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Nationals' 2B Daniel Murphy named NL Player of the Month for May

Washington Nationals' second baseman Daniel Murphy was named the NL Player of the Month for May, becoming the second National to win the award this year after Bryce Harper was named the Player of the Month for April.

By Patrick Reddington
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

In 23 games and 96 plate appearances in April, 23-year-old, Washington Nationals' 2010 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Harper put up a .286/.406/.714 line with six doubles, nine home runs, 17 walks, 13 Ks and five stolen bases.

Harper was named the NL Player of the Month for the first month of the season.

Harper struggled in May, however, with opponents choosing to walk him rather than challenge him even as he struggled to barrel up the ball on the few good pitches he saw.

Meanwhile, Harper's teammate, Daniel Murphy, kept plugging away, collecting multi-hit game after multi-hit game as he hovered around .400 two months into the season.

"He's at a very high concentration level and when he's getting his pitch, he's not missing many," Dusty Baker said last week.

Murphy finished the month of May with a .416/.424/.673 line, eight doubles, seven home runs, two walks and 12 Ks in 29 games and 118 PAs.

Murphy had the highest average in the NL on the month, the seventh-highest OBP, the third-highest SLG and the most hits in the National League.

This afternoon, the 31-year-old infielder was named the NL Player of the Month for May.

One game and two days into the month of June, Murphy has a .394/.427/.635 line, 15 doubles, three triples and nine home runs in 52 games and 213 plate appearances, over which he's been worth 2.8 fWAR.

Some notes from the Nationals' press release on Murphy being named NL Player of the Month:

Nationals 7-2 over Phillies for sweep in CBP

 Photo © Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports

• Murphy had 14 multi-hit games in May.

• Six of his 23 RBIs on the month were go-ahead RBIs (they use RBI as the plural form too, which is boo) and four were game-winners.

• Murphy ended the month of May on a ten-game hit streak.

• His 47 hits on the month tied the franchise record for hits in a single calendar month.

• Murphy is the first qualified player since Roberto Alomar in 2006, to post an average as high as .397 through the first two months of the season.

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