There were a number of great offensive Augusts in 2017. Joey Votto led the majors with a .519 OBP. Tim Beckham hit .394, collecting 50 hits in the month. It’s another example of how tough it is to hit .400 even for a short period of time. Braves rookie Ozzie Albies started his MLB career at the beginning of August, and led the majors with four triples.
Giancarlo Stanton, however, blew everyone else away with his power. He tied the MLB record for home runs in August with 18, led the majors in runs (28) and RBI (37), and posted a .349/.433/.899 slash line. He is easily the Baseball Musings Player of the Month for August 2017.
On the pitching side, Jake Arrieta returned to his 2015 form with a 1.21 ERA for the month. That beat Corey Kluber by 0.75 runs, although Kluber pitched 8 2/3 more innings. Kluber beat Arrietta on two of the three-true outcomes, Kluber posting the lowest walk rate in the majors for the month. Arrieta allowed just one home run to Kluber’s six, with an honorable mention going to Zach Davies who did not allow a long ball in the month.
The top five pitchers in strikeouts per nine innings pitched did not post very good ERAs. I wonder if we are starting to reach the limit of Ks, where batters are homering enough to neutralize the power of the pitcher?
It is a close call, but due to his home run prevention in a season where home runs are king, Jake Arrieta wins the Baseball Musings Pitcher of the Month for August 2017.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2wX8p03
No comments:
Post a Comment