Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve has been voted the Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month for June.
Budweiser, the official beer sponsor of Major League Baseball and sponsor of 25 of 30 clubs, is also the presenting sponsor of the National League Player of the Month Award.
Altuve batted .420 (42-for-100) with 19 runs scored, six doubles, a triple, four home runs, 15 RBI and six stolen bases over 26 games. Among AL leaders in June with a minimum of 75 at-bats, Jose finished first in batting average, hits and on-base percentage (.492), while ranking second in stolen bases. The 26-year-old's batting average established a new franchise record for the month of June among players with at least 75 atbats. Additionally, the native of Venezuela reached base in every game during the month, compiling a 32-game streak, dating back to May 26th.
It was the longest-active streak of its kind in the Majors, and the longest by an Astro since Lance Berkman reached safely in 37 consecutive games from July 30-August 8, 2004. On June 29th, the three-time All-Star collected two singles, a double, one triple, four runs scored and a stolen base in Houston's 10-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Altuve joined Hall of Famers Joe Morgan (1965) and Craig Biggio (1994), as well as Cesar Cedeno (1977), Steve Finley (1992) and Berkman (2008) as the only players in club history to record at least four hits, including two extra-base hits, while also scoring four runs and stealing a base in one game. This is his first career Player of the Month Award, and the first for the Astros since Berkman took home monthly honors in May 2008, when Houston was playing in the National League.
Edwin Encarnacion of the Toronto Blue Jays delivered a strong month as well, batting .308 (28-for-91) with 29 runs scored, six doubles, 11 home runs and an AL-leading 30 RBI. The three-time AL All-Star became the fourth Blue Jay in club history to record at least 30 RBI in the month of June, joining Carlos Delgado (34 in 2003), Jose Bautista (30 in 2012) and John Olerud (30 in 1993). Others receiving votes for AL Player of the Month included Encarnacion's teammate Josh Donaldson (.368, 26 R, 24 RBI); Adam Jones (30 R, 11 HR, 27 RBI) of the Baltimore Orioles; and Brian Dozier (.369, 9 2B, 8 HR) of the Minnesota Twins.
Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Danny Salazar has been voted American League Pitcher of the Month for June. Salazar compiled a 5-0 record with a 1.91 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 33.0 innings pitched over five starts to claim his first career AL Pitcher of the Month Award, and the first for the Indians since his teammate Cody Anderson won the award last September. Among AL starters with a minimum of 25.0 innings pitched, the Dominican Republic native finished the period first in wins, fourth in ERA and tied for sixth in strikeouts. Salaza tossed 7.0 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in Wednesday's win over the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, becoming the first Indians hurler to win six consecutive starts in the same season since Cliff Lee won eight straight decisions from August 5-September 12, 2008 during his Cy Young Award-winning season. Moreover, the 2016 AL All-Star hopeful became the first Cleveland pitcher since Justin Masterson (10-6) in 2013 to reach the 10-win benchmark prior to July 1st. Entering play today, the 26-year-old leads the AL in ERA (2.22) and has allowed four runs-or-more in a start just once. The Indians have won 14 consecutive contests and now sit atop the AL Central with a 49-30 record, seven games ahead of the Kansas City Royals. Cole Hamels of the Texas Rangers also posted a strong month of June, going 4-0 with a 1.51 ERA and 35 strikeouts over 41.2 innings pitched in six starts. With his win on Tuesday, the three-time NL All-Star (with the Philadelphia Phillies) improved his 2016 record to 9-1, and became just the third pitcher in Rangers history to win at least nine of his first 10 decisions in a season. Others receiving votes for AL Pitcher of the Month included Salazar's teammates Trevor Bauer (3-0, 2.01 ERA, 43 SO) and Corey Kluber (4-1, 2.19 ERA, 2 CG); Michael Fulmer (3- 1, 0.61 ERA, 24 SO) of the Detroit Tigers; Steven Wright of the Boston Red Sox (3-1, 1.62 ERA, 23 SO); and Matt Shoemaker (2.14 ERA, 42.0 IP, 45 SO) of the Angels.
Salazar's Cleveland teammate Tyler Naquin has been voted American League Rookie of the Month for June.
Naquin hit .338 (22-for-65) with 12 runs scored, five doubles, three triples, six home runs, 15 RBI and two stolen bases over 23 games during his award-winning month. Against his AL rookie counterparts with a minimum of 20 at-bats, Tyler finished the period first in triples, extra-base hits (14), walks (10) and slugging percentage (.785), tied for first in home runs, second in batting average, tied for second in RBI and stolen bases, and tied for third in doubles. The 25-year-old rookie homered in three straight games from June 3rd-5th, becoming just the second Indians player to accomplish the feat this season (also Yan Gomes, May 13th-16th). In his first four games of the month, the left-handed-hitting outfielder logged an RBI in each game, while batting .545 (6-for-11) during the stretch with four extra-base hits. Naquin, the 15th overall pick by Cleveland in the 2012 MLB Draft, delivered his best game of the season on June 18th, going 3-for-3 with a run scored, triple, home run and four RBI in a 13-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field.
The Texas native fell just one double shy of becoming the eighth player and first rookie in club history to hit for the cycle, and recorded the first three-hit game of his career. This is Naquin's first career monthly award, and the first monthly rookie honor for the Indians since his teammate Francisco Lindor was named AL Rookie of the Month in September 2015. Cleveland also claimed both Rookie and Pitcher monthly awards last September, when Lindor and Anderson were both voted as winners. Detroit's Fulmer went 3-1 with a 0.61 ERA and 24 strikeouts over 29.2 innings pitched during his impressive month of June. Spanning starts from May 27th-June 17th, the Oklahoma native tossed 33.1 consecutive scoreless innings, the longest streak by a Tigers pitcher since at least 1913. Others receiving votes for AL Rookie of the Month included Cheslor Cuthbert (11 R, 6 HR, 15 RBI) of the Kansas City Royals and Dae-Ho Lee (8 R, 3 HR, 16 RBI) of the Seattle Mariners.