Gaby Sanchez named NL Rookie of the Month

Florida Marlins first baseman Gaby Sanchez has been voted the June recipient of the Gillette presents National League Rookie of the Month Award.

Sanchez led all National League rookies with 39 hits, 16 runs scored, two triples and a .587 slugging percentage. The right-handed hitting first baseman added six doubles, four home runs and 16 RBI while batting .375 with a .426 on-base percentage. On June 11th at Tampa Bay, Sanchez homered twice, marking his first career multi-home run game, and set career-bests with four hits and six RBI in the contest. The 26-year-old compiled a career-high eight-game hitting streak from June 16th-24th, batting .472 (17-for-36) during that span. The Miami native recorded five consecutive multi-hit games from June 19th-24th, and collected 12 total multi-hit games during the month. In a three-game set at Baltimore from June 22nd-24th, Sanchez hit .615 (8-for-13) with a home run, two doubles and four RBI. The fourth round selection of the Marlins in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft is batting a team-high .308 on the season, and leads all N.L. rookies in batting average, hits (90), doubles (19), total bases (140), on-base percentage (.373) and extra-base hits (30). Sanchez, who played at the University of Miami as a catcher, is just the third Marlins rookie ever to have at least 90 hits before the All-Star break, joining Dan Uggla (94 in 2006) and Alex Gonzalez (99 in 1999). In addition, his 19 doubles are tied for second-most by a Marlins rookie before the break, behind Mike Jacobs, who hit 24 in 2006.

Others rookies receiving votes included Washington Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg (2-2, 2.27 ERA, 31.2 IP, 48 SO); left-hander Jonathon Niese (4-0, 2.67 ERA, 33.2 IP, 24 SO) of the New York Mets and his teammate, first baseman Ike Davis (.264, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 15 R); and left fielder Tyler Colvin (.250, 5 HR, 14 RBI, .500 SLG) of the Chicago Cubs.

Sanchez will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, to commemorate his Rookie of the Month performance.



(mlb.com)