American League Players of the Month: August 2024

Every month of the 2024 season so far, the Just Baseball staff has handed out medals to the AL and NL’s players of the month. This includes both hitters and pitchers of the month as well. Over the course of the year, there have been a ton of different faces making the podium.

For the month of August, there’s a continuation of a trend we’ve seen over the past few months. Most of the names are returning ones, but there’s a healthy mix of brand new ones as well. That’s essentially how it’s been throughout the entire year.

Believe it or not, Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. are still two of the most freakishly talent human beings on the planet and they’ve each earned another podium placement. Ditto for Framber Valdez, who remains one of the best left-handed pitchers this game has to offer.

Let’s check out the group and see who makes it and where they stand amongst the competition.

AL Hitters of the Month

Gold Medal Hitter of the Month: Aaron Judge, NYY

August stats: 117 PA, 12 HR, 21 R, 24 RBI, .389/.530/.856, 268 wRC+, 2 SB, 2.6 fWAR

Judge’s wRC+ through the months this year goes like this: 113 (Mar/Apr), 272 (May), 276 (June), 210 (July), 268 (August). Calling him a freakish athlete above almost doesn’t feel like I’m doing him enough justice. He continues to hit home runs and produce runs in a million different ways and has just truly been baseball’s best hitter this year.

In the month of August alone, Judge led the American League in home runs, BB%, ISO, AVG, OBP, SLG, wOBA, wRC+ and fWAR. That should give you a pretty good idea of why he keeps earning a spot on our podiums.

He should be the easy favorite to win the AL MVP Award this year, despite the fact that there’s some seriously talented competition out there.

Silver Medal Hitter of the Month: Bobby Witt Jr., KCR

August stats: 127 PA, 10 HR, 25 R, 20 RBI, .310/.378/.673, 163 wRC+, 3 SB, 2.1 fWAR

One of Judge’s biggest threats is Witt, who also continues to mash. He’s amongst the very best in the league in nearly every major Statcast category while also leading the AL in runs scored. Similarly to Judge, Witt is the centerpiece and heartbeat of his team, but there was simply no way he was going to dethrone the Yankees slugger.

Bronze Medal Hitter of the Month: Yordan Alvarez, HOU

August stats: 106 PA, 8 HR, 16 R, 16 RBI, .382/.481/.697, 227 wRC+, 1 SB, 1.6 fWAR

Speaking of sluggers, Alvarez continues to absolutely rake. His raw power is second to none and his .382 average last month fell just short of Judge’s for the AL lead. Alvarez pairs his light-tower power with an outstanding eye at the plate, one that led him to draw more walks than strikeouts in August.

He’s got one of the sweetest lefty swings around right now and simply could not miss out on this podium, even with a red-hot Vladdy hot on his tail.

Honorable Mention: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., TOR

August stats: 119 PA, 6 HR, 19 R, 17 RBI, .375/.454/.673, 212 wRC+, 0 SB, 1.6 fWAR

Guerrero’s gone from above-average hitter to otherworldly superstar in the second half of the season. His 251 second-half wRC+ is tied with Judge for the lead in the AL, and his 212 mark in the month of August trails only Judge and Alvarez.

Having Vladdy miss out on the podium was tough, but his production fell just short of the trio above him. He’s put the Blue Jays offense on his back and carried them to within striking distance of a .500 record this year, but he didn’t quite show enough to outrank Judge, Witt or Alvarez.

AL Pitchers of the Month

Gold Medal Pitcher of the Month: Bowden Francis, TOR

August stats: 4-1 (6 G, 5 GS), 1.05 ERA, 34.1 IP, 39 K, 4 BB, 1.2 fWAR

Guerrero’s teammate wasn’t missing the podium this month. No way, no how. Francis began the month of August with a relief appearance, but followed that up with what is arguably the best five-start stretch we’ve seen this year.

The right-hander has stepped his game up to the next level over the past month. In each of his last four starts, he’s gone at least seven innings and hasn’t allowed more than one earned run in any of them. On the 24th, he held the Angels hitless through eight innings before surrendering a home run with nobody out in the ninth. He struck out 12 Angels in that game as well, easily a career-high.

Amongst qualifying AL starters last month, Francis topped the charts in ERA, fWAR, BABIP and AVG; finishing second or third in the league in about 10 other categories. Always nice to see a breakout performer earn a Gold Medal.

Silver Medal Pitcher of the Month: Framber Valdez, HOU

August stats: 4-1 (6 GS), 1.59 ERA, 34.0 IP, 38 K, 9 BB, 1.2 fWAR

Valdez is a familiar face on our podiums. He’s been consistently dominant for months now dating back to around June and the month of August was another special one for him.

The left-hander finished at or near the top of the AL in HR/9, BABIP, GB%, ERA, FIP and fWAR while going no less than 5.2 innings in any starts throughout the month. Spoiler alert: he’s not the last Astros hurler to earn a mention ’round these parts.

Bronze Medal Pitcher of the Month: Tarik Skubal, DET

August stats: 4-1 (6 GS), 3.05 ERA, 38.1 IP, 47 K, 9 BB, 1.2 fWAR

It’s tough to go against Skubal, whose ERA isn’t quite in line with others on the podium but his fWAR is tied for the top in the AL. The left-hander appears to be coasting his way to the first Cy Young Award of his career, and it’s an honor he’s more than deserving of.

Skubal’s 3.05 ERA in August is the highest he’s had in a single month so far this year. Despite that, he remains one of the league’s best starters. Last month, he ranked amongst the top of the leaderboards in innings, K/9, FIP and fWAR.

He edges out our honorable mention by a pretty short margin, but his track record gives him the edge. Let’s just say that any pitcher who has a shot at winning a Triple Crown is also deserving of landing on our podium.

Honorable Mention: Spencer Arrighetti, HOU

August stats: 3-2 (5 GS), 1.95 ERA, 32.1 IP, 47 K, 10 BB, 0.9 fWAR

It’s been a weird start to Arrighetti’s big league career, but the month of August went a long way towards showing people that he’s finally arrived. After previously posting ERAs north of 4.00 in every other month this season, the right-hander posted a sub-2.00 mark last month.

All told, he wound up near the top of the leaderboards in most pitching categories, including K/9, strand rate, ERA and FIP.