August 4, 2010 – Major League Baseball announced that Twins left fielder Delmon Young has been named American League Player of the Month for July, along with Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista. It marks the first time since August of 1999 that the Player of the Month award has been shared, Young led the American League in hits, batting .434 (46-for-106) with six home runs, 12 doubles, one triple, six home runs, 17 runs scored and 30 RBI during the month of July. Delmon safely in 23 of 26 games and had 16 multi-hit games. Young finished just one RBI shy of Kent Hrbek’s July record of 31 set back in 1984. Source: MN Twins Presspass
Category: Awards
Liriano wins AL Pitcher of the Month award
May 4, 2010 – MLB announced that Francisco Liriano won the AL Pitcher of the month award. Liriano was the only starter in the AL with an ERA of under 1.00 in April. In April, Liriano had a 3-0 record when he started 4 games and pitched a total of 29 innings while striking out 27 batters and giving up only 18 hits and finishing the month with an ERA of 0.93. The last Twins pitcher to win the award was Johan Santana back in September of 2006.
It will be interesting to see if Francisco Liriano who was once dubbed “The Franchise” can continue the roll that he is on. I worry about how Liriano handles adversity, in his last start he had a rough first inning but seemed to take it all in stride. Let’s hope that Liriano is back and can assume the role of the staff ace.
Twins minor league player and pitcher of the month
Ft. Myers (Single-A, Florida St. League) infielder Brian Dozier is the Twins Minor League Player of the Month for the month of May. In 27 games for the Miracle, the 24-year-old Dozier batted .337 (33-for-98) with seven doubles, three triples, 11 RBI and 14 walks while scoring 14 times. Dozier had an on-base percentage of .426 while posting an OPS of .895. Dozier was the Twins eighth round pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.
New Britain (Double-A, Eastern League) right-handed pitcher Steven Hirschfeld is the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Month for May. In five starts with the Rock Cats, he was 2-2 with a 2.93 ERA (30.2 IP, 10 ER). Hirschfel struck out 23 while walking just eight and holding opponents to a .196 batting average. Hirschfeld, 25, was drafted by the Twins in the ninth round of the 2007 First Year Player Draft out of San Diego St. University. Source: Twins Presspass