Juan Soto of the Nationals led the majors in OBP with a .505 mark, and but also managed to post a slugging percentage lower than that at .500. Opponents took the bat out of his hands as he hit .284, with eight of his 21hits going for extra-bases. He led the majors with thirty-three walks, but that’s not the kind of offense that wins player of the month awards.

Two other players posted high OBPs with very high slugging percentages. C.J. Cron of the Rockies hit .387/.463/.828 while Bryce Harper of the Phillies slashed .337/.455/.776. Cron led the majors with 34 RBI, Harper finished second in runs scored with 25. Harper collected more extra-base hits, 22-19, Cron collected more hits, 36-33. One might discount Cron’s achievements as Coors Field induced, but he played more games on the road in August and hit very well away from Coors. C.J. Cron wins the Baseball Musings Offensive Player of the Month Award for August 2021.

On the pitching side, a large number of pitchers posted ERAs under 2.00 at the 26 inning mark. The top two, Steven Matz of the Blue Jays and Max Fried of the Braves accomplished the feat with relatively low strikeout rates. Enough pitchers threw better than 35 innings that I’m raising the limit a bit for the award. At 35 IP, the lowest ERAs belong to Logan Webb of the Giants at 1.41, Cal Quantrill of the Indians at 1.42, and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals at 1.43. Wainwright also led the majors in innings pitched. The old man pitched old school, averaging over seven innings a start, and using guile (low K rate), his defense, and control to limit hits, walks and home runs. His 5-1 record tied him for the most wins. All together, Adam Wainwright wins the Baseball Musings Pitcher of the Month Award for August 2021.

Congratulations to both!