Kirby, Harris named August's top rookies

Mariners right-handed starter George Kirby and Braves outfielder Michael Harris II have been named the Rookies of the Month for August.

• All-time winners

Kirby went 4-0 in his five starts with a 2.15 ERA and a 1.32 FIP last month. His Aug. 24 start was the only one he didn’t win, but that day saw him match a couple of personal bests (seven innings, nine K’s) and set an AL/NL record by opening the game with 24 consecutive strikes.

The 24-year-old righty finished August with 34 strikeouts and only three walks in 29 1/3 innings. He is the second Mariner to earn this honor in 2022, joining Julio Rodríguez, who has won it twice. Kirby is the first Mariners pitcher to be named Rookie of the Month since Michael Pineda in 2011.

Harris has performed like a star ever since he was called up in late May, but he took his game to another level in August as he registered a .337/.400/.590 slash line with 16 extra-base hits over 95 at-bats. He led rookies in hits (32) and finished tied for sixth among all qualified batters in runs (22).

Harris signed an eight-year contract on Aug. 16 and went right to work on making that deal look good. From that date, he collected at least one hit in 12 of his next 13 games to end the month. That span featured a four-hit night against the Cardinals on Aug. 28.

Harris has now been recognized as Rookie of the Month twice through his first three full months in the bigs.