Posted by J.Y. Mortimer
July 3rd, 2023
Left-handed pitcher James Paxton of the Boston Red Sox has been voted the American League Pitcher of the Month for June, and left-hander Blake Snell of the San Diego Padres has been named the National League Pitcher of the Month for June.
Paxton picked up his second career Pitcher of the Month Award after previously winning in July 2017 with Seattle. He becomes the first Red Sox hurler to take home a monthly honor since his teammate Chris Sale won in back-to-back months in June and July 2018. Snell earned his third career Pitcher of the Month Award and his first in the NL after winning in the AL in consecutive months with Tampa Bay in August and September 2018.
Snell is the second straight Padres pitcher to win, following his rotation-mate Michael Wacha, who won for May. It marks the third time the Padres have had consecutive winners, but the first time with different pitchers. Randy
Jones won in April and May of his 1976 Cy Young Award-winning season, while Jake Peavy won for August and September of his Cy Young Award-winning season in 2007.
James Paxton, Boston Red Sox (@alstonpaxton)
• The 34-year-old went 3-0 with a 1.74 ERA across five starts in June. In 31.0 innings pitched, he allowed seven runs (six earned) on 18 hits with six walks and 34 strikeouts while holding opposing batters to a .165 average.
• Paxton opened his award-winning month with a season-high-tying nine strikeouts in a 5-4 win over the Guardians in Cleveland. The 7.0-inning outing marked his first of three consecutive starts with at least 6.0 innings pitched.
• The Ladner, British Columbia, Canada native hurled a season-high 7.2 innings in his final start of June north of the border on Friday at Toronto, holding the powerful Blue Jays lineup scoreless while permitting just three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts on the eve of Canada Day. The 110-pitch outing was his most in a start since April 16, 2019.
• The University of Kentucky product enters July with a 2.70 ERA and a 10.9 strikeout per nine innings ratio through nine starts on the season.
Blake Snell, San Diego Padres (@snellzilla4)
• The 30-year-old went 3-1 with a 0.87 ERA over five starts. In 31.0 innings, he surrendered three runs on just 13 hits with eight walks and 53 strikeouts while holding hitters to a .124 mark at the plate.
• The 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner closed out his month with his career-long sixth straight quality start and his fourth consecutive outing with at least 10 strikeouts. Snell fanned 12 batters in consecutive starts on June 11th at Colorado and June 17th vs. Tampa Bay before registering 11 strikeouts at San Francisco on June 22nd and 10 punchouts at Pittsburgh on June 28th.
• The four straight outings of double-digit strikeouts tied a Padres record, originally set by Peavy in four straight outings from April 25-May 11, 2007.
• Dating back to May 31st through his final start of the month, Snell’s 0.73 ERA ranked second-lowest in the Majors behind only Miami’s Eury Pérez (0.32) and his 60 strikeouts were the most in that time.
• The Seattle, Washington native enters July having permitted no more than two runs in seven consecutive starts. Among the seven-start streak are four scoreless outings two starts of just one run allowed.
Others receiving votes for AL Pitcher of the Month included 2023 All-Star Kevin Gausman (4-1, 2.97 ERA, 6 GS, 36.1 IP, 31 H, 10 BB, 50 SO) of the Toronto Blue Jays and starting pitcher Dylan Cease (0-0, 2.20 ERA, 5 GS, 28.2 IP, 20 H, 10 BB, 42 SO) of the Chicago White Sox.
Others receiving votes for NL Pitcher of the Month included 20-year-old rookie Eury Pérez (3-0, 0.32 ERA, 5 GS, 28.0 IP, 18 H, 5 BB, 35 SO) of the Miami Marlins in his first full month following his May 12th Major League debut; 2023 All-Star Clayton Kershaw (4-0, 1.09 ERA, 5 GS, 33.0 IP, 21 H, 8 BB, 30 SO) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; rookie starter Andrew Abbott (4-0, 1.21 ERA, 5 GS, 29.2 IP, 16 H, 12 BB, 30 SO) of the Cincinnati Reds in his first month in the big leagues following his June 5th debut; and starting pitchers Taijuan Walker (5-1, 1.50 ERA, 6 GS, 36.0 IP, 22 H, 10 BB, 34 SO) and Ranger Suárez (2-0, 1.08 ERA, 5 GS, 33.1 IP, 24 H, 8 BB, 33 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies.
COURTESY MLB MEDIA RELATIONS & MLBpressbox.com
