Maybe it’s a step down from NL MVP votes, but I’m sure Ryan Tepera is still honored to be selected as the National League reliever of the month for May!
Congratulations to @RTepera, the NL Reliever of the Month for May!@NationalPro #CubTogether pic.twitter.com/fQGLb0WZkx
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 2, 2021
Despite pitching in a bullpen absolutely LOADED with guys who could have conceivably been picked for this award – including the closer, Craig Kimbrel, who looked as good last night as we’ve ever seen him – Tepera certainly deserves this one. He was utterly dominant last month.
Over 14 outings, three of which were for more than just 1.0 inning, Tepera allowed exactly 1 earned run on 3 hits and no walks against 19(!) strikeouts. He also had an absurd 62.1% groundball rate, an elite 85.3% average exit velocity, and a tiny 30 hard%. In just about every way you can imagine, Tepera was truly absurd (and, hey, he added another hitless, scoreless inning last night, too!).
Congrats, and keep it up.
Liam Hendricks, of the White Sox, was the winner on the AL side.
https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1400127018721742851?s=20