October just arrived and baseball fans are ready for October baseball. But, before that, let’s see which players had a great month of September.
Firstly, let’s look at those home run hitters.
In September, Aaron Judge crushed 10 home runs, including his 61st home run of the 2022 season. Judge had a tremendous month, slashing .417/.565/.869 with 10 home runs and 17 RBI. Also, Anthony Santander blasted 10 home runs last month. Now, he has 33 home runs and it’s his first season with 30+ home runs. However, Santander only batted .194/.250/.500 last month. He had 21 hits in September and 13 of them were extra base hits.
Mike Trout is the other player who had 10 dingers last month. Trout hit .301/.365/.710 with 10 home runs and 20 RBI in September. The 3-time MVP now slashes .282/.367/.627 with 39 home runs and 79 RBI in 116 games. Furthermore, Pete Alonso and Daulton Varsho each smashed 9 home runs in September.
Bo Bichette had a great September, hitting .403/.445/.689 with 7 home runs and 27 RBI. He had 48 hits last month and he was the only player with 40+ hits in September. Bichette now has 187 hits. It’s possible to see him reach 190+ hits again. Bichette had 191 hits last season.
In the meantime, Steven Kwan has done a great job in his rookie season. So far, he’s hitting .301/.375/.403 with 6 home runs and 51 RBI. He’s not a home run hitter, but he’s quite consistent during the regular season. He did face a slump in May while his batting average was only .173. Nonetheless, in the other months, he just collects hits. Kwan had 39 hits last month.
Meanwhile, Carlos Correa had 38 hits last month. By far, Correa hits .289/.365/.467 with 22 home runs and 64 RBI in 134 games. It’s worth watching whether he will opt out of his current contract. Moreover, Oscar Gonzalez and Marcus Semien each collected 36 hits in September.
After looking at some hitters who had a great September, let’s now take a look at some pitchers who had been outstanding last month.
Alek Manoah made 6 starts for the Blue Jays last month and he won 4 of them. He tossed 41 innings in September and posted a 0.88 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP. Opponents only batted .162 against Manoah.
Moreover, Jose Quintana has shown that the Cardinals front office made a great decision to acquire him from the Pirates. Quintana made 5 starts for the Cardinals last month, posting a 0.89 ERA and a 0.76 WHIP.
Furthermore, the 2021 AL MVP Shohei Ohtani had been pitching well last month. Ohtani made 5 starts for the Angels in September. He earned 4 wins with a great 1.09 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. Additionally, Dylan Cease and Julio Urias each made 5 starts last month and owned an ERA under 1.20.
Brandon Woodruff didn’t have a great start this season and his ERA was over 5 in April. Additionally, he missed some time due to injury. But, a healthy Woodruff is surely one of the most dominant pitchers in the league. Last month, Woodruff made 6 starts and punched out 51 batters. His ERA was 2.33 in September. Additionally, 2-time Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom threw 47 strikeouts last month. However, he posted a 4.50 ERA in September. Jacob deGrom missed significant playing time due to injuries and he was just back in August. Finally, Carlos Rodon struck out 46 batters last month and he owned a 2.03 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP in 5 starts. Rodon already tossed a career-high 178 innings this season. At the same time, 4 other pitchers each threw 44 strikeouts last month. Aaron Judge did attract a lot of attention last month because he hit his 61st home run of the season, tying Roger Maris’ record. He’s one of the most dangerous hitters in the majors and it will be surely worth watching whether he will stay hot in October. Moreover, Bo Bichette or Steven Kwan doesn't hit as many home runs as Judge does. However, collecting hits is also a good way to help a team advance in the postseason. In the meantime, Alek Manoah and Jose Quintana were outstanding on the mound last month. Let’s see whether they can stay solid in October.
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