August Players of the Month: Anderson Espinoza and Yoan Moncada

The SoxProspects.com community has voted Anderson Espinoza and Yoan Moncada (pictured) as the Pitcher and Player of the Month for August, respectively.

Espinoza earns his second Pitcher of the Month honor, having also won in June. He was still pitching in the Dominican Summer League for a majority of that month, whereas in August, he pitched in the Gulf Coast League and dominated. In four appearances, Espinoza did not allow an earned run and surrendered just seven hits and one walk. He also struck out 23 in his 16 August innings. His WHIP was 0.50 for the month and batters hit just .125 against him.

Espinoza's performance earned him a promotion to Greenville, which made him the youngest player in the South Atlantic League by more than a year at 17 years old. After beginning the year ranked 30th here at SoxProspects.com, Espinoza has rocketed up to the number five spot.

Another major international free agent signing, Moncada earned his first Player of the Month award at SoxProspects.com. After struggling early in the season with Greenville, Moncada found his groove and took off after the All-Star break. In August, he batted .333/.451/.573 with seven doubles, a triple, and three home runs. He also swiped 23 bases in 25 attempts. The 20-year old has certainly lived up to expectations in 2015, showing off all of his tools. SoxProspects.com's Director of Scouting Ian Cundall was able to see Moncada in action during the month and went into detail on what he saw both offensively and defensively. Moncada was recently moved up to first on our rankings at SoxProspects.com.

2015 first-round selection Andrew Benintendi was a very close second for the Player of the Month award. In 14 games with Lowell, he batted .370/.426/.630. He was then called up to Greenville and did not slow down, batting .333/.421/.542 in 12 games. He had six home runs combined in the month.

Photo Credit: Yoan Moncada by Kelly O'Connor

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