Mike Vasil, Photo by Rick Nelson

New York Mets pitching prospect Mike Vasil has been named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Month for May. That’s despite struggling through a minor back issue in his last start of the month that he left early and allowed six runs in four innings.

The 23-year-old Vasil had a 2.52 ERA in 25 innings and held opponents to a .159/.196/.296 slash line during the month of May for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

The right-hander returned to the mound on Sunday to toss five innings of one-run ball with zero walks and six strikeouts.

For the season, my top pitching prospect in the Mets system, now has a 3.13 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP that ranks second among all minor league qualified pitchers this season.