The Arizona Diamondbacks named Double-A Amarillo OF Ryan Waldschmidt and Triple-A Reno RHP Taylor Rashi the organization’s Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for August.
OF RYAN WALDSCHMIDT**│** 22 years old │** **R/R │** **6-2, 205 │**Sarasota, Fla.**│ MiLB Bio
- Named August’s Texas League Player of the Month after hitting .371 (36-for-97)/1.143 OPS with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 6 homers, 17 RBI, 24 walks and 12 stolen bases in 26 games with the Sod Poodles.
- Ranked among Double-A hitters in OBP (1st, .504), OPS (1st, 1.143), runs (1st, 28), walks (T-1st, 24), hits (2nd, 36), AVG (3rd, .371), SLG pct. (4th, .639), total bases (4th, 62) and stolen bases (T-7th, 12).
- Named the Texas League Player of the Week for August 12-17, after batting .524 (11-for-21)/1.929 OPS with 1 double, 5 home runs, 11 RBI, 7 walks and 2 stolen bases.
- Owned a 10-game hitting streak from August 21-31, batting .385 (15-for-39)/1.038 OPS with 3 doubles, 1 homer, 3 RBI, 9 walks and 4 stolen bases.
- Recorded a career-high 4 RBI on August 14 vs. Corpus Christi and had a career-high 4-hit game on August 21 @ San Antonio.
- Reached base safely in 25 of his 26 games (.504 OBP), including all 11 road games (.357 AVG/.912 OPS; 15 H, 7 BB, HBP).
- Against righties, hit .406 (28-for-69)/1.289 OPS with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 6 homers, 16 RBI, 13 walks and 7 stolen bases.
- Signed as the D-backs’ 2024 Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) pick (31st overall), a pick received for Corbin Carroll winning Rookie of the Year.
RHP TAYLOR RASHI**│** 29 years old │** **R/R │** **6-4, 220 │** Torrance, Calif.│** MiLB Bio
- In 7 games with Triple-A Reno, went 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA (3 R-2 ER in 13.0 IP), opponent .245 AVG (12-for-49), 3 walks and 17 strikeouts.
- Held opponents scoreless in 5 of his 7 games.
- Had 2 outings with 3.0 scoreless innings on Aug. 1 @ Las Vegas (3 H, 0 BB, 4 K) and Aug. 13 vs. El Paso (2 H, 1 BB, 4 K).
- On Aug. 21 @ Salt Lake, had 6 strikeouts against 8 batters faced, tossing 2.1 scoreless frames with 1 hit and 0 walks.
- Had his contract selected on Aug. 27 and made his Major League Debut on August 28 @ Brewers (0 ER in 3.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K).
- Earned the save with 3.0 scoreless innings (2 H, 2 BB, 3 K) in his Major League debut on Aug. 28 @ Brewers…became the third D-back all-time to earn a 3.0-inning save in his MLB debut, joining Jon Duplantier on April 1, 2019 @ Padres and Taylor Clarke on April 20, 2019 @ Cubs.
- Recorded second consecutive 2.0+-inning save in his second career game on Sept. 2 vs. Rangers…became the third MLB pitcher since 1968 (when saves became an official stat) to collect consecutive multi-inning saves in their first 2 career games, joining Lance McCullers/SD in 1985 and John Urrea/STL in 1977.
- Selected by the D-backs in the Minor League portion of the Rule 5 Draft in 2022.
Every month during the season, the D-backs’ Player Development staff chooses the player and pitcher most deserving of the honors based on nominations from coaches at each affiliate along with input from the Minor League coordinators. Below is a list of the overall winners as well as players nominated by each affiliate:
AUGUST PLAYER/PITCHER AWARDS
RENO: AJ Vukovich, Taylor Rashi
AMARILLO: Ryan Waldschmidt, Casey Anderson
HILLSBORO: Angel Ortiz, David Hagaman
VISALIA: Yassel Soler, Chung-Hsiang Huang
DSL BLACK: Mayki De La Rosa, Luis Cepeda
DSL RED: Jorge Lara, Samuel Gonzalez