Baseball's Best in August - Last Year, Active, and All-Time

We've entered August, so who might we expect to do well this month? And what are the best hitting months of August in MLB history? And what bit of HBP and GDP trivia this analysis unveil?

Aug 05, 2022

Issue #14

First off, lets look back: who did well last year in the month of August? Here are some top performers (see Stathead results for players with 50 or more PA last August) to keep an eye on:

C.J. Cron 11 HR, 8 D, .387/.463/.828
Bobby Dalbec 7 HR, .339/.431/.774
Ryan Mountcastle 8 HR, .357/.397/.786
Jose Abreu 10 HR, .330/.382/.661
Frank Schwindel 6 HR, 8D, .344/.394/.635
Paul Goldschmidt 5 HR, 9 D, .350/.402/.602

Jorge Polanco 9 HR, .291/.342/.621
Brandon Lowe 9 HR, .262/.328/.598

Jose Ramirez 9 HR, 8 D, 8 SB, .273/.350/.627
Austin Riley 6 HR, .365/.395/.579

Amed Rosario 4 HR, 8 D, 3 SB, .372/.397/.584
Nicky Lopez 10 SB, .317/.366/.375

Will Smith 8 HR, .282/.409/.634
Salvador Perez 12 HR, .268/.348/.650

Bryce Harper 10 HR, 11 D, .337/.455/.776
Tyler Naquin 6 HR, 9D, .386/.457/.735
Randy Arozarena 4 HR, .362/.443/.638
Aaron Judge 8 HR, 4 SB, .355/.430/.627
Giancarlo Stanton 9 HR, .327/.402/.643
Odubel Herrera 6 HR, .342/.409/.634
Luis Robert 5 HR, .361/.403/.639
Hunter Renfroe 10 HR, .277/.326/.711
Starling Marte 2 HR, 9 D, 19 SB, .363/.387/.496

Yordan Alvarez 9 HR, .294/.339/.637

Some of these guys are having outstanding 2022 seasons—Riley, Goldschmidt, Judge, Alvarez—so it wouldn't be a big surprise to see them continue to dominate in August. Luis Robert was also having a good season and just came back from the IL. Bryce Harper of course is still on the IL and I think out for most of this month.

The stat above that jumped out at me the most was Starling Marte's 19 SB last August. He had just been traded from the Marlins to the A's on July 28, and promptly turned on the jets. He ended up leading all of baseball in stolen bases with 47, while not leading either league as such.

On the pitching side, amongst pitchers with four or more starts in August last year, here were the best by ERA:

Steven Matz 1.30 ERA, 20 K in 27.2 IP
Max Fried 1.36 ERA, 28 K in 33 IP
Julio Urias 1.38 ERA, 28 K in 26 IP
Logan Webb 1.41 ERA, 41 K in 38.1 IP
Cal Quantrill 1.42 ERA, 40 K in 38 IP
Adam Wainwright 1.43 ERA, 36 K in 44 IP
Max Scherzer 1.55 ERA, 41 K in 29 IP
Walker Buehler 1.56 ERA, 44 K in 40.1 IP
Marco Gonzalez 1.58 ERA 27 K in 40 IP
Corbin Burnes 1.64 ERA, 37 K in 33 IP
Blake Snell 1.72 ERA, 54 K in 36.2 IP
Robbie Ray 1.76 ERA, 52 K in 41 IP
Triston McKenzie 1.93 ERA 28 K in 28 IP

Whereas in July last year only four pitchers had four or more starts and an ERA below 2.00, in August there were these 13. As with the hitters, several of these guys are having nice seasons in 2022, so it will be no surprise to see that continue. Unfortunately, like Harper, Walker Buehler is still injured so he won't be replicating last year's performance.

A few beyond the above list had big strikeout totals in the month of August last year, like Dylan Cease (50), Sandy Alcantara (48), Charlie Morton (46), Zack Wheeler (43), and the recently traded Tyler Mahle (41).

Best Active Players in August

What about looking beyond just last August? Here are the active players who have done the best in August over their careers (minimum 250 August plate appearances, selected by highest OPS):

Jose Abreu .994 OPS (56 HR in 215 G, .335/.390/.604)
C.J. Cron .973 OPS (36 HR in 141 G, .311/.373/.600)

Trevor Story .900 OPS (27 HR in 136 G, .292/.362/.538)
Brandon Lowe .876 OPS (19 HR in 71 G, .248/.344/.532)

Josh Donaldson .988 OPS (55 HR in 202 G, .298/.401/.587)
Alex Bregman .979 OPS (22 HR in 130 G, .333/.410/.569)

Fernando Tatis Jr. .969 OPS (19 HR in 55 G, .278/.359/.610)
Trea Turner .897 OPS (20 HR and 37 SB in 140 G, .329/.375/.522)

Gary Sanchez .959 OPS (38 HR in 108 G, .274/.353/.606)
Yadier Molina .791 OPS (32 HR in 351 G, .304/.351/.441)

Ronald Acuna Jr. 1.061 OPS (27 HR and 14 SB in 73 G, .311/.393/.668)
Juan Soto 1.048 OPS (28 HR in 104 G, .305/.441/.608)

Mike Trout .965 OPS (59 HR in 230 G, .287/.409/.556)
Aaron Judge .900 OPS (28 HR in 112 G, .273/.369/.531)

Jesse Winker 1.120 OPS (18 HR in 75 G, .340/.450/.670)
Kris Bryant .978 OPS (35 HR in 144 G, .312/.398/.580)

Giancarlo Stanton .992 OPS (75 HR in 234 G, .283/.382/.610)
Bryce Harper .939 OPS (56 HR in 249 G, .296/.391/.548)

Lots of great names here of course, but what jumps out to me is Jesse Winker who apparently goes into beast mode in August. The Mariners would certainly welcome that since he has not been hitting very well so far this year. During the first three days of August, he is 3-11 with one HR.

Similarly, Josh Donaldson hasn't done much offensively for the Yankees this year, so if he could play like his former August self that would further boost their already dominating lineup.

As for pitchers, the best active starters by ERA in August have been:

Jack Flaherty, 1.41
Walker Buehler, 2.05
Max Fried, 2.22
Carlos Rodon, 2.30
Clayton Kershaw, 2.38
Blake Snell, 2.46
Mike Clevinger, 2.51
Shane Bieber, 2.66
Collin McHugh, 2.68
Sonny Gray, 2.78

I mentioned above that Buehler remains on the IL, and Jack Flaherty is also after making only three starts in June. Collin McHugh is having a fine season for Atlanta, but in relief not as a starter.

All-Time Best Single-Season August Hitting Performances

Now what about the All-Time best single-season hitting performances for the month of August? Here they are, ranked by sOPS+, which relativizes the players OPS to their league's August OPS that year (minimum 90 plate appearances required, and players listed at the position they played at the most that season, not just in August):

Willie McCovey in 1969, 1.323 OPS with 9 HR, .359/.541/.782
Rudy York in 1943, 1.307 OPS with 17 HR, .357/.459/.848

Rogers Hornsby in 1924, 1.466 OPS with 8 HR and 13 D, .509/.570/.896
Eddie Collins in 1914, 1.209 OPS with 1 HR and 9 SB, .451/.550/.659

Doug DeCinces in 1982, 1.279 OPS with 11 HR, .392/.455/.825
Whitey Kurowski in 1947, 1.280 OPS with 12 HR, .364/.489/.791

Honus Wagner in 1907, 1.139 OPS with 2 HR and 11 SB, .426/.500/.639
Alex Rodriguez in 2003, 1.303 OPS with 15 HR, .340/.454/.849

Bill Dickey in 1938, 1.279 OPS with 7 HR, .387/.505/.773
Gary Sanchez in 2016, 1.290 OPS with 11 HR, .390/.458/.832

Harry Heilmann in 1927, 1.401 OPS with 5 HR, .505/.586/.814
Babe Ruth in 1923, 1.435 OPS with 8 HR, .442/.586/.849

Willie Mays in 1965, 1.287 OPS with 17 HR, .363/.446/.841
Fred Lynn in 1979, 1.325 OPS with 10 HR, .416/.505/.820

Barry Bonds in 2002, 1.581 OPS with 11 HR, .447/.621/.961
Barry Bonds in 2004, 1.615 OPS with 11 HR, .414/.615/1.000

Those two Bonds seasons edge out the third best overall season according sOPS+, Babe Ruth's 1921 campaign. That year Ruth played mostly LF, not his slightly more common RF overall.

Joe Morgan's August of 1976 was barely beaten out by Eddie Collins' August of 1914.

Ty Cobb's 1909 August was outstanding, but he played mostly RF early in his career instead of CF, so that too didn't make this list.

The two 3B are an interesting pair. Doug DeCinces’ 1982 season for the Angels was his best, as he came in third in the AL MVP vote after ending the year with career highs in all of the following: 94 runs, 42 doubles, 30 HR, 97 RBI, and a .301/.369/.548 slash line. His great month of August was a big part of that, as he didn’t start the season as hot and so wasn’t even an All-Star.

On the other hand, Whitey Kurowski's 1947 campaign was his fifth consecutive All-Star season for the Cardinals. He posted career highs that year with 27 HR, 104 RBI, 108 runs, 87 walks, and a .420 OBP. He also had a .310 batting average, and oddly led the NL in both hit-by-pitches and times grounded into double-plays.

Time-out! HBP and GDP? They would seem to have nothing to do with each other, so to lead the league in both would I’m sure be very rare. I of course had to check, and from what I could find it has only happened twice, once in each league (dating back to 1933 in the NL and 1939 in the AL, which is when Baseball-Reference has records for grounded into double plays). Kurowski in 1947 led the NL with 10 HBP and tied for the NL lead in GDP with Andy Pafko of the Cubs with 19. Then in 1953, in the Minnie Minoso led the AL 17 HBP and 23 GDP. Huh.

OK, back to looking over these all-time great August hitting seasons. Bill Dickey barely edged out a more recent Yankee catcher, Gary Sanchez. Dickey in 1937 was in his ninth full season in the majors, whereas Sanchez's 2016 August was almost unbelievable. After just one game in mid-May, the Yankees called him up in August and he got base-hits in his first four games. The HR barrage didn't start until August 10th, but from then until the end of the month he hit 11. His career has had its ups and downs since then, but certainly started out huge.

As for all-time single season August records in various hitting statistics, here they are:

HR - 18, Giancarlo Stanton in 2017 and Rudy York in 1937
Batting Average - .509, Rogers Hornsby in the 1924 season mentioned above
Runs - 46, Paul Waner in 1928
RBIs - 53, Joe DiMaggio in 1939
Doubles - 19, Kiki Cuyler in 1930
Stolen Bases - 29, Lou Brock in 1974

Notice that Rudy York's 18-HR August in 1937 is not his August season that was listed as second best for 1B all-time. That came later in 1943. These were two standout Augusts, and overall York definitely hit best in August, including over 20 points higher in batting average and almost 100 points higher in slugging percentage versus any other month.

It seems unlikely that anyone will surpass any of these records this August (especially Brock's 29 stolen bases), though Austin Riley did just have 15 doubles in July so something like that would come close.

All data is from Baseball-Reference.com, and also their subscription service Stathead.com. If you are a big sports fan, be sure to check out the latest features at Stathead and the Sports Reference family of sites.

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