Baseball Players of the Month and Pitchers of the Month (August): Gary Sanchez and Kris Bryant, Corey Kluber and Kyle Hendricks

 Congratulations to the Baseball Players of the Month for August 2016, Gary Sanchez and Kris Bryant, and to the Baseball Pitchers of the Month for August 2016, Corey Kluber and Kyle Hendricks!
 
 

 
Gary Sanchez followed up his two consecutive Player of the Week awards with a Player of the Month, becoming the first catcher to win both awards in the same month and the first rookie to do it since Jose Abreu in July 2014. Sanchez batted .389 with 11 home runs, becoming the fastest player ever to 11 home runs (23 games). He set a Yankees record for home runs in a month by a rookie and this mark by any major league rookie was the most since Ryan Braun had 11 of his own back in July 2007. Sanchez had 18 extra-base hits, the third most by a Major Leaguer through 23 games since 1918, only behind Mandy Brooks and Joe DiMaggio. 
 
Kris Bryant
 crushed 10 home runs with an NL-leading .748 slugging percentage. He ranked second in on-base percentage (.472) and total bases (80) and third in batting average (.383) for the month. Bryant won Rookie of the Month twice last year and this is his first win for Player of the Month as he led the Cubs to 22 August wins, their most in any month since 1945. 
 
 

 
Corey Kluber
 
took home his second career AL Pitcher of the Month award, with a 5-0 record and a 2.43 ERA in six starts. Kluber fanned 44 in 40.2 innings pitched and recorded his 7th consecutive win in his last 10 starts from July 8th to August 31st. Among pitchers with at least 30.0 innings pitched in August, Kluber was tied for first in wins, second in strikeouts, and tied for fourth in ERA and innings pitched. He wins the award for the first time since he won it in September 2014.  
 
Kyle Hendricks had four wins in six starts, posting a Major League-leading 1.28 ERA (!). He tied for the NL lead in wins and was tied for fifth-most (36) strikeouts among NL pitchers. He held opposing hitters to a .179 batting average as he was also instrumental in the Cubs’ August success.  He set the tone early for a dominant August as he pitched a complete game shutout against the Marlins on the first of the month. 
  
For 72 HOURS ONLY, Strat-O-Matic will be offering an August 2016 card for each of these four players. Don’t miss out on these limited edition cards! The cards will be available for purchase until Monday, August 8 at 12:00 Noon ET.