I watched a game on TV. A pitcher was ready to throw the first pitch of the game. The play-by-play guy mentioned a thing which is quite interesting.
That pitcher actually made his first start in June in his career. Yes, previously, that pitcher never pitched in June. For me, that sounds quite interesting. At the beginning, I was just wondering if there’s something wrong. But, no, that pitcher just made his first start in June.
Well, that pitcher made his first start in June in his career. However, after watching the game, I was just thinking about some players’ performances in June. Are there some pitchers who enjoy playing in June? To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the statcast website.
So, let’s look at pitchers’ performances in June over the last 10 years. Max Scherzer is a 3-time Cy Young award winner. He’s certainly one of the best pitchers in the majors. He already earned 200+ wins so far in his career. And his performance in June looks quite good. From 2015 to 2024, opponents only hit .172 against him in June. In particular, in 2019, Scherzer made 6 starts in June and he got 6 wins with 68 strikeouts.
Secondly, Freddy Peralta made his MLB debut in 2018. In 2024 and 2025, Peralta was the Opening Day starter of the Brewers. From 2018 to 2024, opponents only hit .182 against him in June. The best June so far in his career is probably in 2021. Peralta made 5 starts in June that season, throwing 39 strikeouts over 30.1 innings.
In addition, Jacob deGrom is a 2-time Cy Young award winner. When he’s healthy, he’s certainly an excellent pitcher. From 2015 to 2021, in June, opponents’ batting average against him was below .200. In particular, he struck out 51 batters over 40 innings in June 2019. But, unfortunately, he didn’t pitch in June from 2022 to 2024 because of injuries.
Meanwhile, Chris Sale just won the Cy Young award for the first time in his career. He’s the 2024 NL Cy Young award winner. Sale made his MLB debut in 2010. From 2015 to 2024, opponents only batted .205 against him in June. In 2015, Sale made 6 starts in June, throwing 75 strikeouts over 44.1 innings. Nonetheless, he only got 2 wins. Moreover, in 2018, he made 6 starts in June and he struck out 60 batters in 41 innings. However, he didn’t pitch in June in 2021 and 2022.
Finally, Yu Darvish didn’t let opponents hit well in June, either. He actually missed some time in June previously. Nonetheless, when he was healthy, opponents’ batting average against him was below .200 in June over the last 10 seasons.
Well, the 2020 season was a shortened one. So, no player pitched in June 2020. Nevertheless, 9 seasons seem to be enough. Looking at the pitchers who pitched well in June, they are truly good pitchers. Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Chris Sale are Cy Young award winners and in particular, Sale threw 70+ strikeouts in June 2015.
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