Dunedin had an excellent month in May, and now stand at 32-20, the second best record in the Florida State League. Unfortunately, they play in the same division as the Lakeland Tigers, who possess the best record in the league at 34-17. Still, the gap was closed this month, and with a good run in June, the D-Jays stand a chance at the first-half title.

The D-Jays have used both a productive offence and fine pitching to get where they are. The offence is long-sequence, as the team .285/.357/.408 marks will attest. It does get the job done as the D-Jays are scoring almost 5.5 runs per game, 2nd in the league. The team's pitchers are also 2nd in the league with a 3.52 ERA. The pitchers are getting it done in all facets, allowing fewer walks and homers than average for the league and striking out more than league average.

Let's turn to the individual players. First off, the hitters:

Adam Lind

Lind cooled off a bit in May (.264/.372/.382 in the month), but his overall line of .307/.382/.442 fits the character of the team to the T. He has an almost even K/W ratio, a great sign for a hitter not yet 22. His defence in left needs work, but most importantly, he's going to have change some of his doubles (17 in 200 ABs) into homers if he is to succeed at higher levels.

Clint Johnston

Johnston is too old to be a prospect at first base/DH, but let's face it, the man can hit. His .318/.408/.461 line continues the pattern set by Lind.

Brian Patrick

From the sublime to the ridiculous (.312/.384/.367). Patrick has been a pleasant surprise at the plate.

Jayce Tingler

Tingler out-Patricks Patrick with a .274/.380/.331 line. He's got a 23/12 W/K ratio, with 7 HBPs. He still has an outside shot at a major league career as a 4th outfielder. It'll help if he becomes a master bunter.

Eric Arnold

Arnold, who hit 4 homers in May, has put up a more conventional .281/.336/.477 overall line with a typical 10/21 W/K. No one mentions his defence at third, and he's old to be a prospect.

Robinson Diaz

Diaz is hitting .268/.305/.317. He is not striking out much, and he's a young catcher, but he obviously has got a lot offensively to work on. Some doubles power would be a start, so look for him to hit the weights in the off-season.

Carlo Cota

Cota traded places with hot-hitting Ryan Roberts in the month, and obviously started wearing Roberts' shoes and batting gloves, and stole his mojo. Cota slugged .700 in his first 30 at-bats upon his return to Dunedin.

Next, the pitchers:

Thanks to the technical assistance of Jonny German, we have DIPS ERA figures for pitchers, as of May 30, in the Jay minor league system. An explanation and a warning are in order. To calculate the DIPS ERA, Jonny followed the procedure described here. No park adjustments were made.

The significance or predictive value of DIPS ERA in the minor league context has not been established, and it is not obvious that the correlations between current dERA and future performance which has been shown for major leaguers will be observed for minor leaguers.

David Purcey

Purcey struggled in May, surrendering 15 earned runs and 22 runs in total in 30 and 2/3 innings. The combination of a walk every 2 innings and a homer every 6 will get you every time, even with a strikeout every inning. Purcey's overall 3.81 ERA is generous to him; his dERA of 4.62 is probably a better indication of how he is doing.

Zach Jackson

In a turnabout, Jackson was indeed Mr. May. 3 earned runs in 33 innings is testament to that, and his peripheral statistics were all good. His overall record of 8-1 with a 2.88 ERA (dERA 2.79) was enough to earn him a promotion to double A.

Kurt Isenberg

Isenberg continued his fine performance in May, allowing a run every 4 innings, while punching out 33 in 37 and 2/3, and with good control and only 1 homer allowed. Overall, he's 5-3 with a 2.65 ERA (dERA 3.30).

Casey Janssen

Janssen had 4 excellent starts for the D-Jays in May after his promotion from Lansing, 26 innings, 0 homers, 1 walk, 24 strikeouts. His mark of 3-0, 1.38 ERA (dERA 1.83) could hardly be improved upon.

Davis Romero

Romero's season so far is a DIPS puzzle. In May he struck out 30 (!) in 20 and 2/3 innings, while walking 6 and allowing only 1 homer, but still gave up 8 runs, 3 of which were unearned. His dERA for the season of 2.73 was a run and a half lower than his actual ERA, due to an abnormally high batting average on balls in play (BABIP). He had typical BABIPs in 2003 in Auburn and in 2004 in Charleston. I still like him quite a bit.

Mike MacDonald

MacDonald had a passable May, with his main strength continuing to be his ability to keep the ball in the yard. He is now 5-2 overall with a 4.53 ERA (dERA 3.57). His K rate of 6 per 9 innings is his major barrier to success at higher levels. A conversion to a relief role is possible.

The Dunedin bullpen continues to be solid, with Milton Tavarez, Tracy Thorpe, Brad Mumma and Brian Reed being especially good in May. Reed was promoted to New Hampshire late in the month, with Danny Hill arriving from Lansing to take his place. With the return of Dustin McGowan to the rotation in June, it is likely that Davis Romero or Mike MacDonald will join the bullpen to make it even stronger.

One variable at this time of year is the mid-season promotions. Zach Jackson and Brian Reed are now gone from Dunedin. There are no other obvious promotion candidates, although Isenberg, Lind or even Janssen are possibilities, and similarly no obvious arrivals from Lansing. It seems likely that watching Dustin McGowan will be the June highlight in Dunedin.