The most surprising MLB monthly awards in Yankees history

On top of the rare honor of even playing in Major League Baseball, taking home any kind of award is a real accomplishment, no matter how small. That even goes for the monthly (or even weekly) awards — some of which MLB has dished out since the ‘70s.

For the month of May, it was all about the Yankees in the American League: Aaron Judge captured his seventh Player of the Month award, while Luis Gil won both Pitcher and Rookie of the Month. But who else has captured these awards in the Bronx throughout their history? It’s not an MVP, or even an All-Star selection, but it’s a neat honor, which also opens the door to lovingly Remember Some Guys. So, let’s take a look at some of the more surprising honorees for the Yankees.

Player of the Month

Glenallen Hill, August 2000

Photo by Howard Earl Simmons/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

Clearly, Glenallen Hill made the most of his time with the Yankees, capturing the award despite only playing in 40 total games with them. The slugger was traded from the Cubs to New York on July 21, 2000. The man who once launched a ball across the street at Wrigley Field wrapped up his Cubs career with a homer in his final game, and fittingly opened his time with the Bombers with another.

When the calendar flipped to August, however, Hill really turned on the jets. Two of his first three appearances were pinch-hit opportunities, while in the other he went 2-for-5 with a homer. He earned himself a mostly regular spot for the rest of the year, and didn’t look back. Hill went on to slash an otherworldly .411/.456/.877 for the month of August, flashing a 231 wRC+ and swatting 10 homers.

At 35 years old, in just 104 games with two teams in 2000, Hill set a career-high in homers with 27. He was never an All-Star or took home any season-long awards. In fact, he cooled off in a hurry that September and his MLB career ended before the next Trade Deadline even rolled around. But in August of 2000, not even a broken bat could slow down Glenallen Hill for the eventual World Series champs.

Honorable Mention: Doc Medich, July 1974

In the first year the award was offered in the American League, Yankees pitcher Doc Medich received the honor for July. The right-hander was nearly untouchable, starting seven games while flashing a 1.88 ERA. He wrapped up the month with six consecutive nine-plus inning outings, the last of which saw him go a valiant 9.2 innings in Milwaukee. He was a very nice pitcher in his time, though nowadays, he’s best known for being part of the trade package that made Willie Randolph a Yankee.

Pitcher of the Month

Hideki Irabu, May 1998 and July 1999

Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images

Hideki Irabu came over to the Yankees from Japan with a lot of fanfare during the 1997 season at 28 years old. He didn’t quite live up to the perhaps-unfair hype and only spent six total seasons in the bigs. Nonetheless, he played a role on two World Series-winning teams, and as evidenced by his inclusion here, could be a terrific pitcher on his best days.

In Irabu’s first season, he pitched 53.1 rough innings, posting a 7.09 ERA. But when the magical 1998 season kicked off—particularly when April turned to May—Irabu was a different pitcher. He was electric as the proverbial flowers bloomed, starting six games, going 43.2 innings with a stingy 1.44 ERA. The highlight came against the White Sox on the 25th, when he tossed a complete-game shutout in Chicago.

Irabu gets bonus points as a surprising two-time winner of this award. A little over a year later, in July 1999, he shined with six starts that month, crafting a 2.64 ERA while tossing a pair of complete-game victories. In the second of which, his final outing of the month, he tallied a career high 12 strikeouts against the Red Sox, the one and only time he managed double-digit Ks.

Irabu’s career was rather brief and featured its ups and downs, but his role on the dynasty teams, and dominance in May of 1998 and July of ‘99 is hard to deny.

Rookie of the Month

Gary Sánchez, August 2016

A season before Aaron Judge burst onto the scene and won the award four times, Gary Sánchez pulled off his own magical act and took the league by storm in August of 2016. He was the Yankees’ top prospect at one point, but after falling on some lists prior to this season, his major breakout came as even more of a surprise. It wasn’t just that he played well — it’s the way that he absolutely clobbered the ball and took over a sagging New York team that sold at the Trade Deadline.

Sánchez played one forgettable game in May, but returned to the big club in August, and kicked the door in. In 24 games, he mashed 11 homers, slashed .389/.458/.832 with a scorching 240 wRC+ from the catcher position. In fact, he won both AL Rookie of the Month and AL Player of the Month. Despite playing in just 53 games on the year, the untouchable run got him all the way to second in Rookie of the Year voting, in what was the start of an excellent run for Sánchez behind the plate in the Bronx.

Although the tail end of his career in pinstripes left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths, El Gary’s electric run in 2016 will always be what he’s remembered for in New York.

Reliever of the Month

Tommy Kahnle, July 2019

This award does not have quite the rich history that some of the others have, created as recently as 2017. Still, that does not take away from the surprise of Tommy Kahnle’s win in July of ‘19. Unsurprisingly, closers typically win this award, but the changeup artist was so fantastic then that he blew away the competition.

Acquired along with Todd Frazier and David Robertson in a memorable 2017 trade with the White Sox, Kahnle was a stud prior to his arrival and continued that when he got to New York. 2018 was not so kind to him, and that bled into parts of 2019 as well. July of that year, however, was a different story.

The righty pitched in 12 games that month, working 11.2 innings with a near-spotless 0.77 ERA and striking out 17 batters along the way. Kahnle allowed just one earned run with a pair of walks on his resume, in what was an indisputably dominant calendar page for the righty. The rest of the regular season was somewhat forgettable for Kahnle, but he was as good as they come in the heart of that #NextManUp Yankees team.