3B John Robinson of the Madrid Matadors honored: Wins the EBA EBA Batter of the Month Award.
Robinson, a second round pick by the Birmingham Bandits in 2005, was dealt to the Chicago Black Sox in a 2008 November deal and actually ended up being a semi-regular starter for the Black Sox from 2013-2015. He fell off the radar, released by Chicago in 2016, picked up by the Montreal Blazers where he played for their AAA affiliate. Enough was enough for Robinson, and he jumped to the EBA in 2017, signing with the Belfast Northstars. He played semi-regularly bouncing between second base and third base and had a decent year for them as they won the Euro Cup, but he elected free agency thereafter and signed with the Matadors for the 2018 season. He's been the regular at third base this season, and crushed it in April with a 1.045 OPS and 7 homers.
Could we ever see him back in the MBBA? If the timing is right, he could be an ok reserve and platoon player against lefties, but chances are he's found a home in the EBA.
SP Armando Morales of the Madrid Matadors honored: Wins the EBA EBA Pitcher of the Month Award.
Morales, 25 years old, was a second round pick by Madrid in the 2014 EBA Draft. He's worked his way quickly into one of the most electrifying young arms in the EBA. Like many of the talented arms coming out of Europe, Morales has just two pitches but they are great ones. This April, he went 5-0 with a 2.52 ERA in six starts.
Will we ever see him in the MBBA? You can count on it, but he won't be eligible to jump ship until after the 2019 season.
C Dominique Vizzoni of the Munchen Brauers honored: Wins the EBA EBA Rookie of the Month Award.
The 23 year old left-handed batting Vizzoni was just a ninth round pick in the 2014 draft by Munchen. He's steadily improved in scouts eyes over the past few seasons, to a point where he's developed amazing power though still not the best at putting the ball in play consistently. However, being a left-handed bat has given him borderline outstanding ability to crush right handed pitching, which gives him a decent long term outlook. In April he hit 8 homers and crushed pitching to the tune of an obscene 1.106 OPS.
Will we ever see him in the MBBA? If he holds or improves his ratings against RHP over the next four seasons, you can imagine there will be a club willing to take a chance on a left-handed power hitting catcher just hitting his prime years.
