German Marquez named NL Pitcher of the Month for September

Across five starts in September, Márquez registered a 3-1 record with 48 strikeouts and a 2.14 ERA to claim his first career NL Pitcher of the Month Award.

October 1st, 2018

Across five starts in September, Márquez registered a 3-1 record with 48 strikeouts and a 2.14 ERA to claim his first career NL Pitcher of the Month Award. The right-handed pitcher limited opposing batters to 29 hits, a home run and just five walks over 33.2 innings pitched. Among qualified NL starting pitchers, German finished his strong month first in strikeouts; tied for fifth in innings pitched; and tied for ninth in wins. This is Colorado's first Pitcher of the Month Award this season. Márquez is the third pitcher in franchise history ever to win NL Pitcher of the Month, joining Shawn Chacon (April 2003) and Ubaldo Jiménez (April-May 2010).
Márquez, who is slated to start today's NL West Tiebreaker game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, made history in his previous outing on September 26th against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Venezuelan native became the third pitcher since 1900 to begin a game by striking out the first eight opposing batters, joining Jim Deshaies (September 23, 1986) and Jacob deGrom (September 15, 2014). Additionally, the eight punchouts established a franchise record for the most consecutive strikeouts in a single game. The 23-year-old enters tonight's start with 221 strikeouts on the season, surpassing the Club record set by Jiménez (214) in 2010. In addition, the outing was his 12th consecutive quality start dating back to July 29th, which matches Jiménez (2009) for the second-longest single-season streak in Rockies history. The hard-throwing Márquez compiled a 6-2 record with 109 strikeouts, 15 walks and a 2.16 ERA across 83.1 innings pitched during his dominant stretch. In each of the past two months, Márquez has registered at least 48 strikeouts while posting a sub2.20 ERA. No other pitcher in franchise history has ever posted such a month.
Others receiving votes for NL Pitcher of the Month included German's teammate Kyle Freeland (5-0, 2.61 ERA, 38.0 IP, 31 SO), two members of Colorado's homegrown rotation; deGrom (2-1, 1.80 ERA, 35.0 IP, 45 SO) of the Mets; Miles Mikolas (5-0, 2.14 ERA, 33.2 IP, 29 SO) of the St. Louis Cardinals; Kyle Hendricks (4-1, 1.79 ERA, 40.1 IP, 30 SO) of the Chicago Cubs; and José Ureña (5-0, 1.20 ERA, 30.0 IP, 20 SO) of the Miami Marlins. 
In recognition of their Pitcher of the Month Awards, Blake Snell and German Márquez will each receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, for their accomplishments.