First baseman TJ Rumfield of the Colorado Rockies has been voted the National League Rookie of the Month for June, and third baseman Kazuma Okamoto of the Toronto Blue Jays has been voted the American League Rookie of the Month for June. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Rumfield receives his second consecutive award following his honor in May. He is one of nine Rockies players to receive the award along with Nolan Jones (September/October 2023); Antonio Senzatela (April 2017); Trevor Story (April 2016); Ian Stewart (July 2008); Troy Tulowitzki (August 2007); Garrett Atkins (June 2005); Clint Barmes (April 2005); and Jason Jennings (August 2002). With his second award of the season, Rumfield became the first Rockies rookie to garner the honor twice and the first National League rookie to receive back-to-back awards since Atlanta’s Michael Harris II did so in August and September/October 2022. Okamoto won his first career award and is Toronto’s ninth rookie to receive the award, joining Eric Hinske (June 2002); Josh Phelps (2x: August & September 2002); Reed Johnson (September 2003); Gustavo Chacin (2x: April & July 2005); Scott Richmond (April 2009); Devon Travis (April 2015); Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (July 2018) and Alek Manoah (September/October 2021). Along with Munetaka Murakami of the White Sox, who won last month’s award, Okamoto’s honor marks the first time in which multiple Japanese-born players received the award in the same season.
TJ Rumfield, Colorado Rockies (@tjrumfield)
- The 26-year-old hit .316 (30-for-95) with five homers, 12 RBI, nine doubles, a triple, 12 walks, 14 runs scored, a .589 slugging percentage and a .400 on-base percentage in 26 games.
- The Richmond, Virginia native, who grew up in Texas, ranked first in OPS (.989), slugging, extra-base hits, and total bases (56); tied for the Major League lead in hits and doubles; tied for second in home runs; ranked third in on-base percentage; tied for third in walks; and tied for seventh in runs scored among all qualified rookies.
- The MLB Draft League alumni became the fourth rookie in franchise history to post at least 30 hits and five homers in a month in the Statcast Era (since 2015), joining Jones (September 2023); Joshua
- Fuentes (September 2019); and Garrett Hampson (September 2019).
- Rumfield became the fourth rookie in franchise history to record 15-or-more extra-base hits while maintaining an average of .316-or-higher through a month, joining Hall of Famer Todd Helton (August 1997); Troy Tulowitzki (August 2007); and Jeff Baker (September 2007).
- Along with Atkins in June 2005, Rumfield is the only Rockies’ rookie to record at least 56 total bases while striking out 14-or-fewer times in a month.
Kazuma Okamoto, Toronto Blue Jays (Kazuma.okamoto25)
• The 30-year-old hit .286 (26-for-91) with seven homers, 20 RBI, four doubles, eight walks, 15 runs scored, a .560 slugging percentage and a .353 on-base percentage in 25 games.
The Gojo, Japan native ranked first in homers; second in slugging; tied for second in RBI; third in OPS
(.913) and total bases; fourth in extra-base hits; fifth in runs; and tied for seventh in hits among all
qualified rookies.
• Okamoto joined Hideki Matsui, fellow rookie Munetaka Murakami, Shohei Ohtani, and Seiya Suzuki as
the fifth Japanese-born player to record multiple months of at least seven homers and 20 RBI, a feat
he also accomplished in May of this season.
• The six-time Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star is one of eight players to post multiple months of at least seven homers and 11 extra-base hits, and Toronto’s first rookie to accomplish the feat.
• Okamoto’s 19 home runs are fifth-most by any Blue Jays hitter during their rookie season, and the slugger trails only Hall of Famer Fred McGriff (20 in 1987); Rowdy Tellez (21 in 2019); J.P. Arencibia (23 in 2011); and Eric Hinske (24 in 2002).
Others receiving votes for NL Rookie of the Month included starting pitcher Foster Griffin (2-0, 1.15 ERA, 5 G, 4 GS, 31.1 IP, 21 H, 4 BB, 33 SO) of the Washington Nationals; outfielder Carson Benge (.263, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 1 2B, 2 3B, 7 BB, 16 R, .439 SLG) and starting pitcher Nolan McLean (2-1, 2.79 ERA, 5 GS, 29.0 IP, 21 H, 2 HR, 12 BB, 36 SO) of the New York Mets; outfielder Owen Caissie (.246, 5 HR, 17 RBI, 3 2B, 7 BB, 11 R, .541 SLG) and catcher Joe Mack (.295, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 2 2B, 6 BB, 14 R, .544 SLG) of the Miami Marlins; designated hitter Bryce Eldridge (.300, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 5 2B, 14 BB, 15 R, .489 SLG) of the San Francisco Giants; first baseman Sal Stewart (.248, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 8 2B, 10 BB, 11 R, .446 SLG) of the Cincinnati Reds; outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez (.406, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 4 2B, 4 BB, 8 R, .472 OBP, .906 SLG) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; and second baseman JJ Wetherholt (.289, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 1 2B, 7 BB, 10 R, .347 OBP) of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Others receiving votes for AL Rookie of the Month included outfielder/second baseman Sam Antonacci (.318, 9 RBI, 3 HR, 6 2B, 10 BB, 20 R, .494 SLG) of the Chicago White Sox; catcher Carter Jensen (.290, 20 RBI, 5 HR, 9 2B, 7 BB, 18 R, .530 SLG) of the Kansas City Royals; starting pitcher Gage Jump (3-1, 2.31 ERA, 6 GS, 35.0 IP, 26 H, 2 HR, 9 BB, 35 SO) of the Athletics; shortstop/third baseman Kevin McGonigle (.277, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 6 2B, 19 BB, 16 R, .404 OBP) of the Detroit Tigers; and starting pitcher Walbert Ureña (3-2, 4.28 ERA, 5 GS, 27.1 IP, 23 H, 12 BB, 28 SO) of the Los Angeles Angels.