McBride Wins EL July Player of the Month
August 6, 2010 - Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release
Recently promoted Akron Aeros slugger Matt McBride is the winner of the Eastern League's Player of the Month award for July, the league announced today. McBride, who was promoted to Class AAA Columbus on July 29th, led the circuit in the most offensive categories this month in 23 Akron games. He also won EL Player of the Week for the week ending July 4th and is the first Aero to win a monthly honor this season.
McBride batted .364 (32-for-88) during the month of July, leading Akron to an 18-9 record with his impressive slugging numbers. He led the entire 12-team league in home runs (11), RBI (29), slugging percentage (.852), OPS (1.271) and total bases (75). The versatile outfielder also ranked second in the EL with 21 extra-base hits last month, placed fourth in batting average and sixth with 10 doubles.
The 25-year-old native of Bethlehem, PA actually began his hot streak at the tail end of the month of June on the road against Richmond. He ended a 35-game homerless stretch on June 28th at The Diamond and since that point, has been one of the best hitters in professional baseball. In his most recent 33 games combined between Columbus and Akron, he leads all of MiLB with 27 extra-base hits and a .798 slugging percentage. He has a .372 batting average, 13 doubles, 14 home runs and 35 RBI in this stretch as well.
On the season, McBride batted .285 in 94 games played with the Aeros before his transfer to the Clippers. He still leads Akron by a wide margin with 25 doubles, 17 home runs, 64 RBI and 180 total bases. He reached base safely in all 44 of his Eastern League road games, the longest such streak in professional baseball this season, and is now batting .400 (12-for-30) in his first seven games in the International League. McBride has also shown his worth defensively, starting at 39 games combined at first base this year.
Cleveland's supplemental second-round selection out of Lehigh University in the June 2006 Draft, McBride led the Indians organization with 99 RBI combined last season. He played his first 31 contests with Class A Kinston before earning his first promotion to Double-A. The converted catcher missed the majority of the 2008 season with an injury and began his professional career in 2006 with short-season Class A Mahoning Valley.
Akron's weeklong road trip continues Friday night at 7:05 p.m. as the team heads over to Connecticut for the start of a three-game series against the New Britain Rock Cats. The Aeros hope to snap a season-high six-game losing streak with nearby Chicopee, MA native Scott Barnes (5-8, 5.16 ERA) on the starting mound at New Britain Stadium against Chris Province (5-3, 4.91 ERA) of the Rock Cats. Join Ken Carman for Friday's radio broadcast beginning at 6:50 p.m. on Fox Sports 1350 AM and at www.akronaeros.com. For more information, please call the Akron Aeros at (330) 253-5151.
Eastern League Stories from August 6, 2010
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- McBride Wins EL July Player of the Month - Akron RubberDucks
- Akron's McBride Named July Player of the Month - EL1
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