Sports Info Solutions went three deep in our Defensive Player of the Month selections for May and there was no shortage of credible candidates to choose from.

In the end, we picked a catcher who helped his team to a 19-8 record in May, a right fielder whose numbers look a lot different from last season, and a shortstop who took advantage of the abundance of ground balls to come his way.

These are our three selections:

Pedro Pagés, Cardinals C

Pedro Pagés led all catchers with 8 Defensive Runs Saved in May. He entered the month with -2 Runs Saved for the season and finished it with 6 Runs Saved. Only Patrick Bailey (8) and Alejandro Kirk (7) have more for the season.

For the season, Pagés has added value in Stolen Base Runs Saved as well as our stats for pitch blocking and pitch. framing

He’s thrown out 8 of 32 baserunners attempting to steal (25%) and picked off two others. The average caught stealing rate for a catcher is 18%.

He’s successfully blocked 94% of potential wild pitches. The average block rate is typically around 91% or 92%.

Staff ace Sonny Gray seems to enjoy pitching to Pagés. Gray had six starts in May. His three scoreless ones featured 28 strikeouts and 3 walks. Pagés caught all three. For the season, Gray has a 2.32 ERA in 9 starts with Pagés catching. He’s allowed 14 runs in 14 2/3 innings with others catching.

Adolis García, Rangers RF

Adolis García led all right fielders with 7 Defensive Runs Saved in May. His 8 this season are tied for the MLB lead at the position with 2023 Fielding Bible Award winner, Fernando Tatis Jr.

Garcia has engineered a major turnaround when it comes to his Range stats. Last season he had a career-worst -8 Range Runs Saved. This season, he already has 7 Range Runs Saved. He’s never finished a season with more than 6.

Our Data Scouts award Good Fielding Plays based on their observation of specific defensive moments in games. García has 10 and has already exceeded his 2024 total of 9.

Those include two terrific plays going to the right field line and diving to make a catch (see them here and here).

Additionally, García has racked up most of his Runs Saved on shallow fly balls. The Rangers have played Garcia at an average depth of 294 feet in Globe Life Field this season, compared to 299 feet last season.

He’s also improved considerably in MLB’s jump stats from last year to this year, going from ranking 70th among outfielders to placing in the Top 10 in terms of how much ground he covers above an average right fielder.

Taylor Walls, Rays SS

Taylor Walls has been a dominant defensive shortstop by Runs Saved since he first came up in 2021. He actually leads shortstops in Runs Saved in that time despite ranking 29th in innings played.

Shorter term, he had the most Runs Saved of any shortstop in May with 7. He’s been very good this season both fielding balls hit to his left and to his right.

Walls has also been given more of an opportunity to stand out. Rays pitchers have yielded many more ground balls, ranking 8th in ground ball percentage compared to 29th last season. He’s handling an average of 5 chances per 9 innings played compared to last year’s rate of 3.7.

Sports Info Solutions has been naming Defensive Players of the Month since 2012 (with ESPN from 2012 to 2017 and then on its own since then), using a combination of statistical analysis and the eye test. Defensive Runs Saved has tracked MLB player defensive value since the 2003 season and is considered one of the industry-leading defensive stats.