G2)-26, during which he batted .412/.500/.500 (14-for-34) with 6 walks. Andrew tallied 3 hits and a walk in back-to-back games on May 21-22 against the Twins, reaching base safely in 8 consecutive plate appearances before falling 3 shy of the franchise record of 11 straight plate appearances, which has been done four times and most recently by Adalberto Mondesi from Sept. 24-26, 2020. He ended the month riding a career-long 22-game on-base streak dating back to May 10, which, at the time, was the 4th-longest active streak in the Majors and the longest in the American League. Over his 22-game on-base streak to close out the month, he slashed .325/.417/.446 (27-for-83) with 13 walks, 7 extra-base hits (5 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run), 9 RBI and 7 runs. Benintendi has won three straight Royals Player of the Month Awards, dating back to last September/October, and it’s his fourth time being honored since joining the club last season. He is the fifth Royal to win the award in three consecutive months and the first since Jorge Soler in 2019.
Singer posted the 5th-best ERA in the American League in the month of May (min. 3 starts), recording a 1.37 mark (3 ER in 19.2 IP) that led all Royals starters, while going 2-0 over his first 3 starts of the season. He was tabbed as Kansas City’s 27th Man for the doubleheader on May 17 vs. the White Sox and tossed 7.0 scoreless innings with a career-high 9 strikeouts in the Royals Game 2 win, earning his first victory since Sept. 20, 2021 (Game 1) in Cleveland. He became the first Royal to record at least 7.0 shutout innings and 9 strikeouts in a game since Zack Greinke did so twice in his 2009 Cy Young Award-winning season. After being returned following his Game 2 win, he was recalled again prior to his start on May 22 vs. the Twins, in which he became the first Royal to record 7.0 scoreless innings in back-to-back starts since Jakob Junis turned the trick from April 3-9, 2018. Singer made his final start of the month on May 28 in Minnesota, when he left with a 5-1 lead after 5.1 innings, and 2 runs were charged to his line following his exit. The run he allowed in the 2nd inning on May 28 snapped his career-best scoreless streak at 18.2 innings, which was the longest scoreless streak by a Royal since Wade Davis pitched 22.0 consecutive scoreless frames from April 6-May 31, 2015. This marks Singer’s second career Royals Pitcher of the Month Award, including September 2020.
On Thursday night, Kansas City sent 21-year old righthander Yohanse Morel to the Texas Rangers in exchange for 26-year old Albert Abreu.
Morel was 2-2 with a 4.08 ERA in 10 appearances with the Royals High-A affiliate in the Quad Cities this season, and was originally acquired by Kansas City in the Kelvin Herrera trade with the Washington Nationals in 2018.
Abreu is 26 years old, and had a part of the Rangers major league roster this season, with a 3.12 ERA in seven appearances out of the Texas bullpen. He had held opponents to a .138 average this week, and had just recovered from a sprained left ankle that had him on the injured list for three weeks. In his last appearance with Texas, he pitched a scoreless inning at Oakland on Saturday, May 28th.
Abreu spent the first several years of his career in the Astros and Yankees minor league organizations, beginning in 2013. With the Yankees in 2021, he was 2-0 with one save and 35 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings.
