Baseball's Best in August, 2023

Issue #119

During the month of August, 2023, we were witness to some pretty impressive individual accomplishments. Julio Rodriguez broke the record for the most hits in a four-game span—and then continued to perform well for the entire month. Mookie Betts hit .455 with a 1.355 OPS, Freddie Freeman smacked 16 doubles, and Cole Ragans—only a month after being traded from the Rangers to the Royals—posted 53 K and 1.72 ERA in six starts.

But where to do these August accomplishments rank in the history of AL/NL baseball, dating back to 1901 (when we have such month-split data available at baseball-reference.com)?

Julio Rodriguez’ hits across 4-, 5-, and 10-game spans

I’ll start with the Julio Rodriguez hitting span results. His four-game span from 8/16 to 8/19 saw him go an amazing 17-22, with two HR and two doubles, and adding five stolen bases as well. He didn’t walk at all, so his slash line was .773/.773/1.136. His 17 hits in those four games topped the previous mark held by Milt Stock who had 16 in 1925 from 6/30 to 7/3. There have been 4-game streaks with 15 hits an impressive 17 times, with the most recent being Trea Turner from 8/28-8/31 in 2020.

I looked at 5-game spans, and here Rodriguez had 18 hits from 8/15-8/19 and from 8/16-8/20, something that has been done seven other times before since 1901. But that is one short of the record, which is 19 hits by Jimmy Johnston in 1923 from 6/25-6/30 (game 1 of DH).

Julio slipped a bit further down the lists for the most hits in 6- and 7-game spans, but then I checked 10-game spans and there his 28 hits from 8/16-8/28 are in an 11-way tie for fifth place. The record for most hits in a 10-game span since 1901 is held by Heinie Manush of the Senators who had 30 in 1933 from 6/10-6/23. Then three players had 29 hits in a 10-game span, including Manush around the same time that year from 6/8 (game two of a DH) through June 21; Kenny Lofton early in 1997 from 4/8-4/19, and then Billy Herman started such a span late in 1935 on 9/18 that continued to 4/14 in 1936.

Betts’s BA and OPS, Freeman’s doubles, and Ragans’ strikeouts

Overall for the month of August Rodriguez had 10 doubles, 7 HR, 11 SB, and a .429/.474/.724 slash line. That adds up to an outstanding 1.198 OPS, but two other hitters (with 90 or more plate appearances) actually had higher OPS marks in August.

Bryce Harper really came alive, hitting 9 doubles and 10 HR, with a .361/.452/.784 slash line. And he wasn’t just DH’ing either, as the Phillies have been using him at 1B some this year with Rhys Hoskins out for the season.

But topping both Rodriguez and Harper in August was the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts who hit 10 doubles, 11 HR, and posted a truly fantastic .455/.516/.839 slash line. That adds up to a 1.355 OPS—all while playing a combination of RF and 2B, often both in the same game. This performance in August has thrust Betts into the NL MVP conversation, though the Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. would seem to still have the edge given that he just created a one-man club with his 30+ HR and 60+ SB—with a full month of the season remaining.

I looked up where Betts’ high August BA and OPS marks rank all-time—using 90 August plate appearances as somewhat arbitrary minimum requirement. His .455 batting average ranks 12th all-time for the month of August, as follows:

• .509 – Rogers Hornsby, 1924

• .505 – Harry Heilmann, 1927

• .484 – Charlie Gehringer, 1937

• .476 – Todd Helton, 2000

• .468 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, 1911

• .463 – Ichiro Suzuki, 2004

• .463 – Pat Tabler, 1986

• .460 – Pie Traynor, 1928

• .459 – Willie Davis, 1969

• .458 – Ernie Lombardi, 1936

• .456 – Joe Sewell, 1923

• .455 – Mookie Betts, 2023

Wow… a Pat Tabler sighting! He ended the 1986 season with what would be a career best .326 average for the Indians.

Betts’ 1.355 OPS also ranks 12th all-time, as follows:

• 1.615 – Barry Bonds, 2004

• 1.581 – Barry Bonds, 2002

• 1.507 – Babe Ruth, 1921

• 1.466 – Rogers Hornsby, 1924

• 1.435 – Babe Ruth, 1923

• 1.423 – Barry Bonds, 2001

• 1.405 – Sammy Sosa, 2001

• 1.401 – Harry Heilmann, 1927

• 1.395 – Todd Helton, 2000

• 1.379 – Edwin Encarnacion, 2015

• 1.374 – Carl Everett, 1999

• 1.355 – Mookie Betts, 2023

Wow… a Carl Everett sighting! While he would later be an All-Star twice, 1999 was arguably his year statistically as he had 25 HR and 108 RBI in only 123 games, posting a .325/.398/.571 slash line, with 27 stolen bases too.

Betts’ teammate Freddie Freeman also had an excellent month of August this year, posting a .374/.434/.617 slash line and a particularly impressive 16 doubles. I checked to see who has had more doubles in the month of August since 1901, and the answer was three all-time greats:

• 19 – Kiki Cuyler, 1930

• 18 – Todd Helton, 2000

• 17 – Joe Medwick, 1936

• 16 – Freddie Freeman, 2023

• 16 – Charlie Grimm, 1932

• 16 – Billy Herman, 1936

• 16 – Edgar Martinez, 1992

• 16 – Albert Pujols, 2001

• 16 – Gee Walker, 1936

• 16 – Paul Waner, 1928

• 16 – Sam West, 1931

On the pitching side, arguably the best in August was Cole Ragans, acquired by the Royals on June 30th when they traded veteran reliever Aroldis Chapman to the Rangers. With Texas, Ragans had been struggling pitching in a relief role, posting a 5.92 ERA over 24.1 IP in 17 appearances. But the Royals returned Ragans to the starting role that he’s had his entire (still young) professional career, and so far, so good! In six starts in August he pitched 36.2 IP with a 1.72 ERA and 53 strikeouts.

I assumed that 53 strikeouts wasn’t really close to being a record for the month of August, and that was correct of course. That total actually ranks 93rd, with the record for August strikeouts being 85 K in 62.1 IP by Nolan Ryan in 1974. But Ryan started seven games in August that year, and Ragans only started six (and only pitched 36.2 IP.) Some others who also rank higher from the early part of the 20th century pitched even more than 7 games in August, like Christy Mathewson who started 10 games in 1903 for instance.

So I checked, and amongst those who had no more than 6 games started Ragans’ 53 K ranks tied for 34th, with the record held by Randy Johnson in 2002 when he had 70 K in 46.1 IP. And amongst pitchers who had no more than 36.2 IP in the month of August, Ragans’ 53 K ranks tied for fourth:

• 55 - Jacob deGrom, 2022

• 55 – Pedro Martinez, 1999

• 54 – Blake Snell, 2021

• 53 – Cole Ragans, 2023

• 53 – Lucas Giolito, 2019

• 52 – Chris Sale, 2015

• 51 – Mike Clevinger, 2019

• 50 – Dylan Cease, 2021

• 50 – Justin Verlander, 2018

• 50 – Brandon Webb, 2003

Roster of baseball’s best for August 2023

Plenty of guys had good or great August numbers besides Rodriguez, Harper, Betts, Freeman, and Ragans. Here is my overall roster of baseball’s best players for the month:

I generally included two per position, but added a third in a few spots, and listed Betts as a utility player given he split his time pretty equally between RF and 2B. For starting pitchers I just went with the guys with the top ERA who started four or more games, plus Spencer Strider who had 46 strikeouts (tied with Freddy Peralta for second best, behind Ragans). For relievers I went with the guys with five or more saves, but also an ERA below 3.00.

All data is from Baseball-Reference.com, and also their subscription service Stathead.com. If you are a big sports fan, be sure to check out the latest features at Stathead and the Sports Reference family of sites.

Did you know? I wrote a book with the same title as this Substack newsletter / blog: Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises. It was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports, the publisher of the annual Bill James Handbook and other popular titles. You can learn more about it at www.NowTakingTheField.com, or buy directly at Amazon and other booksellers.