June belonged to a handful of players who turned hot streaks into full-blown monthly takeovers.
The Rays got the biggest lift from Junior Caminero, who took AL Player of the Month honors after a blistering finish to June. He opened the month hitting .239 with a .774 OPS over his first 12 games, then flipped the script in a hurry.
Over his final stretch, he batted .404 with a 1.342 OPS, and the last seven games were pure damage: .481 with eight homers, including a three-homer game and home runs in five straight games to close the month. For June overall, Caminero finished at .327 with 10 homers, 24 RBIs and a 1.075 OPS.
He’s now in the AL MVP conversation.
On the NL side, Pete Crow-Armstrong forced his way into that race with a June that looked more like a video game line than a real one. The Cubs outfielder hit .381 with 11 homers and a 1.249 OPS, the top mark among qualified hitters.
His season batting average jumped 42 points during the month, and his OPS climbed by 170 points. Crow-Armstrong also hit safely in 14 straight games at one point, piled up 12 multi-hit games, and capped the month with a four-hit game on June 15, when he hit for the cycle.
The Rays didn’t stop with Caminero. Drew Rasmussen was just as overpowering on the mound and took AL Pitcher of the Month after allowing only three runs across 33 innings in June.
That worked out to an 0.82 ERA, second-best in the Majors, while his 0.61 WHIP tied for the best among all qualified pitchers. He also held hitters to a .142 average, the lowest mark in the AL, and struck out a career-high 13 against the Red Sox on June 10.
With Caminero winning Player of the Month, it marked the first time in franchise history that Tampa Bay had taken both awards in the same month.
Logan Webb was even stingier in the National League. The Giants right-hander posted a 0.71 ERA and a 0.61 WHIP in 38 innings, leading all qualified MLB pitchers in ERA while matching Rasmussen in WHIP.
Opponents hit just .148 against him across five starts, and he put together three straight outings of eight innings. Webb finished June with seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball against the Braves on June 27.
Among rookies, Kazuma Okamoto kept building on an already strong season and earned AL Rookie of the Month. The Blue Jays third baseman led all rookies with seven homers in June and tied for the AL rookie lead with 20 RBIs. He also posted a .913 OPS and 11 extra-base hits, both second among qualified AL rookies, and collected nine multi-hit games, the most in the league for AL rookies.
TJ Rumfield made it back-to-back NL Rookie of the Month awards after another loud month for the Rockies. The lefty slugger led all MLB rookies with 15 extra-base hits and a .989 OPS, while his .316 average and .400 on-base percentage topped all qualified NL rookies.
He added five homers, tied for the most among NL rookie peers, and his 10 multi-hit games were the most of any MLB rookie. Rumfield also hit safely in 18 of his last 19 June games.
In the bullpen, Jacob Latz was perfect in save chances for Texas and took AL Reliever of the Month after going 11-for-11 in June, the most saves in either league. He worked 12 relief appearances and finished with a 0.62 WHIP, the best mark of any MLB pitcher who threw at least 15 innings during the month. His strikeout rate was 33 percent, second-best among AL relievers with at least 15 innings pitched.
Jhoan Duran claimed NL Reliever of the Month for Philadelphia after leading NL relievers with nine saves in June. He logged a 1.64 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP, struck out 18 batters in 11 innings for a 42.9 percent strikeout rate, and that was the highest among NL pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched. Duran didn’t allow a run after June 9 and kept opponents off the board in 11 of his 12 appearances.
In Other News...
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Even with that kind of track record, Daz still does not seem to get the national respect his game deserves, which is why the latest All-Star voting outcome landed with a thud around Tampa Bay. Inside the clubhouse, the appreciation is far clearer, with teammates and coaches repeatedly pointing to his pure hitting ability and steady approach, the kind of praise that says as much about his value as any award ballot ever could. [Read more 🡒]
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Camineros path is the most ambitious of the three, because the top of the AL MVP race is crowded and unforgiving, but the fact that he is even being discussed in that company says plenty about how far he has come. Rasmussens profile is more understated, Martinezs more dependent on recognition than flash, and both could still end up as the kind of Rays stories that catch the wider baseball world by surprise if the rest of the season breaks their way. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Keep Rolling With 8th Straight Win And Another Sweep
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Cedric Mullins supplied the biggest swing, and the Rays also flashed the kind of defense that has helped fuel this run. With the club now at 51-33 and sitting four games up in the division, the bigger question is how long this pace can hold as the schedule keeps moving and the pressure starts to build. [Read more 🡒]