KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Kansas City Royals announced this morning that infielder Maikel Garcia and left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic have been named Royals Player and Pitcher of the Month, respectively, for May. The awards are determined by a local media vote.
This marks the first career monthly honor for Garcia, who slashed .349/.412/.528 (37-for-106) in the month of May with 15 RBI, including 7 go-ahead RBI which tied for the 3rd-most in the Majors behind only Boston’s Rafael Devers (9) and Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds (8). Additionally, his 37 hits last month tied for the 3rd most in the American League, just 2 behind leaders José Ramírez and Jacob Wilson (39 each). His 37 hits matched Vinnie Pasquantino for the team lead, and were the most by a Royal in the month of May since Jon Jay had 43 hits in May 2018. Garcia also ranked among AL leaders last month in triples (T-3rd, 2), batting average (8th) and OPS (12th, .940), and he recorded multiple hits in 12 of his 28 games, which tied for the 5th most such games in the Majors, behind Wilson (14), Freddie Freeman (14), Trea Turner (13) and Ramírez (13). Garcia put together a 14-game hit streak from May 14-30, which matched the 2nd-longest run of his career, trailing an 18-game hit streak done in 2023. Over the course of his streak, Garcia slashed .407/.450/.574 (22-for-54) and raised his season batting average 31 points, from .289 to .320 by the end of play on May 30.