Three Wood Ducks Earn Rangers Players of the Month Awards for May

Hernandez claims his second straight Pitcher of the Month, along with first-time awards for Leblanc and Jenkins

The Woodies continue to impress the parent club with more recognition for the month of May

By Dominic Cotroneo

June 11, 2018

KINSTON, NC - The Texas Rangers announced their Minor League Player of the Month Awards for the month of May on Monday. RHP Jonathan Hernández, INF Chuck Leblanc, OF Eric Jenkins, and recently added LHP Sal Mendez swept the awards from the club.Hernandez earns his second consecutive Pitcher of the Month

KINSTON, NC - The Texas Rangers announced their Minor League Player of the Month Awards for the month of May on Monday. RHP Jonathan Hernández, INF Chuck Leblanc, OF Eric Jenkins, and recently added LHP Sal Mendez swept the awards from the club.
Hernandez earns his second consecutive Pitcher of the Month award after not previously having an award in his career. Today the Rangers announced his promotion to Double-A Frisco. During May, he led the Rangers organization in ERA (1.69), WHIP (0.78), AVG (.150), and SO (45). He led the Carolina League in all of those categories except for ERA.
Leblanc was named to his first All-Star team today as one of six DEWDs to join the South Division team in Zebulon. It is also his first Player of the Month award in his career. In May, the Canadian hit .305 in 27 games with seven home runs and 21 runs batted in. His 1.000 OPS led the organization and was fourth-best for the month in the Carolina League.
Jenkins is the second consecutive Wood Duck to earn Defender of the Month honors as Leody Taveras claimed April's award. The former second round pick became a viral sensation on May 27th when he made an incredible catch flipping over the bullpen fence down Grainger Stadium's left field line. The outfielder was added to the DEWD roster on May 9th and played in 21 games - all in the outfield - and has a amassed a .988 fielding percentage on the season.
Mendez was added to the roster today in Hernandez's place to start in his first game at the Advanced-A level. With the Hickory Crawdads, he held opponents to a .156 average out of the bullpen in 10 outings to earn Reliever of the Month. Among qualifying South Atlantic League relievers, Mendez has allowed the 5th-fewest baserunners per nine innings (8.29) this season.
While Hernandez is still only the second starter to ever receive Pitcher of the Month recognition (Emerson Martinez, June 2017), Leblanc is the first Player of the Month for the Wood Ducks. Down East swept the Reliever of the Month awards in 2017 with Ricky Rodriguez (April & June), Brady Feigl (May), Scott Williams (July), and Jeffrey Springs (August/September).
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