Baseball's Best in August 2022

Issue #24

In August we saw Aaron Judge continue his pursuit of the AL HR record, but it was 42-year old Albert Pujols who had the highest OPS for the month—at least if you set the bar as low as 69 plate appearances. No one had double-digit dingers during August, with five guys hitting nine (including Judge). But Pujols had 8 HR in only 61 at-bats.

Also of note in August was the much anticipated return of Jacob deGrom, who has been dazzling with a 1.98 ERA, 55 K in 36.1 IP, a 0.551 WHIP, and .136 opposing batting average.

1B

• Paul Goldschmidt - 1.115 OPS, 9 HR, .343/.448/.667

• Nathaniel Lowe - 1.098 OPS, 7 HR, .389/.450/.648

2B

• Jeff McNeil - .973 OPS, 2 HR, 13 D, .385/.414/.560

• Jose Altuve - .952 OPS, 3 HR, 12 D, .330/.412/.540

3B

• Nolan Arenado - 1.139 OPS, 9 HR, 12 D, .365/.410/.729

• Alex Bregman - 1.133 OPS, 7 HR, .362/.452/.681

SS

• Corey Seager - .834 OPS, 6 HR, .273/.352/.482

• Jorge Mateo -.816 OPS, 4 HR, 4 SB, .277/.327/.489

C

• Sean Murphy - .975 OPS, 5 HR, .330/.422/.553

• J.T. Realmuto - .946 OPS, 4 HR, 3 T, 4 SB, .303/.351/.596

RF

• Mookie Betts - 1.081 OPS, 9 HR, 11 D, 5 SB, .330/.383/.697

• Lars Nootbaar - .979 OPS, 5 HR, 3 T, .284/.422/.558

CF

• Aaron Judge - 1.091 OPS, 9 HR, 5 SB, .289/.458/.633

• Michael Harris - .990 OPS, 4 HR, 12 D, 5 SB, .337/.400/.590

LF

• Randy Arozarena - 1.023 OPS, 6 HR, 7 SB, .327/.421/.602

• Eloy Jimenez - .966 OPS, 3 HR, .371/.461/.505

DH

• Albert Pujols - 1.224 OPS, 8 HR, .361/.420/.803

• Shohei Ohtani - 1.040 OPS, 8 HR, 3 T, .317/.386/.654

A few other position players came close and deserve honorable mention, such as 1B Christian Walker (ARI), 3B Manny Machado (SDP), and RF/1B Joey Meneses (WSN).

For starting pitchers, there were many who had a great month, but I went with these as a Top-10:

• Jacob deGrom - 1.98 ERA, 6 GS, 36.1 IP, 55 K, 0.551 WHIP, .136 BA

• Zac Gallen - 0.68 ERA, 6 GS, 40 IP, 44 K, 0.750 WHIP, .154 BA

• Julio Urias - 0.90 ERA, 5 GS, 30 IP, 34 K, 0.867 WHIP, .176 BA

• Drew Rasmussen - 1.57 ERA, 6 GS, 34.1 IP, 33 K, 0.670 WHIP, .160 BA

• Robbie Ray - 1.64 ERA, 5 GS, 33 IP, 41 K, 0.909 WHIP, .168 BA

• Patrick Sandoval - 1.39 ERA, 5 GS, 32.1 IP, 30 K, 0.959 WHIP, .182 BA

• Justin Verlander - 1.93 ERA, 5 GS, 28 IP, 32 K, 0.786 WHIP, .182 BA

• Edward Cabrera - 1.91 ERA, 5 GS, 28.1 IP, 33 K, 0.918 WHIP, .137 BA

• Drew Smyly - 0.90 ERA, 5 GS, 30 IP, 25 K, 0.933 WHIP, .202 BA

• Shane Bieber - 1.62 ERA, 5 GS, 33.1 IP, 35 K, 0.900 WHIP, .215 BA

You could make a case for many others, starting with Jordan Montgomery who has done very well for St. Louis since coming over from the Yankees. Others who deserve honorable mention include Tony Gonsolin (LAD), Chris Bassitt (NYM), Justin Steele (CHC), Freddy Peralta (MIL), Cal Quantrill (CLE), Nestor Cortes (NYY), and Jesus Luzardo (MIA).

Lastly, here are five relievers who were outstanding during the month of August:

• Emmanuel Clase - 0.79 ERA, 7 saves, 11.1 IP, 12 K, 0.441 WHIP, .128 BA

• Edwin Diaz - 0.84 ERA, 6 saves, 10.2 IP, 16 K, 0.844 WHIP, .139 BA

• Félix Bautista - 1.23 ERA, 7 saves, 14.2 IP, 20 K, 0.614 WHIP, .140 BA

• Liam Hendricks - 3.45 ERA, 9 saves, 10.1 IP, 14 K, 1.065 WHIP, .231 BA

• Jimmy Herget - 0.53 ERA, 4 saves, 17 IP, 18 K, 0.824 WHIP, .143 BA

Jimmy Herget? If you aren’t paying much attention to the Angels pitchers (besides Ohtani), you might not be too familiar with him. The 28-year old had a great month of August, allowing only one earned run in 17 IP. And with Raisel Iglesias now with the Braves, Herget has stepped up to get some saves too.

Who will make the Baseball's Best roster for September?

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