Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg has been voted the National League Pitcher of the Month for July. In five starts last month, Strasburg posted a 4-1 record with a 2.08 ERA (8 ER/34.2 IP) and 37 strikeouts. The hard-throwing right-hander was tied for first among NL hurlers in wins, tied for fifth in strikeouts, and had the seventh-lowest ERA among qualifying NL pitchers.
He allowed just 15 hits and held opposing hitters to a .127 batting average, which was the lowest mark among Major League pitchers with at least 27.0 innings of work last month. Strasburg opened the month of July with back-to-back wins, tossing 6.2 shutouts innings on July 3rd in a 12-1 victory over Cincinnati and fanning nine across 7.0 innings on July 8th in a 3-1 win at Citi Field against the New York Mets.
The 28-year-old improved to 13-0 for the season with 8.0 innings of work in his first start following the All-Star break, fanning 10 while walking one in a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 15th. With the victory, the All-Star became just the eighth starter in Major League history to begin a season at least 13-0 and the first since teammate Max Scherzer opened the 2013 campaign by going 13-0 with Detroit. The last NL hurler to open a season with a record of 13- 0 or better was Rube Marquard, who started the 1912 season by going 18-0 for the New York Giants.
Strasburg capped his stellar month with 7.0 shutout innings on July 27th, fanning seven and issuing two walks en route to a 4-1 victory at Cleveland. This is the second career Pitcher of the Month honor for Strasburg, who also won for April 2012. Other pitchers receiving votes were San Francisco's Madison Bumgarner (1-2, 1.75 ERA, 44 SO, 36.0 IP); Strasburg's teammate Scherzer (2-1, 1.32 ERA, 39 SO, 34.0 IP); Adam Wainwright (3-0, 1.77 ERA, 31 SO, 35.2 IP) of the St. Louis Cardinals; Cincinnati's Anthony DeSclafani (4-0, 3.82 ERA, 37 SO, 37.2 IP); Miami's Adam Conley (3-0, 1.82 ERA, 27 SO, 29.2 IP); Colorado's Jon Gray (2-1, 1.89 ERA, 31 SO, 33.1 IP); Milwaukee's Zach Davies (3-0, 1.71 ERA, 17 SO, 26.1 IP); and Kenley Jansen (0-0, 8 SV, 1.35 ERA, 20 SO, 13.1 IP) of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The National League Pitcher of the Month for July, Stephen Strasburg, will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, to commemorate his performance.