National League Players of the Month: August 2025

Gold Medal Hitter of the Month: Brice Turang, MIL

August Stats: 118 PA, 10 HR, 23 R, 24 RBI, .343/.398/.694, 3 SB, 200 wRC+, 1.9 fWAR

Brice Turang was the best hitter not just in the National League but in all of Major League Baseball in the month of August. He was the only hitter in MLB to post a 200 wRC+ in the month, and he has taken his power to a whole new level over the past few weeks.

Always viewed as a glove-first second baseman with a high offensive floor thanks to his approach and hit tool, Turang is experiencing an unprecedented power surge, and it has put him in the next echelon of second basemen this season.

Turang hit a whopping 10 homers in August (which was tied for the second most in the NL); for reference, he hit a total of six homers in all of 2023 and a total of seven homers in all of 2024.

Hitting for more power didn’t compromise his ability to hit for average either, as he still finished with the fourth-best batting average in the month of August. Overall, Turang led all NL hitters in slugging percentage, wOBA, OPS, and wRC+.

Turang’s tremendous month of August boosted his season-long numbers to a 124 wRC+, .347 wOBA, and 3.9 fWAR. Each of those marks rank third in all of MLB among qualified second basemen. This is a version of Turang fans haven’t seen before, and the production was good enough to claim the gold medal in the National League for the month of August.

Silver Medal Hitter of the Month: Jakob Marsee, MIA

August Stats: 121 PA, 4 HR, 18 R, 25 RBI, .352/.430/.629, 9 SB, 188 wRC+, 2.1 fWAR

What a start to his MLB career it’s been for Jakob Marsee. The Marlins called Marsee up back on August 1, and the 24-year-old hit the ground running in Miami.

Marsee had the second-best wRC+, wOBA, and OPS in the NL in August behind Turang, but he led the NL in batting average and fWAR. Walking over 12% of the time, Marsee was fourth in on-base percentage and managed to steal nine bases as well, which was tied for the third most in the NL.

Across Marsee’s first month of play, all of his tools were on full display. He posted a hard-hit rate of 50% to go with an average exit velocity of 91.2 mph, he was chasing just 15.7% of the time, and he found a way to provide value in both the field and in the basepaths.

All of a sudden, Miami has a really encouraging young core developing in the outfield. Kyle Stowers, who is currently on the IL, won the gold medal for July, Griffin Conine flashed some exciting tools early on in the year before he underwent shoulder surgery, and now Marsee looks like the next name to keep an eye on for Miami. Things are trending upward for the Fighting Fish.

Bronze Medal Hitter of the Month: Jurickson Profar, ATL

August Stats: 138 PA, 9 HR, 27 R, 26 RBI, .295/.428/.598, 6 SB, 183 wRC+, 1.5 fWAR

Jurickson Profar missed 80 games earlier in the year with a PED suspension, but the Braves outfielder is fully back in action and put together an impressive display of hitting in the month of August.

It was a slow return for Profar, posting a 98 wRC+ to go with a .709 OPS in July, but he bounced back in a huge way in August. Profar hit nine homers last month (tied for the third most in the NL) to go with the fourth-best OPS and third-best wRC+ and wOBA.

Hitting nearly .300 while walking 17.4% of the time, Profar was near the top of the NL leaderboard in OBP while also posting impressive slugging metrics in the process.

Defense is his obvious shortcoming, but he still managed to put up 1.5 fWAR (tied for 8th in the NL) in August despite having the worst Defensive Runs Above Average (DEF, per FanGraphs) in the National League last month.

As Atlanta turns the page to next season, Profar will look to finish this season strong and help get the 2026 Braves get back to their winning ways.

Just Missed the Podium: Juan Soto, NYM

August Stats: 131 PA, 10 HR, 27 R, 22 RBI, .277/.435/.574, 11 SB, 182 wRC+, 1.6 fWAR

A strong argument could be made for Juan Soto to make the podium, but Profar did just enough last month to earn the nod over Soto.

Soto was tied with Turang for the second most NL homers in August with 10 (which was one more than Profar), and he came in just behind Profar with a 182 wRC+. Walking over 20% of the time in typical Soto fashion, he was near the top of the leaderboard in OBP and OPS as a result.

Still, Profar had the edge in OPS thanks to a higher slugging percentage, and he had a seven point advantage in wOBA as well. The margin between these two players was very tight, and while he didn’t crack the top three on this list, Soto deserves his flowers for what he did in the month of August.

Soto is now tied for fifth in MLB with a 155 wRC+ on the year. Sitting seventh in OPS (.915) and wOBA (.389), Soto is hitting his stride at the right time and is ready to lead the Mets down the stretch as the regular season comes to an end.

NL Pitchers of the Month

Gold Medal Hitter of the Month: Freddy Peralta, MIL

August Stats: 4-0 (5 GS), 0.32 ERA, 28.0 IP, 34 K, 12 BB, 0.9 fWAR

The Brewers took the league by storm in August, so it’s no surprise to see two members of the Brew Crew walk away with gold medals on this month’s list.

Freddy Peralta was unhittable this past month, allowing just one total run across his five starts in August. He also led the way in the NL in opponent batting average (.117) and had the highest strikeout rate at 31.8%.

Free passes are always his biggest shortcoming, but his run prevention has been up there with the elite arms in the sport this season. Peralta now sports the fifth-best ERA in all of baseball this season at a 2.58 (second in the NL only behind Paul Skenes).

It’s been a strong season overall for Peralta, but he took his game to new heights in August. The anchor in Milwaukee’s rotation, the 29-year-old will look to keep his momentum going into the final month of the regular season.

Silver Medal Hitter of the Month: Hurston Waldrep, ATL

August Stats: 4-0 (6 G, 5 GS), 1.01 ERA, 35.2 IP, 33 K, 11 BB, 1.0 fWAR

While it’s been a nightmare season for the Braves as a whole, Hurston Waldrep has emerged as a key member of the rotation this season and looks to be the real deal for Atlanta moving forward.

Aram Leighton recently spotlighted his revamped pitch mix and how that has unlocked a new level for Waldrep, and the results have been nothing short of excellent.

Waldrep received the call up for Atlanta back on August 2, and he dominated across his first six starts. He surrendered just four earned runs in 35.2 innings, yielding a dazzling 1.01 ERA that was third only behind Peralta and Nolan McLean (20.1 IP).

Waldrep, who surrendered 13 runs in two starts (7.0 IP) last season, looks like a new arm with Atlanta this season. He’s a silver lining in a season where seemingly everything went wrong for the Braves, and the former first-round selection should have an important role on this pitching staff in 2026.

Bronze Medal Hitter of the Month: Cade Horton, CHC

August Stats: 5-1 (6 GS), 1.20 ERA, 30.0 IP, 31 K, 9 BB, 0.8 fWAR

Since the All-Star break, no qualified pitcher has a lower ERA than Cade Horton. In fact, he’s the only arm with an ERA below 1.00 over that stretch, and he’s emerged as an incredibly important piece for the Chicago Cubs.

Horton rode that success right into August, throwing to a 1.20 ERA to go with a WHIP of 0.90 last month. Horton struck out 9.30 hitters per nine to go with an opponent batting average that was the fifth best in the National League at .168.

As a result of his stellar play, Horton has soared up the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year leaderboard and has become one of the favorites in the conversation. Whether or not he will have the workload to take home the hardware over some of the other candidates is yet to be seen, but he’ll have a very strong case if he continues to pitch this way in his final handful of starts to close out the regular season.

Just Missed the Podium: Clayton Kershaw, LAD

August Stats: 5-0 (5 GS), 1.88 ERA, 28.2 IP, 19 K, 3 BB, 0.9 fWAR

Even at 37 years old, Clayton Kershaw simply continues to produce for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and August was his best month yet.

Obviously Kershaw isn’t the strikeout artist he once was, but he walked just 2.8% of batters faced in August, which led to a lot of success on the bump. He had the fifth-lowest WHIP (0.87) and ERA (1.88) in the NL to go with a FIP of 2.57 that was just behind Peralta (2.56) and even better than Waldrep (2.65).

Pounding the zone and keeping the ball on the ground has been the recipe for success for Kershaw this season. It’s still a pleasure to watch him maneuver at-bats, and the future Hall of Famer is proving that he can still yield strong results even in year 18 of his MLB career.