WHO’S HOT -- MAY EDITION

[Angels]

Nolan Fontana, 2B/SS -- He’s playing a new position and at a new level, but he’s still having the best season of his career so far. A .290/.412/.421 slash line out of a middle infielder—at any level—is worth noting, as is his very solid defense while playing 2B for the first time as a professional. In 15 games in the month of May, he’s slashing a ridiculous .375/.524/.500 with 10 RBIs. The lefty swinger is also hitting RHPs at a .321 clip for the season. And typical of Fontana, he continues to draw walks and be an OBP machine, even against superior AA pitching.

Charlie Tilson, CF -- The speedster is batting .421 over his last 10 games (16-for-38 ) and .354 for the month of May. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has taken note of his surge, saying that he’s “joined the outfield fast track” and is “one of the organization’s more promising position players.”

Joey Gallo, 3B -- I should probably have a standing section on the blog called “Did You See What Joey Gallo Just Did?” He has Bugs Bunny numbers in 44 games this season: .340/.461/.787 (that’s good for a 1.247 OPS….and his career OPS is now 1.049), with 18 homers and 39 RBIs. He’s still striking out a bit more than I’d like, but even that number has improved over his career frequency. The big news here—other than his absurd power—is that he’s walking a lot more: already 35 times in those 44 games. Last year, he walked just 50 times in 111 games. And he’s doing all of this in a pitcher’s park at Myrtle Beach.

Brian Johnson, SP – Since his promotion to AA, the former first-rounder is 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA, and opponents are batting just .203 against him. He is yet to allow a hit to a left-handed hitter.