Carter Jensen of the Kansas City Royals named the American League Player of the Month for September; Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds named the National League Player of the Month for September

Rookie catcher Carter Jensen of the Kansas City Royals has been voted the American League Player of the Month for September, and shortstop Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds has been voted the National League Player of the Month for September. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Jensen earned the award for the first time in his career, marking Kansas City’s second consecutive honor after Jac Caglianone won the award last month. It is the second time the Royals have won in back-to-back months, joining honors to Hal McRae and Hall of Famer George Brett in May and June 1982, respectively. In addition to being named AL Rookie of the Month for September, Jensen is the 12th player (14th occurrence) to win both awards in the same calendar month, joining Daylen Lile (September 2025); Nick Kurtz (July 2025); Wyatt Langford (September 2024); Aristides Aquino (August 2019); Aaron Judge (June and September 2017); Gary Sánchez (August 2016); José Abreu (April and July 2014); Yasiel Puig (June 2013); Mike Trout (July 2012); Buster Posey (July 2010); and Ryan Braun (July 2007). Among the group, Kurtz, Judge, Sánchez, Abreu, Trout, Posey and Braun were each named Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year for their respective league. De La Cruz also garnered honors for the first time in his career, marking the second recognition for Cincinnati this season after JJ Bleday won in March/April. It is the first time the Reds have won multiple awards in a single season since 2019 when Aristides Aquino won in May followed by Eugenio Suárez in September.

Carter Jensen, Kansas City Royals (@carterjensenn)
The 23-year-old hit .338 (27-for-80) with eight homers, 20 RBI, 10 doubles, a triple, eight walks 19 runs scored, a .788 slugging percentage and a .407 on-base percentage across 21 contests.

The Kansas City, Missouri native led the Majors in slugging, OPS (1.195), doubles and extra-base hits (19); ranked second in total bases (63); tied for fourth in homers; and ranked 10th in RBI.

The third-round selection in the 2021 Draft capped off his strong month with two homers and a career-best five RBI on Friday against Cleveland, marking his third career two-homer game. He became the first Royals backstop with at least five RBI in a game since Salvador Perez on April 20, 2024, and he also became the youngest Royals player ever with five RBI in a game in which he appeared at catcher. Jensen also slugged a pair of homers on September 2nd against Miami.

The Park Hill High School (MO) product hit his 25th homer of the year on September 19th at Pittsburgh, surpassing Bob Hamelin (24 HR in 1994) for the most home runs by a Royals rookie. Additionally, he launched his sixth leadoff homer of the year on September 2nd, breaking the franchise record of five set by Johnny Damon in 1998 and matched by Alex Gordon in 2011. Per Elias, Jensen’s six leadoff homers as a catcher were the most by a player at the position in a single season since 1900. His leadoff blast marked his 20th homer of the season, becoming the 13th rookie catcher in Baseball history with at least 20 home runs and just the second left-handed hitting backstop to do so.

Jensen tallied two doubles on Saturday against Cleveland as he finished the year with 64 extra-base hits including 35 doubles,
two triples and 27 homers. With his pair of game-tying two-run homers on Friday against Cleveland, he surpassed Hall of Famer
Mike Piazza (61 XBH in 1993) for the most extra-base hits in a rookie season by a primary catcher since 1947.

Jensen led Kansas City with 81 RBI on the year, becoming the third rookie to lead the club in RBI, joining Hamelin (65 RBI in 1994) and Bobby Witt Jr. (80 in 2022), per Elias. His 81 RBI were third-most ever by a Royals rookie, trailing only Hall of Famer Carlos Beltrán (108 RBI in 1999) and Kevin Seitzer (83 RBI in 1987).

Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds (@la_cocoa_____18)
The 24-year-old hit .348 (31-for-89) with nine homers, 19 RBI, six doubles, 14 walks, 18 runs scored, six stolen bases, a .719 slugging percentage and .437 on-base percentage in 24 games.

The Sabana Grande de Boya, Dominican Republic native led the Majors in total bases (64); ranked second in OPS (1.156); tied for second in homers; ranked third in slugging and extra-base hits (15); tied for fourth in hits; ranked fifth in on-base percentage; and ranked seventh in batting average.

The two-time All-Star slugged his 30th homer of the year on Thursday at Atlanta and followed with his 30th stolen base of the campaign on Friday at Toronto. De La Cruz was one of three players to eclipse 30 homers and 30 stolen bases this year, joining Pete Crow-Armstrong (45 HR/41 SB) and CJ Abrams (33 HR/34 SB). Overall, it marks just the fourth 30/30 season in Reds’ history with De La Cruz joining Brandon Phillips (30 HR/32 SB in 2007); Hall of Famer Barry Larkin (33 HR/36 SB in 1996); and Eric
Davis (37 HR/50 SB in 1987).

The speedy shortstop became the first Reds player and eighth Major Leaguer since 1900 with at least 30 stolen bases in each of his first four career seasons and the first to do so since Bobby Witt Jr., who has achieved the feat in each of his first five seasons after tallying 45 steals this year. De La Cruz became the fifth Reds player since 1900 with at least four consecutive 30 steal seasons, joining Billy Hamilton (2014-18); Hall of Famer Joe Morgan (1972-77); Bob Bescher (1909-13); and Hans Lobert (1907-10).

The switch-hitter set a franchise record for a switch-hitter with his 30 homers, surpassing his previous mark of 25 during the 2024 season. Along with Sal Stewart, the duo became the first pair of Reds teammates aged 24-or-younger to each hit 30 homers in the same season. He became the first Reds player with at least 15 extra-base hits, 15 RBI and five steals in a calendar month since Phillips (15 XBH, 16 RBI, 6 SB) in August 2007.

De La Cruz hit safely in each of his first eight games of the month, including a stretch of six consecutive multi-hit games from September 2nd-8th and a stretch of five straight games with a home run between September 5th-9th. He became the first Red to homer in at least five consecutive games since Joey Votto homered in seven straight games in 2021.

Others receiving votes for AL Player of the Month included first baseman Pete Alonso (.262, 11 HR, 22 RBI, 14 BB, 16 R, .655 SLG, .382 OBP) of the Baltimore Orioles; All-Star first baseman Ben Rice (.333, 6 HR, 11 RBI, 2 2B, 1 3B, 17 BB, 20 R, .605 SLG, .450 OBP) of the fourth-seeded New York Yankees; and the 2026 AL Rod Carew Batting Champion, All-Star outfielder Yordan Alvarez (.308, 5 HR, 12 RBI, 6 2B, 15 BB, 14 R, .577 SLG, .432 OBP) of the third-seeded AL West Champion Houston Astros.

Others receiving votes for NL Player of the Month included third baseman Nolan Arenado (.349, 9 HR, 21 RBI, 4 2B, 9 BB, 15 R, .723 SLG, .432 OBP) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; and second baseman Brice Turang (.361, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 8 2B, 17 BB, 21 R, 1 SB, .602 SLG, .475 OBP) of the top-seeded NL Central Champion Milwaukee Brewers.