Dylan Cease of the San Diego Padres Named the National League Pitcher of the Month for July; Taj Bradley of the Tampa Bay Rays Named the American League Pitcher of the Month for July
Starting pitcher Dylan Cease of the San Diego Padres has been voted the National League Pitcher of the Month for July, and starting pitcher Taj Bradley of the Tampa Bay Rays has been named the American League Pitcher of the Month for July. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Cease earned his third career Pitcher of the Month award after previously winning in back-to-back months in June and July 2022 as a member of the Chicago White Sox. He is the first Padres pitcher to win the award since since Blake Snell won in June and September/October of his 2023 NL Cy Young Award-winning season. Bradley earned his first career honor and is the first Rays pitcher to win since Tyler Glasnow last July. Of the 11 Rays pitchers to win Pitcher of the Month, the 23-yearold is the youngest of the group and he is the youngest pitcher to win the award since Jack Flaherty also won at age 23 in August and September 2019.
Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres (@dylancease7)
• Across six starts, the 28-year-old went 4-2 with a 2.35 ERA (10 ER/38.1 IP) while allowing 18 hits with 13 walks, 49 strikeouts, a 0.81 WHIP, a .143 opponents’
average and 12.51 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The Georgia native led the Majors in strikeouts; tied for the Major League lead in wins and games started; ranked second in innings pitched; third in opponents’
average; sixth in WHIP; and ninth in ERA.
• The right-hander tossed the second no-hitter in Padres’ history on July 25th at Washington, permitting three walks with nine strikeouts. After waiting out an hour
and 16-minute rain delay in the top of the first inning, Cease permitted a leadoff walk to Lane Thomas in the bottom of the first inning before setting down eight straight batters. Cease issued another walk to Thomas in the fourth inning and a walk to CJ Abrams in the seventh inning, marking Washington’s only three baserunners in the game. He finished the magnificent start by retiring the contest’s final nine batters in order.
• The 2022 AL Cy Young runner-up won four games within a single month for the first time since July 2022 and is the first Padres starter with four wins in a single month since Snell en route to his Cy Young Award last July.
• The sixth round selection in the 2014 MLB Draft has thrown at least 6.0 innings and allowed one-or-fewer hits in six of his 23 starts this season, setting a new Major League record for a single season. Cease is one of 10 pitchers who were tied for the previous record of four starts of at least 6.0 innings and one-or-fewer hits, with Snell being the last to accomplish the feat in 2023. Cease accomplished the feat in 2022.
Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays (@taj.brad)
• Across five starts, the 23-year-old went 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA (5 ER/31.0 IP) while allowing 17 hits with eight walks, 31 strikeouts, a 0.81 WHIP, a .160 opponents’
average and 9.00 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The California native ranked second among all Major League pitchers in ERA; fourth in opponents’ average; and fifth in WHIP.
• The right-hander did not allow a run across three starts from July 12th through July 25th against Cleveland, at New York (AL) and at Toronto, winning each of the
contests. His three-game winning streak is tied for longest of his career after he won his first three career starts from April 12th-24th last season.
• Over the three-game winning streak, he permitted eight hits with five walks and 20 strikeouts. He tied his career high with 7.0 innings of work on July 12th against the Guardians and July 20th at the Yankees, while throwing 6.0 innings on July 25th at the Blue Jays. He is the first Rays pitcher since Ryan Yarbrough in
2019 to win three straight starts of at least 6.0 innings pitched.
• Bradley became the fourth pitcher in Rays’ history to throw at least 6.0 scoreless innings in three straight starts, joining Yarbrough in 2019, Jake Odorizzi in 2016 and Alex Cobb in 2014. Over the last eight seasons since 2017, Bradley, Eury Pérez (2023) and Jack Flaherty (2019) are the only pitchers with at least 6.0 scoreless innings in three consecutive starts in an age 23-or-younger season.
• The fifth-round selection in the 2018 MLB Draft tossed 24.0 consecutive scoreless innings through the second inning on July 31st against Miami, marking the third-longest single-season stretch in Rays’ history, trailing only a 27.1 innings stretch from J.P. Howell from June 14-August 30, 2012 and a 24.2 innings streak from Cobb from April 1-May 27, 2014.
Others receiving votes for NL Pitcher of the Month included starting pitcher Hunter Greene (2-0, 0.33 ERA, 4 GS, 27.0 IP, 9 H, 8 BB, 29 SO) of the Cincinnati Reds; and Pittsburgh Pirates rookie starting pitcher Paul Skenes (2-1, 1.59 ERA, 4 GS, 28.1 IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 33 SO), who was the starting pitcher for the NL at the All-Star Game.
Others receiving votes for AL Pitcher of the Month included starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (3-0, 2.45 ERA, 5 GS, 33.0 IP, 24 H, 5 BB, 42 SO) of the Detroit Tigers; starting pitchers George Kirby (1-2, 2.21 ERA, 6 GS, 36.2 IP, 34 H, 6 BB, 35 SO) and Luis Castillo (3-1, 1.99 ERA, 5 GS, 31.2 IP, 23 H, 8 BB, 27 SO) of the Seattle Mariners; starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (4-1, 3.23 ERA, 6 GS, 39.0 IP, 31 H, 0 BB, 32 SO) of the Texas Rangers; starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez (4-1, 4.19 ERA, 6 GS, 34.1 IP, 32 H, 11 BB, 41 SO) of the Baltimore Orioles; starting pitchers Brady Singer (4-2, 2.27 ERA, 6 GS, 35.2 IP, 30 H, 10 BB, 30 SO) and Michael Wacha (4-0, 2.73 ERA, 5 GS, 29.2 IP, 24 H, 8 BB, 24 SO) of the Kansas City Royals; and starting pitcher Framber Valdez (4-0, 2.90 ERA, 5 GS, 31.0 IP, 28 H, 9 BB, 40 SO) of the Houston Astros.