Alex Bregman is Running Away as Player of the Month
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Aaron Judge is currently storming his way to a potential record breaking season. Shohei Ohtani is performing feats not seen in a century at the plate and on the mound. But in Houston, Alex Bregman outdid them both in the month of August.
Slashing .367/.455/.700 from Aug. 1-30, no American League player has a higher slugging or higher OPS during the last month of summer. Bregman has limited strikeouts, hit home runs, worked walks better than nearly every other player.
His 1.78 BB/K leads all qualified AL players in the month.
Bregman did this without getting lucky. His .338 BABIP for the month is commensurate with his .288 career average, helping to move his 2022 season total, .269, closer to the median.
Even some of his more analytically based numbers, like wOBA at .479, top the AL. wOBA is a 'catch-all' statistic that attempts to credit a hitter for the value of each outcome. A home run is more than a triple is more than a double is more than a single is more than a walk.
We do also have to mention Bregman's defense. Despite being a plus glove at a premium position, third base, for much of his career, 2022 has not treated him well.
Every metric has rated him poorly this year, though some more so than others. He has minus-seven defensive runs saved, minus-two outs above average and 0.1 UZR.
Despite this, Bregman still holds the fact that he plays a premium position above most of his competitors for the Player of the Month award. Judge has switched back to primarily being a right fielder, the Texas Rangers' Nathaniel Lowe primarily plays first base and has an OPS of 1.063 this month. Randy Arozarena with an OPS of 1.045 plays corner outfield and doesn't have a history of good defense.
Even Shohei Ohtani with an OPS of 1.030 might be looked over for the award. His hitting ability this month hasn't been close to Bregman's and pitchers have their own monthly award. So Ohtani's pitching number likely won't influence voters on that front.
Bregman is the prime candidate to win the American League Player of the Month award for August, only a Wednesday night miracle for Jude could possibly sway voters away from the Houston Astros' third baseman.
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