MLB Team of the Month: Shohei Ohtani rules baseball in June
By Ben Verlander
FOX Sports MLB Analyst
The month of June has come to a close, and that means it’s time for my Team of the Month!
Let's take a look back at the entire month and identify the best player at every position in June.
To start, in June, Shohei Ohtani put together one of the most impressive months in the history of Major League Baseball.
On the offensive side, he hit .298 with six home runs, and he set a career best with eight RBIs in one game, making him the first Japanese-born player to record eight RBIs in a game.
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Ben Verlander breaks down his NL and AL Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and MVP awards at the season's halfway point, featuring Shohei Ohtani, Justin Verlander, Paul Goldschmidt and others.
Watch "Flippin' Bats with Ben Verlander" on YouTube, or subscribe on podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts.
The next day, Ohtani started on the mound for the Angels and set a career high by striking out 13 batters.
No other player in history has both an eight-RBI game and a 13-strikeout game to his name. And Ohtani did that on back-to-back nights.
Ohtani was one of the best pitchers in baseball in June. He went 4-1 with a 1.59 ERA and finished the month on the longest scoreless innings streak of his career, which now sits at 21.2 innings.
Ohtani is already a legend, and in my mind, he was the best player in baseball in the month of June.
Here's the rest of the team of the month:
C Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays
Kirk has been an unsung hero for the Blue Jays this season. He hit .341 with seven home runs in June. Kirk deserves to be the starting catcher for the American League in the All-Star Game.
1B Josh Bell, Washington Nationals
Bell narrowly edged Paul Goldschmidt this month. They were both absolutely fantastic, but Bell was just a little bit better. He hit .358 on the month with seven homers and knocked in 18 runs.
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Ben Verlander dives into his team of the month, led by the Astros' Yordan Alvarez, the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani and the Braves’ Dansby Swanson.
2B Jake Cronenworth, San Diego Padres
Cronenworth batted in 24 runs in the month of June. That's second-most in the National League. And he hit .315 on the month to boot.
3B Brandon Drury, Cincinnati Reds
Drury hit .333 this month and drilled eight homers for the Reds. At a position full of superstars vying for an MVP award, Drury was the best of the bunch in June.
SS Dansby Swanson, Atlanta Braves
There hasn’t been a shortstop in baseball better than Swanson over the past month or so. In June, he hit .330 with seven homers and 19 RBIs. Swanson deserves to start at shortstop for the National League in the All-Star Game.
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In the NL East, the Braves are back in business, with key performances from Dansby Swanson, Ronald Acuna Jr. and others, while the Mets anticipate the returns of Max Scherzer and Jacob DeGrom.
OF Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros
Nobody racked up better offensive stats in June than Alvarez, who hit .418 with nine home runs and 28 RBIs. It was an incredible month that resulted in him winning AL Player of the Month.
OF Michael Harris II, Atlanta Braves
Harris has been remarkable since his call-up and was named NL Rookie of the Month. He hit .347 with four HRs and 16 RBIs in June.
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Ben Verlander breaks down his five best rookies in this month’s Head of the Class, with the Braves’ Michael Harris II headlining the list.
OF Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies
Schwarber won NL Player of the Month thanks to his 12 homers and 27 RBIs. When the calendar turns to June, Kyle Schwarber turns into Babe Ruth.
SP Dylan Cease, Chicago White Sox
What a remarkable month Cease had. He wound up with a 0.33 ERA and struck out 45 batters in 27.1 innings in five starts.
RP Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland Guardians
Clase was perfect for the Guardians in June. In 15 appearances, he had 11 saves and 16 strikeouts and didn’t give up a single run. That's a 0.00 ERA. Perfect.
Ben Verlander is an MLB Analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the "Flippin' Bats" podcast. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Verlander was an All-American at Old Dominion University before he joined his brother, Justin, in Detroit as a 14th-round pick of the Tigers in 2013. He spent five years in the Tigers organization. Follow him on Twitter @BenVerlander.