Here are MLB's 8 top performers from August

With another flip of the calendar, we’ve officially reached the 2024 postseason push. But before we dive headfirst into September baseball, let’s wrap up August.

Here are last month’s best performances, starting with the Players of the Month, presented by Chevrolet.

Aaron Judge, NYY, AL Player of the Month
As he continues his second quest for a 60-homer season, Judge added another 12 to his total -- this despite being walked 25 times last month, of which 10 were officially intentional. He also led all of baseball (min. 50 PA) in batting average (.389), on-base percentage (.530 -- literally reaching base more often than not) and slugging (.856).

Corbin Carroll, AZ, NL Player of the Month
2024 was shaping up to be a tough second act for Carroll, but those still looking for evidence of the dynamic talent he showed in his unanimous NL Rookie of the Year season in 2023 had their faith and patience rewarded last month. Carroll hit .280/.342/.700 (1.042 OPS) with 11 home runs and 24 RBIs in August -- that power output, it should be noted, was topped only by Judge and Shohei Ohtani, who each hit 12.

Bowden Francis, TOR, AL Pitcher of the Month
Francis wasn’t even in the Blue Jays’ rotation to start the month. He’d only made four starts all year up until that point. He more than doubled that total in August, and he really made his opportunity count -- in five starts, he threw 34 1/3 innings, posting a 1.05 ERA and a 0.41 WHIP with 39 strikeouts. To top it all off, he nearly no-hit the Angels on Aug. 24, making it through eight hitless innings before losing the effort on a leadoff homer in the top of the ninth.

Blake Snell, SF, NL Pitcher of the Month
Snell kicked off the month by finally completing a no-hitter, having lost several previous attempts to high pitch counts. He walked three and struck out 11 in his historic performance in Cincinnati on Aug. 2 and just kept rolling from there. Among pitchers with at least 20 IP in August, Snell ranked second in the National League in ERA (1.64) and WHIP (0.83) and led all pitchers with 53 strikeouts while allowing just one home run.

Spencer Arrighetti, HOU, AL Rookie of the Month
Arrighetti’s August came out of nowhere after he’d struggled for most of the year as a rookie pushed into service by the Astros’ spate of pitcher injuries early in the season. There was no evidence of those struggles last month -- the 24-year-old posted a 1.95 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP with 47 K’s in 32 1/3 innings. He capped off the month by flirting with a no-hitter of his own, throwing seven no-hit innings against the Phillies on Aug. 28.

Jackson Merrill, SD, NL Rookie of the Month
Does the National League have a new favorite for Rookie of the Year? Maybe. Either way, Merrill’s August put a real dent in the previously obvious case of the Pirates’ Paul Skenes. The 21-year-old Merrill hit .303 with a .626 slugging percentage last month, tallying seven home runs, 23 RBIs and five stolen bases. He also continued to show off his gift for coming through in big spots -- four of his seven August homers were game-tying or go-ahead shots.

Josh Hader, HOU, AL Reliever of the Month
After a July he’d sooner forget, August was a totally different story for Hader, who gave up just one earned run in 13 1/3 innings (0.68 ERA) with a 0.60 WHIP, holding opponents to a .071 batting average. This is Hader’s seventh Reliever of the Month award, but his first in the AL -- he’d been off the board since April 2023.

Raisel Iglesias, ATL, NL Reliever of the Month
Iglesias continued his streak of dominance in August, finishing another month about as close to perfect as a reliever can get. In 11 games (13 1/3 innings), he gave up two hits and didn’t walk a batter (although he did hit one), good for an absurd 0.15 WHIP to go along with 14 strikeouts. But again, this is nothing new for Iglesias in 2024; the veteran right-hander hasn’t given up an earned run since June 16.