Top five pitchers in Major League Baseball for the month of August 2011
August featured some great pitching in Major League Baseball but some of the pitchers performed better than others. League On-base plus slugging of 0.755, was the season-high in American League. Some of the most notable performances came from Clayton Kershaw
and Cliff Lee, who helped their sides significantly during the 30-days period. The list of top five pitchers of the month includes Clayton Kershaw, David Price, Cliff Lee, Tim Lincecum and Craig Kimbrel.
Clayton Kershaw:
Raising the level of his game play, Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher, Clayton Kershaw was absolutely brilliant during the month of August. He leads the National League in strike-outs, wins and innings pitched. Toeing the rubber six times, he pitched with an
ERA of 1.55. His ERA is the second best among the players, pitched in 20 or more innings. Striking out 29 batters in 46.1 innings and tossing two complete games, he was very effective for the Dodgers.
His stats for the running season include 2.45 ERA, 212 strike-outs, 17-5 record and 1.02 WHIP in 198.2 innings.
David Price:
David Price, who plays for Tampa Bay Rays, was also formidable during the 30-days period. Although he had a very shaky start to August, he finished strongly with four sensational starts. Giving away seven runs in 11.1 innings of his opening two games, Price
came back strongly in his next 31.1 innings, conceding three more runs.
However, his ability to perform under pressure against the best in the business sets him apart from the rest. Tampa’s All-Star lefty managed to keep New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox to only one run and nine hits in 16 innings. Striking out 114 batters
in seven shut-out innings against the Blue Jays, he ended the month on a high note as well. David struck-out 43 and held hitters to only 0.592 OPS in 42.1 innings.
Cliff Lee:
Philadelphia Phillies’ Cliff Lee is eying yet another Cy Young Award after he continued to impress the critics with another strong month. In 39.2 innings, Lee gave up only two runs in five starts in August 2011, with an incredible 0.45 ERA. Striking-out
39 batters during the month, Lee held hitters to a 0.173 batting average with a perfect 5-0 record. Improving significantly, he finished the month with an outstanding 2.59 ERA.
Craig Kimbrel:
With very limited innings in consideration, it is always difficult to choose them all. However, the month clearly belongs to Atlanta Braves’ pitcher, Craig Kimbrel, who completely outshined the others with some impressive results. Kimbrel struck-out 23 batters
and he was hit for only six times in 12.2 innings. Conceding only one run through August, he completely dominated the batters with his strong pitching abilities. Leading the Major League with 41 saves, he also registered 9 saves to give his side a very crucial
Wild Card lead. With more than 100 strike-outs in 65.2 innings, he has become the only pitcher to strike-out 100 batters in “less than 100” innings.
Tim Lincecum:
Tim Lincecum, the two time Cy Young Award winner, also had a great August. Lincecum pitched very accurately and he did a great job to keep the San Francisco Giants in the playoff race. With an ERA of 1.90, he struck-out 41 batters in 42.2 innings he pitched.
With an ERA of 2 or below in three months of 2011, Tim is having a dream run this season. However, Giants un-reliable batting unit was unable to take advantage.
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