Mookie Betts, Julio Rodríguez named August 2023 Players of Month presented by Chevrolet
All-Star outfielder/infielder Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Angels has been named the National League Player of the Month presented by Chevrolet, while All-Star outfielder Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners has been voted the American League Player of the Month presented by Chevrolet for August.
Betts picked up his second career Player of the Month Award and his first since winning in July of 2016 as a member of the Boston Red Sox. He is the second member of the Dodgers to take home monthly honors, joining Freddie Freeman, who won in May. Rodríguez earned his first career Player of the Month Award and is the first Mariners player since April of 2015 to be honored. He is the sixth different player in Mariners franchise history to win Player of the Month, joining Dan Meyer, Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro Suzuki and Nelson Cruz. Both players were selected to the All-Star teams this season and participated in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby in Seattle.
Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers (@mookiebetts)
• The 30-year-old hit .455 (51-for-112) with 11 home runs, 30 RBI, 10 doubles, 12 walks, 35 runs scored, three stolen bases, a .516 on-base percentage and an .839 slugging percentage in 28 games during August, reaching safely in 27 of the 28 contests.
• The 2018 AL MVP tallied his second career five-hit game on August 23rd at Cleveland, with singles in the first, second, fourth and sixth innings and a two-run double in the eighth inning. Betts had multiple hits in 19 of his 28 games in August with three-or-more hits in four contests.
• The Tennessee native became one of four Dodgers in history to hit over .450 in a calendar month with a minimum of 75 at-bats, joining Willie Davis (.469, August 1969); Pedro Guerrero (.460, July 1985); and Andre Ethier (.462, September 2008).
• During August, Betts led the Majors in batting average, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS (1.355), hits (51), extra-base hits (21), total bases (94) and runs; ranked second in RBI; and tied for third in doubles. He became just the third player in Baseball history with a .450 average, 50+ hits and 10+ HR in a calendar month joining Babe Ruth (July 1923-24) and Lou Gehrig (June 1930).
• Betts took home his fifth career Player of the Week honor on August 28th , batting .615 (16-for-26) with one home run, seven RBI, four doubles, three walks, nine runs, two stolen bases, a .655 on-base percentage, an .885 slugging percentage and a 1.540 OPS in six games.
• The seven-time All-Star blasted two home runs on August 19th against Miami and on August 31st against Atlanta, driving home four runs on Thursday against the Braves. He now has 28 career games with at least four RBI, including five games this season, marking his most during any single season in his career.
• Overall, Betts hit in safely 15 consecutive games from August 10th-27th, tying the second-longest streak of his career. During the stretch, he batted .542 (32-for-59) with four homers, 16 RBI, six doubles, six walks, 17 runs, and an .847 on-base percentage.
Julio Rodríguez, Seattle Mariners (@jrodshow44)
• The 22-year-old hit .429 (45-for-105) with seven homers, 30 RBI, 10 doubles, eight walks, 19 runs, 11 stolen bases, a .474 on-base percentage and a .724 slugging percentage in 23 games during August.
• The two-time All-Star collected a Major League record 17 hits over four games from August 16th through 19th, surpassing Milt Stock’s 16 hits in four games from June 30-July 3, 1925. Rodríguez’s stretch included a five-hit game on August 17th at Kansas City in which the second-year outfielder tied his career-high with five RBI. Rodríguez became the second player in Major League history with four-or-more hits in four consecutive games, joining Stock’s aforementioned stretch in 1925.
• After one of the most historic weeks at the plate, the Dominican Republic native took home his third career weekly honor on August 21st after batting .568 (21-for-37) with two home runs, 12 RBI, four doubles, two walks, seven runs, six stolen bases, a .579 on-base percentage, an .838 slugging percentage and a 1.417 OPS in seven games.
• Actively, the 2022 AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year has hit safely in a career-high 14 games since August 13th, batting .515
(34-for-66) with five homers, 21 RBI, seven doubles, four walks, 13 runs, eight stolen bases, and a .549 on-base percentage. The Mariners slugger hit a home run in each of the last three games during August, the longest streak of his career.
• During August, Rodríguez ranked second among Major League hitters in batting average, on-base percentage and hits (45); tied for second in RBI; ranked third in slugging and OPS (1.198); and tied for third in doubles. The slugger helped the Mariners to a 21-6 record, the most wins in a single August in Seattle’s history.
• Rodríguez made Mariners history by hitting his 50th career home run in his 256th career game, becoming the fastest Mariners player to hit 50 home runs by beating Alex Rodriguez’s previous record of 269 games on August 26th against Kansas City.
• The Mariners slugger also drove home five RBI on August 17th and four RBI on August 14th at Kansas City, finishing the four-game series with 11 RBI, tied for the second-most all-time by a Mariners player in a four-game series.
Others receiving votes for NL Player of the Month presented by Chevrolet included first baseman/designated hitter Bryce Harper (.361, 10 HR, 24 RBI, 9 2B, 1 3B, 14 BB, 23 R, .784 SLG) of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Others receiving votes for AL Player of the Month presented by Chevrolet included shortstop Corey Seager (.337, 10 HR, 22 RBI, 6 2B, 13 BB, 21 R, 1 SB, .704 SLG) of the Texas Rangers; outfielder/designated hitter Kerry Carpenter (.347, 9 HR, 20 RBI, 4 2B, 7 BB, 21 R, 2 SB, .653 SLG) of the Detroit Tigers; and infielder Luis Rengifo (.327, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 5 2B, 1 3B, 8 BB, 13 R, .520 SLG) of the Los Angeles Angels