Billy Hamilton, Jose Abreu named Rookies of the Month

Major League Baseball announced their Rookies of the Month for 2014 yesterday. The winners are Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox and Billy Hamilton of the Cincinnati Reds.

Abreu was on fire all month, hitting .313 with 10 homers and six doubles. He currently leads the American League with 26 home runs and a .627 slugging percentage, good for a 155 wRC+ and 2.7 fWAR through 72 games. The 27 year old has certainly been worth every penny the White Sox paid for him, justifying the six-year, $68 million contract he received after defecting from Cuba.

Hamilton hit .327 with 10 doubles, three homers, and 14 stolen bases in June, helping overcome a slow early start and moving his season line up to .279/.309/.400 with 35 steals and 2.8 fWAR. His production has been on an upward course as the season progresses: .610 OPS in April, .652 in May, .842 in June. His outfield defense has been quite good according to the advanced metrics, which is why his fWAR is actually a little higher than Abreu's.