Chicago Dogs infielder Josh Altmann and starting pitcher Tyler Palm have earned the Rawlings Batter and Pitcher of the Month awards for the opening month of May, the league announced Thursday.
Altmann led the league in home runs for a majority of the opening month as he now sits tied for second with seven. He also leads the league with a 1.400 OPS and is second with a .424 batting average and 25 RBI.
The Joliet, Illinois native is in his third season of American Association baseball but first back near home after playing the previous two seasons with Lincoln. He played more than 85 games in both seasons with Lincoln, with the better of his two seasons being in 2021 when he hit .305 with 29 home runs and 72 RBI.
Altmann’s early season has already had multiple highlights, including a 3-run game-tying home run in the ninth inning with his mother in the stands on Mother’s Day as well as his 100th career home run which he hit in the Dogs’ big series win in Cleburne, taking five of six.
On the pitching side, righty Tyler Palm has been the best among the starters in the league to begin the year.
Palm has made four starts totaling 24 innings and has a 1.13 ERA. He has a perfect 4-0 record in those starts with 17 strikeouts while allowing just three total earned runs.
After starting the year with two five-inning outings, he’s been able to stretch it to seven innings in each of his last two. His best start of the year came on the road in Cleburne, going seven shutout innings while allowing just one hit and striking out six against a RailRoaders offense that was scorching hot going into the series.
The Waterford, Michigan native is new to the league after previously playing affiliated ball in the Minnesota Twins organization between 2018-2022, reaching as high as the AA level.
Behind Altmann and Palm, the Dogs have the best record in the league at 13-4 and are three games up over Cleburne in the East division standings.
Rawlings is the official baseball of the American Association.
