Starting pitcher Merrill Kelly of the Arizona Diamondbacks has been voted the National League Pitcher of the Month for July, and starter Dylan Cease of the Chicago White Sox has been named the American League Pitcher of the Month for the second consecutive month.

Kelly earned his first career NL Pitcher of the Month Award and is Arizona’s first winner since All-Star Zack Greinke in July 2018. Cease claimed his second career AL Pitcher of the Month Award and his second in a row. Dylan is the first White Sox hurler to win consecutive Pitcher of the Month Awards since Jose Contreras in September 2005 and April 2006. However, he is the first White Sox pitcher to accomplish the feat in the same season. Jack Flaherty of the St. Louis Cardinals was the last Major Leaguer to win back-to-back Pitcher of the Month Awards in a single season, doing so in August-September 2019. The last White Sox hurler other than Cease to win Pitcher of the Month was Dylan’s All-Star rotation-mate Lucas Giolito in May 2019.

Merrill Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks (@mertman29)

• Across six starts, compiled a perfect 4-0 record with 33 strikeouts, eight walks and a 1.31 ERA over 41.1 innings pitched, while permitting 24 hits and two home runs.

• Each outing consisted of at least 6.0 innings, and the right-hander did not yield more than two runs in any start.

• Tossed at least 7.0 frames while notching seven-or-more punchouts and not surrendering more than three hits in a pair of starts on July 25th and July 31st. Marked just the seventh such two-start streak in team history and the first since Hall of Famer Randy Johnson in 2004.

• The Arizona State University product became the third D-backs pitcher (fifth time) to post an ERA below 1.40 with a minimum of six starts in a calendar month, joining Dan Haren (June 2008) and Johnson, who accomplished the feat three times during his Cy Young Award-winning seasons (July 1999, April 2000, April 2002).

Dylan Cease, Chicago White Sox (@dylancease7)

• Registered a 5-1 record with 40 strikeouts and a 0.76 ERA across six starts, while limiting the opposition to 24 hits, 13 walks and three home runs over 35.2 innings.

• Made 12 consecutive starts from May 29th – July 31st in which he allowed one earned run-or-less, joining Jacob deGrom (2021) as the only starting pitchers (excluding openers) since 1913 to post 12 straight such starts.

• The Georgia native joined deGrom and Jake Arrieta (2015) as the only starters since 1913 to allow a total of four earned runs-or-less in a 12-outing span.

• Cease also became the third pitcher in MLB history to post nine consecutive starts in which he pitched at least 5.0 innings without allowing more than one run in nine-or-more consecutive starts, joining Hall of Famer Bob Gibson (1968) and Jack Coombs (1910), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Others receiving votes for NL Pitcher of the Month included All-Star Tyler Anderson (3-0, 1.11 ERA, 24 SO, 6 BB) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; All-Stars Max Scherzer (1-1, 1.39 ERA, 45 SO, 5 BB) and Carlos Carrasco (3-0, 0.90 ERA, 30.0 IP, 27 SO) of the New York Mets; and All-Stars Corbin Burnes (2-0, 2.01 ERA, 41 SO, 10 BB) and Brandon Woodruff (3-0, 2.10 ERA, 30.0 IP, 38 SO) of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Others receiving votes for AL Pitcher of the Month included All-Star Justin Verlander (4-0, 1.01 ERA, 32 SO, 5 BB) of the Houston Astros; Triston McKenzie (3-1, 1.34 ERA, 33.2 IP, 33 SO) of the Cleveland Guardians; Brady Singer (1-0, 2.05 ERA, 30.2 IP, 42 SO) of the Kansas City Royals; and Cole Irvin (4-1, 1.85 ERA, 22 SO, 3 BB) of the Oakland Athletics.