David Bednar named NL Reliever of the Month for May

The Pittsburgh Pirates got some good news yesterday when relief pitcher and local boy David Bednar was named NL Reliever of the Month for May.

Bednar was great in May, racking up seven saves to go along with a 1.65 ERA in the month along with 21 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched. Four of those saves came on four-plus outs, and he also leads the league in six-out saves, with three.

For the year, Bednar holds a 2-1 record with nine saves, holding down a 1.38 ERA, a 0.808 WHIP, and piling up 35 strikeouts against just five walks in 26 innings pitched.

Interestingly enough, the AL Reliever of the Month was Clay Holmes, the former Bucco who was dealt last summer to the New York Yankees. Holmes was absolutely dominant, throwing 14 scoreless innings for the month, going 3-0 with four saves. He has an ERA of 0.35 on the season with 27 strikeouts and just three walks in 25 innings pitched.

This is a friendly reminded that in four seasons with the Pirates, Holmes had a 5.57 ERA across 91 games pitched and 119 innings. Since arriving in New York, that mark is 1.01 in 49 games played and 53 innings pitched.

Good to see Holmes getting it together, but a shame it had to happen elsewhere.

Congratulations are in order for Bednar, however. He definitely deserved the award.