New York Yankees Aaron Judge and Philadelphia Phillies Bryce Harper became the first duo in history to be named the "Player of the Month" side by side for the second consecutive time.

MLB announced the players, pitchers, rookies, and relievers of the month who performed the best in the month in June on the 4th (Korea time). Judge and Harper were also named AL and NL players of the month in May.스포츠토토

Judge displayed a batting average of 0.409 (36 hits in 88 times at bat), 11 homers, 37 RBIs, 25 runs scored, on-base percentage of 0.514, slugging percentage of 0.864 and OPS of 1.378 in 25 games in June. He displayed "monster-class" performance that no one could match.

The contenders were Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros (0.349, seven home runs, 19 RBIs, 1.139) and Baltimore Orioles Gunner Henderson (0.342, eight home runs, 17 RBIs, 1.081 OPS), but could not be compared to Judge.

With this, Judge was honored as the AL Player of the Month for the second time in a row and the fourth time in his career since last month.

Harper, on the other hand, penetrated the fierce competition. In June, he appeared in 23 games and hit 0.374 (34 hits in 91 times at bat), seven homers, 10 doubles, 16 RBIs, 20 runs, an on-base percentage of 0.452, a slugging percentage of 0.714 and an OPS of 1.166.

He beat Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who was considered a strong contender. Ohtani played in 26 games in June, posting a batting average of 0.293 (29 hits in 99 times at bat), 12 homers, 24 RBIs, 26 runs scored, 0.413 on-base percentage, 0.697 slugging percentage, and 1.110 OPS. Ohtani failed despite ranking first in all of his NL home runs, RBIs and scoring records in June.

Harper ranks first in NL slugging percentage and OPS in June. Ohtani may have performed better depending on the evaluation criteria and viewpoint, but Harper was advantageous in the team's performance. As of today, Philadelphia ranks first in both leagues with 56 wins and 29 losses.

MLB.com said, "Harper hit a batting average of 0.374 with seven home runs and an OPS of 1.166 in June, helping the Phillies rank No. 1 in overall winning percentage in the Major League." Harper, who was on the injured list at the end of last month, said, "If he returns healthy, he will be able to challenge for the third NL MVP after 2015 and 2021, but the competition will be tough."

LA Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani leads NL major categories, but there is no guarantee of MVP. AP Yonhap News
Judge and Harper have received this month's player award twice in a row, while No. 11 in the AL and No. 10 in the NL. What should be noted is that Ohtani was named the AL player of the month twice in a row, from June to July 2021 when he was with the Los Angeles Angels and from June to July 2023. However, since moving to Dodgers this season, he has yet to make a business card for Player of the Month. The first NL player of the Month this year was Mookie Betts from Dodgers in April.

In the end, it is clear that Ohtani is in a position to never be relieved in this year's NL MVP competition.

Ohtani is leading the major NL categories including batting average (0.320), home run (27), slugging percentage (0.646), OPS (1.048), and bWAR (4.9), but it is hard to say that he is comfortably ahead of Harper in the "value" evaluation based on the player selection result for this June. Harper has a batting average of 0.303, 20 homers, 58 RBIs, 52 runs scored, 47 walks, and 0.981 OPS.

Meanwhile, AL Chicago White Sox Garrett Crochet and NL Philadelphia Christopher Sanchez were selected as pitchers in June, AL Texas Rangers Wyatt Langford and NL San Diego Padres Jackson Merrill were selected as rookies in June, and AL Los Angeles Angels Carlos Estevez and NL St. Louis Cardinals Ryan Helsley were selected as pitchers in June.