The month of July is behind us, which gives us an opportunity to look at some of the best performers over the last 30 days, including a surprising Joey Votto with terrific power hitting for the Cincinnati Reds, and the incredibly difficult to hit Stephen Strasburg, coming back from another as good as ever.
Impressive batting over the last 30 days
- Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds with a 1.175. He hit four home runs, walked 25 times and had a .406 batting average through 69 at bats and 22 games, helping him bounce back from a rough season
- Yasmani Grandal, the Los Angeles Dodgers catch, batted an impressive .323, adding 8 home runs and walking 13 times, posting a 1.151 OPS. The 27 year old is two home runs from setting a new career high
- Daniel Murphy of the Washington Nationals has a 1.115 OPS, recapturing some of his 2015 postseason magic last month, hitting six home runs while batting an impressive .342, which is actually lower than his season batting average
- Josh Donaldson hit six home runs in July, batting .337. For the season he’s just under .300, while he posted a monthly 1.067 OPS, now wandering very close to posting a 1.000 OPS for the season
- Jason Kipnis of the Cleveland Indians posted a 1.067 OPS over the last 30 days, hitting six home runs while batting a .360. The 29-year old has already matched his career high for home runs this season with 17
Impressive pitching over the last 30 days
- Stephen Strasburg has the best WHIP in the majors over the last five starts, posting an impressive 0.78. He is 4-1 through 34.2 innings, allowing a .127 batting average. He’s striking out 9.61 batters per nine innings, and is walking one player per 3.08 strikes
- Kyle Hendricks has the best ERA over the last 30 days, with an impressive 1.07 in five games and four starts, going 3-1 through 25.1 innings. He posted a 1.07 WHIP, striking out 2.88 batters per walk
- Scott Kazmir, surprisingly, has been doing the best job of striking out batters while avoiding walks, with an 11.00 on the k/bb ratio. He has a 3.58 ERA through 27.2 innings and 5 starts, posting a 1.08 WHIP
- There are five pitchers with a 4-0 record or better through the last 30 days: Justin Verlander is 4-0 through six starts, pitching 42.2 innings, J.A. Happ is 4-0 through 5 starts with a 1.44 ERA, Anthony DeSclafani has been fantastic for the Reds at 4-0, Rick Porcello has won all his five starts with a 2.57 ERA, and Hector Santiago is 6-0 through his last six starts, posting a 1.78 ERA.