Myers named AL Rookie of the Month
Two-homer game, eight-game hit streak among slugger's September highlights
Wil Myers' chase for the American League Rookie of the Year Award received a boost Monday when the Rays outfielder was named AL Rookie of the Month for September.
"I'm not concerned about [the Rookie of the Year Award]," Myers said on Monday. "I'm more concerned about today. It's the last game of the season -- regular season -- and everybody's got to come out and play hard, and I think everyone's a little more amped for this game. So we just have to go out and play our game. Whatever happens, happens."
Myers hit .317/.360/.558 with 13 doubles and four home runs in 27 games to help the Rays advance to Monday's AL Wild Card tiebreaker against the Rangers.
"If you can help the team out in September, I think that's the biggest thing," he said.
The 22-year-old finished first among rookies in hits (33), runs (18), doubles, extra-base hits (17) and total bases (58), while tying for first in homers. He also ranked second in RBIs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
Myers notched his second career multi-homer game Sept. 4 against the Angels and put together an eight-game hitting streak from Sept. 11-18, during which he batted .387 with five doubles, two homers and seven RBIs.
He was 2-for-4 with two doubles and drove in a run in Sunday's finale to help the Rays advance to the tiebreaker game.
Myers is the second Rays rookie to earn monthly honors this season following Chris Archer's July award and is the first Rays position player to win the award since Evan Longoria in June 2008.