Rochester Red Wings’ James Wood the third ranked prospect by ITD has won the International League Player of the Month for May. The outfielder slashed .394/.506/.746 hitting seven home runs with 22 runs batted in and posted eight multi-hit games. Wood was previously named the International League Player of the Week for May. He became the first Rochester International League Player of the Month since September of 2022 when infielder Jake Alu earned the honors. Wood, 21, has been tearing the cover off the ball this season. Through 45 games Wood is slashing .355/.465/.596 with nine home runs and 31 runs batted while walking at a 17.3 percent rate. And don’t let the strong 6-foot-7 fame fool you either – he’s also fast. Wood has 10 steals so far this season compared to last season swiping 18 and 20 in 2022. It won’t be long until Wood is up in the big leagues this Summer.
Harrisburg Senators’ Brad Lord went 5-0 in five starts with a 0.87 earned run average en route to being named Eastern League Player of the Month. Across 31 innings he gave up just three runs. In his last start of the month on May 26, Lord threw seven shutout innings walking three, striking out nine and holding batters to a .173 average (3-for-21). Lord, 24, has made nine starts this season with Harrisburg going 6-1 with a 1.60 earned run average. The 6-foot-3 right-hander across 50.2 innings has walked 17 and struck out 54 which is ninth best in the Eastern League striking out hitters at a healthy 27.2 percent of the time (9.59 K/9). The Nationals selected Lord in the 18th round during the 2022 draft out of the University of South Florida.
