George Kirby of the Seattle Mariners named the American League Rookie of the Month for August Michael Harris II of the Atlanta Braves named The National League Rookie of the Month for August

September 2nd, 2022

Starting pitcher George Kirby of the Seattle Mariners has been voted the American League Rookie of the Month for August, and outfielder Michael Harris II of the Atlanta Braves has been voted the National League Rookie of the Month for August.

Kirby earned his first career monthly award and is Seattle’s second rookie winner this season (third time), joining his All-Star teammate Julio Rodríguez (May and June). This marks the first time since Ichiro’s historic 2001 campaign that the Mariners had three Rookie of the Month honors in the same season. Harris received his second Rookie of the Month Award (also June) and represents Atlanta’s third consecutive rookie winner, following his teammate Spencer Strider. This marks 
the first time since Craig Kimbrel (June & August) and Freddie Freeman (July) in 2011 that the Braves had three consecutive Rookie of the Month winners.

George Kirby, Seattle Mariners (@gkirb32)
• Made five starts for the Mariners, compiling a perfect 4-0 record to go along with a 2.15 ERA. Logged 34 strikeouts while permitting three walks and 30 hits over 29.1 innings pitched.
• Has begun his Major League career with 19 consecutive starts with at least 4.0 innings pitched while not allowing more than a single walk in any outing. That is the longest such streak to begin a career in MLB history.
• The New York native became the first hurler in history to post a strikeout-to-walk ratio north of 7.50 with a minimum of 100 innings pitched across his first 19 career appearances.
• Kirby’s 7.64 strikeout-to-walk ratio on the season ranks first among AL starters and second across all Major League starters, trailing only Aaron Nola’s 8.64 mark.

Michael Harris II, Atlanta Braves (@mike.harris24)
• Batted .337 (32-for-95) with 22 runs scored, 12 doubles, four home runs, 15 RBI, five stolen bases and a .589 slugging percentage over 27 games played.
• Became the first Braves rookie to log at least 15 RBI and 22 runs in a month since his AllStar teammate Austin Riley in June 2019.
• Enters play today in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak dating back to August 22nd, collecting 13 hits, five doubles, two home runs and five RBI during the hot stretch.
• Has logged 16 stolen bases without being caught this season. The last Major Leaguer to do so with at least 13 home runs was Chase Utley in 2009.

Others receiving votes for AL Rookie of the Month included backstop Adley Rutschman (.261, 22 R, 24 H, 11 XBH) of the Baltimore Orioles; outfielder Riley Greene (.265, 15 R, 30 H, 15 RBI) of the Detroit Tigers; outfielder Steven Kwan (.296, 19 R, 29 H, 8 XBH) of the Cleveland Guardians; and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino (.329, 23 H, 4 2B, 5 HR) and infielder Bobby Witt Jr. (.238, 16 R, 25 H, 6 SB) of the Kansas City Royals.

Others receiving votes for NL Rookie of the Month included Harris’ teammate and last month’s winner Spencer Strider (3-1, 2.73 ERA, 7 BB, 38 SO); first baseman Joey Meneses (.333, 31 H, 6 2B, 6 HR) of the Washington Nationals; infielder Brendan Donovan (.338, 12 R, 22 H, 7 RBI) of the St. Louis Cardinals; pitcher Alexis Díaz (12 G, 0.73 ERA, 3 SV, 21 SO) and outfielder TJ Friedl (.386, 8 R, 17 H, 10 RBI) of the Cincinnati Reds; outfielder Jake McCarthy (.308, 15 R, 28 H, 19 RBI) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; and pitcher Edward Cabrera (2-1, 1.91 ERA, 13 BB, 33 SO) of the Miami Marlins.