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SF Giants: Ace Kevin Gausman earns top National League honor

By Jeff Young

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 25: Kevin Gausman #34 of the San Francisco Giants delivers a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 25, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 25: Kevin Gausman #34 of the San Francisco Giants delivers a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 25, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /
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SF Giants
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 08: Kevin Gausman #34 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park on May 08, 2021 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

The SF Giants earned a much-needed day off on Wednesday, but star pitcher Kevin Gausman was voted the National League Pitcher of the Month for May. Rich Hill earned the distinction for the American League.

SF Giants: Kevin Gausman Earns NL Pitcher of the Month award

Madison Bumgarner (August, 2014) was the last Giants pitcher to earn the National League Pitcher of the Month Award. Gausman is off to a superb start to the season, but he was especially dominant in May. The right-handed hurler made six starts, including two starts against the San Diego Padres and one against the Los Angeles Dodgers, so he faced a couple of tough lineups.

In those six starts, the 30-year-old allowed only three earned runs while racking up 49 strikeouts against only six walks in 37 frames. Impressively, Gausman has not yielded a run in his last three starts.

The recognition is just the icing on the cake. Gausman will very likely earn a National League All-Star nod while being in the discussion to start the game in Colorado. Furthermore, the former first-round pick is a contender for the National League Cy Young Award two months into the season.

On the year, Gausman has registered a 1.40 ERA, 2.20 FIP, 0.807 WHIP, 10.6 K/9, and a strong 5.19 SO/W ratio while being worth 3.5 WAR across 70.2 innings. Perhaps, Brandon Woodruff of the Milwaukee Brewers is the current favorite as he has posted a 1.27 ERA and 3.7 WAR across 71 innings, but it remains a close competition.

It bears mentioning that Gausman is a free agent at the end of this season after accepting an $18.9 million qualifying offer from the Giants last winter. He could not have picked a better time for a breakout season as he looks poised to be one of the top arms on the market in the offseason.

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SF Giants fans have seen Kevin Gausman carry over his strong 2020 campaign into 2021 while finding another gear.  Hopefully, this is just the start for Gausman’s trophy shelf as he looks to continue this torrid pace he is on.

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