Minor League Baseball Announces its August Players of the Month

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Minor League Baseball today announced the Player of the Month Award winners for each of the 16 leagues for the month of August. Each winner will receive an award from Minor League Baseball in recognition of the honor. 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees) right-hander Michael King went 3-0 with a 1.09 ERA in five starts in August (his first five starts at the Triple-A level). In his 33.1 innings of work, King allowed 17 hits and walked four while striking out 27. On Aug. 29, King was perfect through six innings against Syracuse, but did not factor in the decision. King, 23, was originally selected by Miami in the 12th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Boston College. 

Fresno Grizzlies (Astros) outfielder Kyle Tucker led the Pacific Coast League in average (.471), on-base percentage (.542), slugging (.943) and OPS (1.485), while finishing third in home runs (10), runs (23), total bases (66) and fourth in RBI (27). Tucker, 21, was selected by Houston in the first round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Plant High School in Tampa, Florida. 

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays) catcher Max Pentecost batted .375 in August and led the Eastern League in slugging (.650) and OPS (1.031). He finished second in average and tied for fourth in home runs (six). Pentecost, 25, was selected by Toronto in the first round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Kennesaw State University. 

Montgomery Biscuits (Rays) second baseman Nick Solak batted .305 in August and led the Southern League in on-base percentage (.404), slugging (.537) and OPS (.941), while finishing third in home runs (five) and total bases (44) and fourth in runs scored (17). Solak, 23, was originally selected by the Yankees in the second round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Louisville. 

Midland RockHounds (Athletics) outfielder Skye Bolt led the Texas League in average (.351), extra-base hits (18), total bases (68), home runs (eight), slugging (.723) and OPS (1.125). He finished second in doubles (nine), third in RBI (19), fourth in hits (33) and fifth in on-base percentage (.402) and runs (18). Bolt recorded 11 multi-hit games in August. Bolt, 24, was selected by Oakland in the fourth round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of North Carolina. 

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers) outfielder Carlos Rincon batted .304 in August and led professional baseball (Major Leagues and Minor Leagues) in home runs (14) and RBI (30). Rincon led the California League in runs (30), extra-base hits (22), total bases (78), slugging (.848) and OPS (1.266). Rincon, 20, was signed by the Dodgers out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on July 2, 2015. 

Buies Creek Astros outfielder J.J. Matijevic led the Carolina League in extra-base hits (16), total bases (57), doubles (nine), home runs (seven) and RBI (23). He was third in runs (20) and slugging (.548) and recorded nine multi-hit games in August. Matijevic, 22, was selected by Houston in Competitive Balance Round B of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Arizona.

Tampa Tarpons (Yankees) outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams batted .333 in August and led the Florida State League in extra-base hits (16), total bases (71), RBI (30) and OPS (1.121). He finished second in runs (23), home runs (nine), on-base percentage (.425) and slugging (.696). His 34 hits were fourth most in the league. Thompson-Williams, 23, was selected by New York in the fifth round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of South Carolina. 

Quad Cities River Bandits (Astros) right-hander Chad Donato went 6-0 with a 1.23 ERA in six starts in August. Donato led the Midwest League in wins (six), strikeouts (46), batting average against (.154) and WHIP (0.71). He allowed 19 hits over 36.2 innings. Donato did not allow more than five hits in any of his six starts and allowed two runs over his last four starts (25.2 innings). Donato, 23, was selected by Houston in the 11th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of West Virginia University. 

Asheville Tourists (Rockies) outfielder Casey Golden batted .316 in August and led the South Atlantic League in runs (24), extra-base hits (18), total bases (68), home runs (nine), RBI (26), slugging (.716), OPS (1.147) and hit by pitch (nine). Golden was fourth in on-base percentage (.431) and recorded nine multi-hit games in August. Golden, 24, was selected by Colorado in the 20th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

Aberdeen Ironbirds (Orioles) shortstop Adam Hall led the New York-Penn League in average (.390), on-base percentage (.462), OPS (.987) and stolen bases (15). He was second in runs scored (20) and third in slugging (.524). Hall hit safely in 19 consecutive games from Aug. 4- 28. Hall, 19, was selected by Baltimore in the second round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of A.B. Lucas Secondary School in London, Ontario, Canada. 

Spokane Indians (Rangers) first baseman Curtis Terry led the Northwest League in hits (37), runs (26), RBI (24), on-base percentage (.504), OPS (1.119) and hit by pitch (seven). He finished second in average (.385), total bases (59), doubles (11) and slugging (.615) and third in extra-base hits (15) and fourth in walks (16). Terry posted 11 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games in August. Terry, 21, was selected by Texas in the 13th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Archer High School in Lawrenceville, Georgia. 

Johnson City Cardinals outfielder Leandro Cedeno batted .337 in August and led the Appalachian League in home runs (seven), RBI (27), extra-base hits (17), total bases (67), doubles (nine) and slugging percentage (.644). He was third in OPS (1.076) and fourth in hits (34). Cedeno, 20, was signed by St. Louis out of Guatire, Venezuela, on Aug. 29, 2014. 

Billings Mustangs (Reds) outfielder Drew Mount led the Pioneer Baseball League in average (.413), hits (43), doubles (11) and RBI (28), and was second in on-base percentage (.460) and third in total bases (63). Mount posted 14 multi-hit games in August, including six three-hit games and a four-hit game. Mount, 22, was selected by Cincinnati in the 16th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of Kansas State University. 

Gulf Coast Cardinals outfielder Jhon Torres led the Gulf Coast League in total bases (43), slugging percentage (.683) and OPS (1.176) and was second in the league in hits (25), extra-base hits (10) and on-base percentage (.493). He finished third in average (.397) and fourth in doubles (six), home runs (four) and RBI (14). Torres, 18, was originally signed by Cleveland out of Sincelejo, Colombia, on July 24, 2016. 

Arizona Padres second baseman Lee Solomon batted .364 with six doubles, three homers and 11 RBI over 13 Arizona League games in August. Solomon, 22, was selected by San Diego in the 25th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of Lipscomb University.

********************************

You can check me out on Facebook or follow me on Twitter @historianandrew