Baseball Daily Digest » Player/Pitcher of the Month

Baseball Daily Digest Player of the Month — Derrek Lee

Brian Joseph — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:43:48 +0000

Cubs’ first baseman Derrek Lee finished the season with a bang and for his efforts the BDD writers selected him as the September/October Player of the Month. Lee was the first BDD Player of the Month winner to not make a postseason roster.

In September/October, Lee hit 9 homers and knocked in 23 in 25 games. His batting line was an impressive .367/.482/.744. Lee reached safely in 22 of 25 games and had 9 multi-hit games. Derrek hit 2 home runs on September 5th at Citi Field in New York and had another 2 home run game on September 7th against the Pirates. In addition to his 2 multi-home run games, Lee reached based on 7 consecutive plate appearances on Sept. 14-15 and had back-to-back 3-hit games on Sept. 21-22. The consecutive PA streak and the back-to-back 3-hit games both came against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Cincinnati’s Joey Votto finished 2nd and received 3 first-place votes. He posted a .385/.492/.692 month and slammed 5 home runs in 30 games. In the month, Votto registered 12 multi-hit games. Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki (.350/.427/.621 and 8 home runs in 27 games) and Kansas City’s Billy Butler (.330/.422/.591 and 6 home runs in 30 games) both received a first-place vote each.

Previous Player of the Month Winners

April: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
Pujols hit .337 and eight homers in April including two grand slams

May: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
Mauer returned from injury to hit .414 with 11 homers, 32 RBI and 27 runs scored

June: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
Pujols hit .341 with 14 homers and 35 RBI

July: Matt Holliday, Oakland Athletics/St. Louis Cardinals
Holliday hit .408 with 3 four-hit games

August: Kendry Morales, Los Angeles Angels
Morales hit 10 homers and posted a batting line of .385/.409/.735 and 13 multi-hit games.

Baseball Daily Digest Pitcher of the Month — Felix Hernandez/Zack Greinke

Brian Joseph — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:13:35 +0000

September/October left the BDD writers split when it came to pitchers and while co-winner Felix Hernandez cleaned up with 5 of the 9 first-place votes, Zack Greinke appeared on 8 of 9 ballots and garned enough support to split the voting with King Felix. Both pitchers had excellente months and earned September/October’s Pitcher of the Month honor from Baseball Daily Digest.

Hernandez dominated in September/October with a 6-0 record in 7 starts. King Felix posted a 1.52 ERA and 0.98 WHIP with 7 quality starts. The Mariners ace hasn’t lost a decision since August 23rd and highlighted the month with a complete game win over the Yankees on September 13th. Hitters hit .193/.258/.257 against Hernandez and struck out 38 in 53-1/3 innings.

Greinke was 3-0 in 6 September/October starts and posted stretches of 23 and 16 consecutive scoreless innings (the streak of 23 began in August). Greinke struck out 40 in 39 innings and registered a 1.38 ERA and 1.05 WHIP during the month. Opponents hit just .213/.275/.270 against Greinke in September/October.

Toronto’s Roy Halladay received 1 first-place vote for his 4-2 September with a 1.47 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. 4 of Halladay’s 6 starts were complete games with 3 of those being shutouts. Deteroit’s Justin Verlander also received a first-place vote for his September where he went 4-2 with a 3.71 ERA.

Previous Pitcher of the Month Winners

April: Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals
Greinke was 5-0 with a 0.50 ERA and 0.89 WHIP

May: Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
Verlander was 5-0 with a 1.52 ERA and 0.895 WHIP

June: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants
Lincecum was 3-1 with a 1.48 ERA and 0.88 WHIP

July: Wandy Rodriguez, Houston Astros
Rodriguez was 4-0 with a 0.75 ERA and 0.94 WHIP

August: Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
Wainwrights posted a 4-1 record with a 1.30 ERA and 0.89 WHIP.

Baseball Daily Digest August Player of the Month — Kendry Morales

Brian Joseph — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:25:48 +0000

Cuban masher Kendry Morales headlined BDD’s Player of the Month voting as the Angels’ first baseman grabbed 6 first-place votes and easily earned the title as our Player of the Month for August.

Morales hit 10 homers and knocked in 33 in 28 games with a .385/.409/.735 batting line. The first baseman added 8 doubles and 22 runs in 26 starts. Kendry posted 13 multi-hit games and 4 consecutive multi-hit games twice during the month. On August 28th, Morales went 5-for-5 with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 6 RBI in their 11-7 win over the Athletics. He also had a two-home run game on August 10th against the Rays.

Behind Morales was May’s Player of the Month Joe Mauer. Mauer was the only other player to grab multiple first-place votes as he hit .391/.449/.652 in 28 games with 8 homers and 23 RBI. He also scored 21 times and added 3 steals.

Atlanta’s Matt Diaz and Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard each earned a first-place vote and Diaz added a second- and third-place vote while Howard finished right behind them with 2 third-place votes. Diaz hit .404/.467/.681 in 28 games and had 7 consecutive multi-hit games including a stretch of 6 straight at-bats with a hit. Diaz added 6 homers to his impressive month.

Howard finished fourth despite leading the majors in home runs with 11 in August. The Phillies slugger added 33 RBI and a batting line of .299/.356/.682 for August.

Previous Player of the Month Winners

April: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
Pujols hit .337 and eight homers in April including two grand slams

May: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
Mauer returned from injury to hit .414 with 11 homers, 32 RBI and 27 runs scored

June: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
Pujols hit .341 with 14 homers and 35 RBI

July: Matt Holliday, Oakland Athletics/St. Louis Cardinals
Holliday hit .408 with 3 four-hit games