MAY GOOD MONTH/BAD MONTH PITCHERS
Marc Lawrence
Posted: 2012-04-29

Though just 23, Porcello has not accelerated at the same pace as Kershaw, leaving Detroit fans yearning for more. For a guy 6'6 with a rangy body, his career 4.8 strikeouts per nine innings is unremarkable. The Tigers hurler needs to trust his mid-90's fastball more to become the pitcher he should be.  

Price, David • 9-4
Have you noticed that four of May's top performers are left-handed? The last in alphabetical order is Tampa Bay's prized possession, David Price. The Nashville native has a nice loose delivery from the three-quarters arm slot and has lively late-moving fastball that occasionally touches 96-97 MPH. 

Verlander, Justin • 13-5
Arguably the best pitcher in baseball who is at the peak of his skills, Verlander has old-school power pitchers durability and often will have greater velocity late in games with his electric fastball. The Detroit ace also is intelligent and keeps hitters off-balance by varying his pitch patterns. 

BAD MONTH PITCHERS: 

Floyd, Gavin • 4-11 
The White Sox right-hander is very close to a .500 record-wise for his big league career, despite always giving the appearance of having better stuff. Floyd, actually has three dependable pitches, but has a tendency to run hot or cold for a series of starts. May has traditionally been a "cold" month for him. 

Hernandez, Felix • 5-13 
King Felix deserves his fair share of the blame for his rumpled record this month; however, this is not all on him. Except for a couple of surprise seasons in 2009 and 2007, Seattle has not been a good team and their schedule over the past several years in May has featured many of the heavyweights in baseball, contributing to his second-rate record.

Masterson, Justin • 4-12 
The Jamaican born right-hander has been on shabby Cleveland teams for the most part. Masterson is a rare side-armed starter and tosses a heavy sinker along with a low 90's fastball. Where he gets into trouble is when he cannot control the movement of his pitches, leading to walks and lineups that are lefty-laden. To start the month, lefties are hitting .281 against Masterson. 

Weaver, Jered • 6-12 
It is almost inconceivable the Angels top pitcher would ever have a bad month based on his history. Similar to Hernandez, the Halos of Anaheim and Weaver end up playing Boston and the Yankees frequently during this time period, along with division games, which has contributed to a faulty record. 

Wells, Randy • 3-8
From the Ripley's Believe It or Not, the 6'6 Cubs pitcher is actually a converted catcher. Wells depends on placement because of his well-below average fastball and will use a change-up more than once to hitters in their time at bat. When Wells cannot spot his pitches, he's throwing room service pitches. 

Doug Upstone of 3Daily Winners.com contributed to this article