Pitcher of the Month: Dan Hudson (AA Birmingham)
5-0, 6 GS, 1.64 ERA, 38.1 IP, 40 K, 4 BB, 26 H (0 HR)

Hudson is setting himself up to have a shot at the 5th starter slot next season. Jose Contreras’ contract ends after this season and if he doesn’t re-sign it currently looks like an open race between Hudson and Carlos Torres. Torres had a heck of a July in his own right and is currently Major League ready. Hudson might have to wait until the second half of 2010 to get a call up, but he will likely eventually fill out a potentially nasty rotation for years to come.

Hitter of the Month: Brady Shoemaker (Rookie Bristol)
.429 (33-77), 5 HR, 19 RBI, 16 R, 9 BB, 14 K, 1.235 OPS

Shoemaker had a 28 hit streak snapped on the 1st, but has shown that he is too good for the Appalachian League. He has a hit in 31 of the 32 games he has played since joining the BriSox after the draft. Plenty of college players have dominated rookie ball and fizzled once they play against players their own age, but few have raked like this.

Other notables

Carlos Torres (AAA Charlotte):1-0, 1 SV, 3 G (2 GS), 1.00 ERA, 18 IP, 19 K, 8 BB, 7 H (1 HR)
If you throw in Torres’ quality spot start for the White Sox it was a memorable month for him.

Cole Armstrong (AAA Charlotte): .341 (15-44), 5 HR, 7 RBI, 10 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 1.106 OPS
Somehow Armstrong had more extra base hits (8) than RBI (7), but he is finally turning around his awful start to the season.

Brent Lillibridge (AAA Charlotte): .326 (28-86), 2 HR, 12 RBI, 12 R, 12 BB, 18 K, 5/6 SB, .414 OBP
Lillibridge is finally contributing to someone this season. His overall stats in Charlotte still aren’t pretty, but he can steal a base (12/13 SB in AAA on the season) and is showing improvement.

Dayan Viciedo (AA Birmingham): .304 (27-89), 4 HR, 9 RBI, 4 BB, 12 K, .826 OPS
Viciedo continues his month-by-month improvement. These numbers come after a week+ slump to start to the month too.

Logan Johnson (High-A Winston-Salem): .327 (18-55), 5 HR, 13 RBI, 1.066 OPS
The king of the hit by pitch by crowding the plate to an extreme, Johnson has been converted to catcher so his bat might play if he can learn the position well.

Brent Morel (High-A Winston-Salem): .314 (33-105), 4 HR, 22 RBI, 21 R, 11 BB, 17 K, .929 OPS
Morel is a solid fielder at third so getting his bat going could make him a very good prospect.

The Ice Cold

Jon Link (AAA Charlotte): 10.1 IP, 13 R (12 ER), 11 K, 6 BB, 19 H (3 HR), 10.45 ERA
Link got off to a hot start to the season, but has struggled for past two months. He had a 5.06 ERA in June.

John Shelby (AA Birmingham): .197 (13-66), 1 HR, 9 RBI, .609 OPS
Shelby’s future currently looks somewhat dim. He was already putting up mediocre numbers for the AA Barons and his current slump has his batting average in the .230s and his OPS below .700.

Josh Phegley (Low-A Kannapolis): .139 (11-79), 4 HR, 9 RBI, 4 BB, 14 K, .520 OPS
Not the kind of professional debut you want to see from the 38th overall pick, but it’s way too early to write him off. At least the home runs have been coming.

Eduardo Escobar (Low-A Kannapolis): .198 (17-86), 3 BB, 19 K, .515 OPS
A major disappointment this season, Escobar has posted a sub-.600 OPS each month.

Miguel Gonzalez (Rookie Bristol): .200 (13-65), 2 BB, 11 K, .574 OPS
After a hot start, Gonzalez has come back to Earth. Still, his overall numbers (.277, 4 HR, .801 OPS in 26 G) are great to see from a young catcher.