KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Royals announced today that shortstop Adalberto Mondesi and right-handed pitcher Brady Singer have been named Royals Player and Pitcher of the Month, respectively, for the month of September. The awards are determined by a local media vote.
Mondesi, 25, led the team in runs (22), hits (32), extra-base hits (14), RBI (20, tied) and on-base percentage (.408), and his 16 stolen bases led the Majors, seven more than anyone else. He became the eighth player in Major League history to record the combination of 14 extra-base hits and 16 stolen bases in a calendar month, and the first since José Reyes in April of 2007. Mondesi had a home run and a stolen base in three straight games from September 10-12, joining Bobby Abreu (May 12-15, 2004) as the only players since 1900 to accomplish that feat, according to Elias. He recorded a hit in nine straight at-bats from September 24-26, one shy of the club record set by Joe Randa from June 8-12, 1999. Mondesi walked twice during that stretch to mark 11 straight plate appearances reaching safely, matching the club record held by Randa, Steve Braun (August 7-17, 1978) and Amos Otis (April 30-May 2, 1970). He ended the season with 12 hits in 14 at-bats in the four-game set vs. Detroit, joining George Brett (September 12-14, 1975 vs. California) as the only players with 12 hits in a four-game series in Royals history, and he was the first American League player to accomplish that since Joe Mauer from August 1-4, 2016 at Cleveland. That performance earned Mondesi American League Player of the Week honors, as he led the Majors with a .615 average (16-for-26) over the final seven games of the season, including a three-game set vs. the Cardinals. This is Mondesi’s second Royals Player of the Month award and first since September of 2018.
Singer, 24, led the Royals with three wins, 29.2 innings, 30 strikeouts and a 2.73 ERA (9 ER in 29.2 IP) in five September starts. He recorded 15.0 consecutive scoreless innings over two-plus outings, including 8.0 innings of one-run ball on September 10 in Cleveland, in which he had a no-hitter broken up with two outs in the eighth. He followed that up with 6.0 scoreless innings on two hits on September 16 at Detroit, becoming the ninth American league pitcher in the last 45 years to post back-to-back starts with two hits or fewer allowed and at least eight strikeouts, joining Lance Lynn (July 24-29, 2020), Mike Clevinger (April 1-7, 2019), Johan Santana (September 5-10, 2006), Pedro Martínez (July 25-30, 2002), Bartolo Colón (September 18-23, 2000), Randy Johnson (June 2-8, 1997), David Cone (April 6-11, 1997) and Nolan Ryan (April 29-May 5, 1978 and September 29-October 3, 1976). He ended the season with 7.0 innings of one-run ball and just three hits allowed in a win on September 27 vs.
Detroit, capping a four-start stretch to end his rookie season in which he went 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA (4 ER in 24.0 IP) and .114 opponents’ average (9-for-79). This is the first Royals Pitcher of the Month Award for Singer, who made his Major League debut two months ago.