Just unstoppable in June?

June just came to an end. Very soon, the All-Star break will come. Before heading to the All-Star week, let’s take a look at some players who had a tremendous month in June.

Extra Base Hits (June, 2023)
Player	XBH
Shohei Ohtani	25
Corey Seager	19
Christian Walker
Fernando Tatis Jr.	18
Corbin Carroll	17
Lane Thomas
Ronald Acuna Jr.	16
Matt McLain
Matt Olson
Luis Robert Jr.

It’s showtime. In June, Shohei Ohtani was probably the hottest batter in the majors. He slashed .394/.492/.952 with 25 extra base hits. He’s the only player who collected 20+ XBH last month. 15 of those 25 extra base hits were home runs. Moreover, Ohtani had 29 RBI in June, which ranked 1st in the majors.

Also in the AL West, Corey Seager had a great month in June. Seager was activated from IL in mid-May. Very soon, he just heated up. He slashed .368/.442/.642 with 5 home runs and 25 RBI in June. Seager had 19 extra base hits last month.

Meanwhile, in the NL West, the Arizona Diamondbacks are now leading the division. The D-backs have a pretty good season thus far and several players from the Diamondbacks had a great June. Firstly, Christian Walker, the first baseman of the D-backs, had an OPS over 1.000 in June. Walker also had 19 XBHs last month. Additionally, Corbin Carroll, who’s a rookie of the year favorite, currently hits .290/.366/.559 with 17 home runs and 44 RBI. Last month, Carroll had 17 extra base hits and 8 of those extra base hits were home runs.

Furthermore, Fernando Tatis Jr. was back from suspension in late April. In May, he hit .229/.286/.450 with 7 home runs and 13 RBI. But, he was hitting well in June with a .318/.400/.591 slash line. Tatis Jr. had 18 extra base hits. In the meantime, Lane Thomas had 17 XBHs in June and 4 other players each collected 16 extra base hits.

Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched (June, 2023)
Player	WHIP
Blake Snell	0.68
Jesus Luzardo	0.76
Yusei Kikuchi	0.87
Clayton Kershaw	0.88
Taijuan Walker	0.89
Joe Ryan	0.92
Justin Steele	0.92
Shane Bieber	0.94
Michael Wacha	0.94
Jordan Montgomery	0.95

Now, let’s focus on those top arms. Blake Snell, who won the 2018 AL Cy Young award, was off to a slow start in 2023. His ERA was over 5 in April, and he owned a 3.82 ERA in May. In June, he did a great job on the mound. Snell made 5 starts for the Padres last month, posting a 0.87 ERA and a 0.68 WHIP. He punched out 53 batters over 31 innings. Opponents only batted .124 against Snell in June.

At the same time, there are other southpaws who had a great month in June. Jesus Luzardo made 6 starts for the Marlins, posting a 3.28 ERA and a 0.76 WHIP over 35.2 innings. Additionally, Yusei Kikuchi had an ERA over 5 in May, but in June, he owned a 2.28 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP after making 5 starts. Meanwhile, 3-time Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw had an ERA over 5 in May as well. Nonetheless, last month, Kershaw was dominant. He took 4 wins, posting a 1.09 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP over 33 innings.

Before the All-Star break, we have seen that several players gradually heat up. Shohei Ohtani had a wonderful month in June and now, he leads the majors in HR, XBH and OPS. If he stays healthy and stays in the AL, he’s surely a great candidate for the AL MVP award. Additionally, on the mound, great left-handed pitchers such as Blake Snell and Yusei Kikuchi had pitched outstandingly. Let’s see whether they will pitch well in July.