Bregman, Aquino named Aug. Players of Month

Major League Baseball on Tuesday selected Astros third baseman Alex Bregman and Reds rookie sensation Aristides Aquino as the American and National League Players of the Month, respectively, for August.

Bregman bolstered his standing as one of the best young players in baseball, ranking among the sport’s top players with a .487 on-base percentage (best in MLB, min. 100 plate appearances), .404 batting average (second), .747 slugging percentage (third) and 14 doubles (second). The third baseman is currently working on a 12-game on-base streak while the Astros have won nine games in that span. His OPS improved from .909 at the start of August to .976 at its conclusion, and his .985 mark after two additional games in September now places him third in the AL behind Mike Trout and Nelson Cruz. This is Bregman’s second career Player of the Month award after claiming the honor in June 2018.

The 25-year-old Aquino burst onto the scene in an historic way last month, setting numerous records en route to becoming the fastest Major Leaguer to reach 10 home runs (and subsequently 15 on Monday). The outfielder received just one at-bat in his first cup of coffee with Cincinnati last year, but he made the absolute most of his second opportunity, homering approximately once every seven at-bats over his first full month as a big leaguer. Aquino slashed .320/.391/.767 in August, knocking in a sport-topping 33 runs to go with those 14 homers that tied Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (August 1962) and Greg Vaughn (September 1999) for Cincinnati’s franchise record by any player -- rookie or veteran -- in a calendar month. Aquino’s 14 round-trippers also set an NL record for rookies in any calendar month. He homered in three consecutive innings against the Cubs on Aug. 10, his 10th career game.