Pittsburgh Pirates’ infielder Jung Ho Kang has been named the National League Rookie of the Year for the month of July.
In 25 games last month, he had a .379/.443/.621 slash line, with 18 runs scored, eight doubles, two triples and three homers. It was nearly double the production Kang put up in June, when he had a .596 OPS over 25 games.
On the season, he has a .294/.367/.454 slash line in 88 games, with 42 starts at third base and 27 at shortstop. According to Baseball-Reference, Kang’s 3.5 WAR is the best total on the Pirates.
The last Pirates’ player to win the award was Gerrit Cole back in September 2013. The last Pirates’ hitter to win the award was Pedro Alvarez back in September 2010.