Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez, Andrés Muñoz win AL awards for August

Sep 3, 2023, 4:34 PM

Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners is congratulated by teammates after scoring on Aug. 16, 2023. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

(Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

BY BRENT STECKER

Seattle Sports

The Seattle Mariners made history with their 21-6 record in August, winning the most games in a single month in franchise history. It’s only fitting that they get two big accolades from the American League for that effort.

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All-Star center fielder Julio Rodríguez has been named the AL Player of the Month for August, and right-hander Andrés Muñoz has been awarded AL Reliever of the Month, as announced Sunday afternoon.

The award for Rodríguez, 22, is no surprise as he caught fire at the plate to a level seldom seen in the game’s history. During a mid-August road trip, Rodríguez set a new MLB record with 17 hits in a four-game span, and he tied a big league record with four straight games with at least four hits.

For the month as a whole, he was tops in the AL in 12 categories, most but not all of which had to do with his bat (the outlier being his 11 stolen bases in August).

.@JRODshow44 led the American League in batting average (.429), hits (45), doubles (10), RBI (30), stolen bases (11), total bases (76), OBP (.474), SLG (.724), OPS (1.198) & fWAR (2.4) during the month of August. pic.twitter.com/fej4H7rKQh

— Mariners PR (@MarinersPR) August 31, 2023

Rodríguez’s torrid stretch pushed him to the AL lead in hits for the season with 156, two ahead of Texas’ Marcus Semien.

On the year, Rodríguez owns a .285/.343/.482 slash line for an .825 OPS with 24 home runs, 88 RBIs and 36 steals on 45 attempts. He also had a 15-game hitting streak that was snapped Sunday.

Muñoz stepped up after the Mariners traded veteran closer Paul Sewald to the Arizona Diamondbacks at the end of July, leading the AL with nine saves in August while posting a 1.93 ERA and 20 strikeouts to seven walks in 14 appearances.

The 24-year-old Muñoz has a 2.72 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 11 saves, 14 holds and 55 strikeouts to 19 walks over 41 appearances (39 2/3 innings) in 2023.

The Seattle Mariners currently sit in first place in the AL West with a 77-59 record, one game ahead of Texas and a half-game in front of Houston. Seattle also owns a tiebreaker over Houston due to having clinched a better season head-to-head record against the Astros.

Current MLB Standings: Division | Wild Card

The M’s continue a 10-game road trip at 1:10 p.m. Monday when they open a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds (71-68). Radio coverage will begin at noon with the pregame show on Seattle Sports. For details on how to stream Mariners Radio Network broadcasts, click here.