July is with us, and that means it’s time for BBRT’s traditional look back at the previous month in MLB. So, what happened in June? First, a few items that BBRT found of interest – and then the statistical review.
Albert Pujols led the AL in HRs and RBI in June.
He’s b-a-a-ck!
One of June’s big stories was the resurgence of 35-year-old Angels’ slugger Albert Pujols, who hit .303 for the month and led the AL with 13 home runs and 26 RBI. (The Tigers’ J.D. Martinez tied Pujols for June runs driven in.)
He’s b-a-ack to back!
On June 19th, the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez became the 29th player in MLB history to join the 3,000-hit club. The last player to join the 3K club? Yankee Derek Jeter back in 2011. A-Rod’s hit marked the first time back-to-back new members of the 3,000-hit club have come from the same team. A-Rod also became just the third player to go yard for his 3,000th hit. The last one to do it? You guessed it. Derek Jeter – so Rodriguez and Jeter are also the only players to hit back-to-back (in a way) homers for their 3,000th safeties.
He has arrived.
Mets’ rookie pitcher Steve Matz announced his arrival in the big leagues with authority. He made his first MLB start on June 28 – going 7 2/3 innings (2 earned runs) as the Mets topped the Reds 7-2. AND, Matz also went 3-for-3 at the plate, with four RBI. Take that, DH rule.
He was just here – and now he’s gone.
Reds’ CF Billy Hamilton didn’t stay anywhere very long in June – as the speedster swiped a MLB-leading 19 bases (caught three times), despite a .226 average. No one else was even close (Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon had the second most June steals at 11). Hamilton has an MLB-best forty steals through June 30.
He’s still hot.
The White Sox Chris Sale was a popular pre-season prediction for the AL Cy Young Award. Sale lived up to his billing in June, striking out an MLB-best 75 hitters in just 44 1/3 innings – going 2-2, 1.83 in six starts. In his final June outing (June 30), Sale fanned 12 hitters in eight innings and, in the process, joined Pedro Martinez as the only pitchers to strike out ten or more hitters in eight consecutive games. In his eight games, Sale pitched 60 innings, striking out 97 and walking just nine.
He’s almost perfect.
MLB witnessed two no-hitters in June: by the Phillies’ Chris Heston on June 9 and the Nationals’ Max Scherzer on June 20th. There were a total of four base runners in the two games – and, ironically, they all got on via hit-by-pitch. (Scherzer’s with two outs in the ninth.) For more on Scherzer’s game click here – Heston’s game click here.
We’ll have more on June’s player performances later. Let’s first take a look at June’s most – and least – successful teams.
June’s Best and Worst Records
MLB’s winningest team plays here/
Three teams won an MLB-best 18 games in June: The Toronto Blue Jays (18-9) and Baltimore Orioles (18-10) in the AL and the Saint Louis Cardinals (18-8 – MLB’s top June winning percentage at .692) in the NL. The Cardinals’ strong June enabled them to stretch their NL Central lead from six games to eight – and end the month as the only MLB team with 50 or more wins on the season (51-25). Meanwhile, Baltimore’s hot month moved the Orioles from third place (at the end of May) to a tie with the Rays for the top spot in the tight AL East (four teams separated by just one game) at the end of June. The Blue Jays needed all of their 18 wins to stay within one game (fourth place) of the Orioles.
Looking at the fewest June victories, the Philadelphia Phillies continued to suffer through a dismal season, logging MLB’s worst June record at 8-19. As June closed, the Phillies trailed the Nationals by 17 games in the NL East. The Brewers faced the biggest deficit at the end of the month – having fallen 21 ½ games behind the Cardinals. Over in the AL, the White Sox brought up the rear with only 10 June wins (10-16). Their 33-42 season record left them with the AL’s biggest deficit. They finished June 11 ½ games behind the AL Central-leading Royals.
If the Season Ended …
So who’s on top? If the season ended on June 30, the MLB playoff teams would be:
- AL … Division Champions: Orioles or Rays (playoff to break tie); Royals; Astros. Wild Cards: Loser of Orioles/Rays playoff; Minnesota. (Note: The Angels, Yankees, Blue Jays, Tigers and Rangers are all within 1 ½ games of a Wild Card slot.)
- NL … Division Champions: Nationals; Cardinals; Dodgers. Wild Cards: Giants; Pirates.
You can see the full June 30 standings at the end of this post.
A Few More Items of Interest
Before we get into June and season-through-June leaders, let’s look at a few more items of interest from the past 30 days or so.
- On June 26, Brewers’ pitcher Kyle Lohse faced off against his original MLB team, the Minnesota Twins. It wasn’t a great performance (four earned runs in six innings, six hits, one walk, two strikeouts), but it was good enough for the win. It was also good enough to make the 36-year-old Lohse – in his 15th MLB season – one of just 14 pitchers to record a victory against all 30 major league franchises.
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Prince Fielder joined his dad Cecil in the 300-club.
On June 26, Rangers’ 1B Prince Fielder hit his 12th home run of the season (in a 12-2 loss to the Blue Jays). Despite the outcome, it was an historic home run. It was the 300th of Fielder’s career – and it enabled him to join his father Cecil Fielder (who hit 319 home runs in a 13-year MLB career) as only the second father-son tandem to both hit 300 round trippers. The other? Bobby and Barry Bonds.
- Three is not always a crowd. On June 24, the Class A Batavia Muckdogs (off to an 0-5 start) reversed their fortunes. The Marlins’ affiliate sent Gabriel Castellanos (with had a 7-21, 5.15 career minor league record) to the mound against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Castellanos threw seven perfect innings, striking out twelve Mahoning Valley hitters, before giving way to reliever Brad Lilek, who struck out the side in the eighth. Lilek then passed the ball to Steven Farnworth, who pitched a perfect ninth (one strikeout) for the save – and to complete a 1-0, three-pitcher, perfect-game win.
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STAT TIME
Here’s a few tidbits of information about June team performance:
- The Oakland pitching staff put up the AL’s best June ERA at 3.06, while Yankees’ hurlers had the AL’s worse ERA for the month at 4.48.
- In the NL, the Cardinals’ (2.33) and Pirates’ staffs (2.63) both had ERAs under 3.00, while the Rockies (5.39) and Phillies (5.36) both gave up more than five earned runs per contest.
- Pitching counts. The Rockies topped the NL in runs scored for the month at 140, yet were five games under .500 (12-17) for June. The Cardinals, on the other hand, scored the tenth most runs in the NL (and 19th most in MLB) for June, but had the best June record in all of MLB.
- Over in the AL, Toronto’s 18 wins were built on a combination of the league’s second-best ERA (3.17 to Oakland’s 3.06) and most June runs put on the board (156). In short, the Blue Jays were hot.
- The long and short of June home runs. In the NL, the Dodgers hit a league-best 38 round trippers in June, while the Pirates hit the NL’s fewest long balls (13). In the AL, Houston continued to build success on power with a league-topping 45 June homers, while Seattle managed an AL-fewest 17.
Now, here are your month-of-June and through-June individual batting and pitching leaders:
Month of June Batting Leaders
Average (minimum 75 plate appearances)
Miggy put up MLB’s highest June average.
AL
Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Tigers – .384
Manny Machado, 3B, Orioles – .365
Kevin Pillar, OF, Blue Jays – .365
NL
Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Rockies – .381
Bryce Harper, RF, Nationals – .370
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, D-backs – .354
HRs
NL
Giancarlo Stanton, RF, Marlins – 12
Nolan Arenado, 3B, Colorado – 12
Todd Frazier, 3B, Reds – 9
AL
Albert Pujols, 1B, Angels – 13
J.D. Martinez, RF, Tigers – 11
Luis Valbeuna, 3B, Astros – 9
Mitch Moreland, 1B/DH, Texas – 9
RBI
Nolan Arenado’s 33 June RBI led MLB.
AL
Albert Pujols, 1B, Angels – 26
J.D. Martinez, RF, Tigers – 26
Mitch Moreland, 1B/DH, Texas – 25
NL
Nolan Arenado, 3B, Rockies – 33
Buster Posey, C, Giants – 27
Maikel Franco, 3B, Phillies – 24
Runs Scored
AL
Brett Gardner, CF, Yankees – 27
Albert Pujols, 1B, Angels – 23
NL
Nolan Arenado, 3B, Rockies – 24
Todd Frazier, 3B, Reds – 20
DJ LeMahieu, 2B, Rockies – 20
Charlie Blackmon, CF, Rockies – 20
Stolen Bases
NL
Billy Hamilton, CF, Reds – 19 (3 CS)
Charlie Blackmon, CF, Rockies – 11 (3 CS)
Ben Revere, LF, Phillies – 9 (1 CS)
AL
Billy Burns, CF, A’s – 7 (1 CS)
Five players with 6
Month-of-June Pitching Leaders
Wins
Four was the lucky number of victories in June, with 11 AL hurlers and 4 NL pitchers notching four wins. Of interest, at least to BBRT, is that the May ERAs for these four-game winners ranged from the 2.18 of the Cardinals’ Carlos Martinez to 5.54 for Charlie Morton of the Pirates. (Charles Tillman of the Orioles also won four games despite an ERA in excess of five – 5.13 – for the month).
ERA (minimum 20 innings pitched in the month)
AL
Yovani Gallardo, June’s lowest ERA.
Yovani Gallardo, Rangers – 0.54
Erasmo Ramirez, Rays – 1.44
Mike Montgomery, Mariners – 1.62
NL
Jaime Garcia, Cardinals – 1.03
Lance Lynne, Cardinals – 1.09
Jacob DeGrom, Mets – 1.21
Strikeouts
AL
Chris Sale, White Sox – 75 (44 1/3 IP)
Chris Archer, Rays – 51 (41 IP)
Ubaldo Jiminez, Orioles – 42 (35 2/3 IP)
Dallas Keuchel, Astros – 42 (42 2/3 IP)
NL
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers – 57 (41 2/3 IP)
Madison Bumgarner, Giants – 49 (39 IP)
Max Scherzer, Nationals – 45 (38 2/3 IP)
Saves
AL
Greg Holland, Royals – 9
Zack Britton, Orioles – 9
Koji Uehara, Red Sox – 8
NL
Mark Melancon, Pirates – 11
Francisco Rosdriguez, Brewers – 9
Brad Zeigler, D-Backs – 9
Mark Melancon, Pirates – 8
And now the MLB Leaders Through June
Batting Average
NL
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, D-backs – .354
Dee Gordon, 2B, Marlins – .351
Bryce Harper, RF, Nationals – .340
AL
Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Tigers – .349
Prince Fielder, 1B, Rangers – .347
Jason Kipnis, 2B, Indians – .346
HR
AL
Giancarlo Stanton – MLB home run leader.
Albert Pujols, 1B, Angels – 24
Mike Trout, CF, Angels – 20
J.D. Martinez, RF, Tigers – 20
NL
Giancarlo Stanton, RF, Marlins – 27
Todd Frazier, 3B, Reds – 25
Bryce Harper, RF, Nationals – 24
RBI
NL
Nolan Arenado, 3B, Rockies – 68
Giancarlo Stanton, RF Marlins – 67
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, D-backs – 65
AL
Mark Teixeira, 1B, Yankees – 54
Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Tigers – 53
Stephen Vogt, C, A’s – 53
Runs
AL
Brian Dozier, 2B, Twins – 60
Brett Gardner, CF, Yankees – 58
Josh Donaldson, 3B, Blue Jays – 58
NL
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, D-backs – 55
Todd Frazier, 3B, Reds – 54
Bryce Harper, CF, Nationals – 53
Stolen Bases
NL
Billy Hamilton, CF, Reds – 40 (6 CS)
Dee Gordon, 2B, Marlins – 26 (11 CS)
Charlie Blackmon, CF, Rockies – 20 (7 CS)
AL
Jose Altuve, 2B, Astros – 21 (7 CS)
Billy Burns, CF, A’s – 16 (3 CS)
Brett Gardner, CF, Yankees – 15 ( CS)
Lorenzo Cain, CF, Royals – 15 (3 CS)
BBRT Note: The Padres’ LF Justin Upton has the most steals without getting caught (15).
Pitching Leaders Through June
Wins
NL
Gerrit Cole, Pirates – 11-3 (2.20)
Micheal Wacha, Cardinals – 10-3 (2.77)
Three with nine wins
AL
Dallas Keuchel, Astros – 10-3 (2.03)
Felix Hernandez, Mariners – 10-4 (3.05)
Four with nine wins
Strikeouts
AL
Chris Sale, White Sox – 141 (103 1/3 IP)
Chris Archer Rays – 133 (109 IP)
Corey Kluber, Indians – 127 (110 2/3 IP)
NL
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers – 140 (107 IP)
Max Scherezer, Nationals – 130 (110 1/3 IP)
James Shields, Padres – 116 (97 2/3 IP)
Saves
AL
Glen Perkins, Twins – 25
Houston Street, Angels – 23
Zach Britton, Orioles – 22
NL
Mark Melancon, Pirates – 24
Drew Storen, Nationals – 23
Trevor Rosenthal, Cardinals – 23
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Finally, MLB standing as of June 30
AL East
Orioles 41-36 .532
Rays 41-36 .532
Yankees 41-37 .526 0.5
Blue Jays 41-38 .519 1.0
Red Sox 36-43 .456 6.0
AL Central
Royals 44-30 .595
Twins 41-36 .532 4.5
Tigers 39-37 .513 6.0
Indians 25-41 .461 10.0
White Sox 33-42 .440 11.5
AL West
Astros 46-34 .575
Angels 41-37 .526 4.0
Rangers 40-38 .513 5.0
Mariners 35-42 .455 9.5
A’s 35-45 .438 11.0
NL East
Nationals 43-34 .558
Mets 40-38 .513 3.5
Braves 26-41 .468 7.0
Marlins 32-46 .410 11.5
Phillies 27-52 .342 17.0
NL Central
Cardinals 51-25 .671
Pirates 43-33 .566 8.0
Cubs 40-35 .533 10.5
Reds 35-41 .461 16.0
Brewers 31-48 .392 21.5
NL West
Dodgers 44-35 .557
Giants 42-36 .538 1.5
D-Backs 37-40 .481 6.0
Padres 37-42 .468 7.0
Rockies 34-43 .442 9.0
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