Topps names May Players of the Month

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A quintet of players who led their league in batting average last month and an undefeated teenage pitcher are among those who have been honored with their league's May Topps Player of the Month award. The Topps Company of New York, N.Y., in conjunction with Minor League Baseball™, announced the winners.

Stefan Gartrell (28) of San Francisco, Calif., hit .333 and led the International League in homers with 10 last month. The Gwinnett Braves outfielder was second in the league in slugging percentage (.676), OPS (1.102), extra base hits (16), runs (23) and runs batted in (23). The Atlanta Braves acquired Gartrell in an April 2011 trade with the Chicago White Sox.

Travis d'Arnaud (23) of Long Beach, Calif., tied for the Pacific Coast League lead with 10 home runs and 20 extra base hits. The Las Vegas 51s catcher hit .367 and had hits in 22 of 25 games. He also ranked in the top five in slugging (.734), OPS (1.144) and runs (25). The Toronto Blue Jays got d'Arnaud as part of the Roy Halladay trade with Philadelphia in December 2009.

Bryce Brentz (23), of Knoxville, Tenn., led all Eastern League players in batting average (.388) and OPS (1.072) in May. The Portland Sea Dogs right fielder ranked in the top three in hits (38), on-base percentage (.439), slugging percentage (.633) and extra-base hits (14). The Boston Red Sox selected Brentz, who had 10 multiple-hit games, including a pair of 5-for-5 contests last month, with the 36th overall pick in 2010 out of Middle Tennessee State University.

Nick Franklin (21) of Sanford, Fla., led the Southern League with a .394 batting average, four triples, a .457 on-base percentage, .648 slugging percentage and 1.105 OPS. The Jackson Generals shortstop tied for fourth in the league with 10 doubles. The Seattle Mariners selected Franklin out of high school with the 27th overall pick in 2009.

Jurickson Profar (19) of Willemstad, Curacao, led the Texas League in runs (21), extra base hits (14) and doubles (9) and tied for the lead in total bases (59). The Frisco RoughRiders shortstop reached base in all 28 games he played. Profar also had hits in his first 18 games of May, as part of a 29-game hitting streak that began in April. The Texas Rangers signed Profar as a free agent in July 2009.

Miles Head (21) of Brooks, Ga., ended May on an 11-game hitting streak in leading the California League with a .394 batting average. The Stockton Ports third baseman also led the circuit in on-base percentage (.471), slugging (.683) and OPS (1.153). Head had hits in 24 of 27 games and finished tied for second with 41 last month. The Oakland Athletics acquired him in a trade with Boston in December.

Jackie Bradley (22) of Richmond, Va., hit .382 with 21 walks, a .513 on-base percentage and 1.142 OPS to lead all Carolina League hitters. The Salem Red Sox center fielder tied for the league lead with his 11 doubles and 15 extra base hits. The Boston Red Sox took Bradley with the 40th overall pick in 2011 out of the University of South Carolina.

Nick Castellanos (20) of Davie, Fla., had hits in his first 16 May games, as part of an 18-game streak. The Lakeland Flying Tigers third baseman paced the Florida State League in batting average (.418), on-base percentage (.496), OPS (1.060) and hits (46). He was also among the top five in runs (21) and walks (15). The Detroit Tigers chose Castellanos out of high school with the 44th overall pick in 2009.

Tyler Rahmatulla (22) of Irvine, Calif., hit .341 with three homers and 24 runs batted in for the Quad Cities River Bandits. The second baseman finished among the top 10 in the Midwest League in batting average, RBI, doubles (10), runs (20), slugging (.557) and OPS (.951). The St. Louis Cardinals selected Rahmatulla in the 34th round in 2011 out of UCLA.

Jose Fernandez (19) of Tampa, Fla., went 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA for the Greensboro Grasshoppers. In 31 2/3 innings, the right-hander walked only six and led the South Atlantic League with 41 strikeouts. Fernandez, who's currently 7-0 with a 1.59 ERA, finished second in the league in ERA in May and his WHIP of 0.92 was fourth best. The Miami Marlins drafted him out of high school with the 14th overall pick in 2011.