I’ve been hyping up the month of July for the past few weeks, but now we’re talking about the top players of June. Sorry to disappoint…

With that said, we’ll take a look at the top players from June then dive into some hilarious hot takes we talked about on the Just Baseball Show last week.

We’ve also had some great interviews recently and will have a bunch of draft content dropping next week ahead of the MLB Draft, which kicks off on July 13th!

June MLB Players of the Month

Every month we take a look at which players around the league showed out with a blend of usual suspects and surprisingly excellent performances. These players put their mark on June, so let’s give them their flowers.

American League

While the American League has performed much worse from a team-by-team perspective this season, it features an electric MVP race, a ton of aces performing as such, and three rookies that would hypothetically be the NL Rookie of the Year favorite probably.

Our Jay Staph wrote up our players of the month in the American League⬇️

Gold Medal Hitter of the Month: Yandy Diaz, TBR

June Stats: 113 PA, 5 HR, 16 R, 13 RBI, .400/.469/.610, 0 SB, 208 wRC+, 1.6 fWAR

Although the 2025 season has been a whirlwind for the Tampa Bay Rays, Yandy Diaz has been the one stable performer all year long. This didn’t change in June, as the 33-year-old first baseman was named our Gold Medal Hitter of the Month.

Silver Medal Hitter of the Month: Byron Buxton, MIN

June Stats: 103 PA, 9 HR, 17 R, 21 RBI, .310/.408/.678, 6 SB, 198 wRC+, 1.8 fWAR

Throughout his MLB career, baseball fans have long wondered what a fully healthy season from Byron Buxton could look like. It’s always been clear that the talent and production are both there, but it was always his health that got in the way.

Gold Medal Pitcher of the Month: Six-Way Tie

Yeah, I know. This feels silly to have six guys tied for the pitcher of the month.

Well, American League starters absolutely SHOVED this past month with six star arms maintaining an ERA under 2.00 while all posting at least 0.8 fWAR in the month.

The return of elite Jacob deGrom has been incredible to watch as he went 4-0 with a 1.41 ERA in his five June starts. There’s no denying that baseball is simply better when deGrom is at his best.

Arguably the best rotation duo in baseball right now follows as Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown have been leading the charge for Houston this season. They both dominated June with a combined 74 strikeouts across 61.1 innings pitched.

National League

Remember when people were calling the richest man in baseball history overrated? Well, that’s in the past. The National League is filled with stars and two of the brightest ones were among the best hitters in baseball while a veteran ace absolutely did his thing in June.

Our Leo Morgenstern wrote up our players of the month in the National League⬇️

Gold Medal Hitter of the Month: Juan Soto, NYM

June Stats: 116 PA, 11 HR, 25 R, 20 RBI, .322/.474/.722, 2 SB, 227 wRC+, 1.7 fWAR

Remember all the panic over Juan Soto and his massive new contract when he finished May with just a .770 OPS and a 120 wRC+?

The young superstar quickly showed any concerned fans how foolish they were to worry with an utterly dominant performance in June.

Quick shoutout to our Managing Editor, Ryan Finkelstein, who likely speaks for just about all Mets fans here.

Gold Medal Pitcher of the Month: Zack Wheeler, PHI

June Stats: 2-1 (5 GS), 0.58 ERA, 31.0 IP, 42 K, 7 BB, 1.4 fWAR

Zack Wheeler wants that Cy Young. The Phillies’ ace put frontrunner Paul Skenes on notice with a phenomenal June, giving up just two earned runs across five starts and striking out 35% of the batters he faced. He now leads the NL in strikeouts and K-BB% on the season, as well as Statcast’s xERA.

Just Baseball Trivia of the Week

Our newsletter will have a trivia question every week to test and expand the baseball knowledge of our subscribers! The answer to the weekly trivia question will be at the bottom of the newsletter each week.

Which player was NOT tied for the MLB lead with 11 home runs in the month of June?

A) Eugenio Suarez

B) Jo Adell

C) Cal Raleigh

D) Aaron Judge

Check out 1440

Daily News for Curious Minds

Be the smartest person in the room by reading 1440! Dive into 1440, where 4 million Americans find their daily, fact-based news fix. We navigate through 100+ sources to deliver a comprehensive roundup from every corner of the internet – politics, global events, business, and culture, all in a quick, 5-minute newsletter. It's completely free and devoid of bias or political influence, ensuring you get the facts straight. Subscribe to 1440 today.

Sign up now!

Reacting to Hot Takes From Our Discord

Last week, we decided to collect “Hot Takes” from our Discord community (the best baseball group chat in the world btw!) to review on the Just Baseball Show.

Peter and Aram did just that as they reviewed all the best takes from our community on this episode of the Just Baseball Show!

🔥The Yankees have the worst long-term future outlook in the AL East

Our hot takes episode started out real hot with a take that the top perennial AL contender has the worst outlook in their division.

Despite having one of the weaker farm systems in baseball, the guys quickly disputed this point on the show given the Yankees ability to bring in talent yearly and develop players into consistent pieces.

🔥Pete Crow-Armstrong is pulling a 2023 Luis Robert and will be a league-average hitter most of his career

Woah there! One of the most electrifying players in baseball will apparently be the same as a player below the Mendoza line this season…

While there are some undoubtable similarities between PCA and Robert, especially their extremely high chase rates, this is a red-hot take. PCA is one of the best defenders in baseball and still has the clear edge over Robert’s peak season in a plethora of offense categories.

🔥Neither current Cy Young favorite (Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes) will win the award

This take is even more fascinating since this episode dropped. Last week, the guys said it’s a much less hot take that Skubal loses the award due to the elite competition in the American League. All he did since then was toss another seven-inning, 13-strikeout outing while Garrett Crochet had his worst start of the year.

Meanwhile, Wheeler is coming off an insane August while Skenes has been actually human in his past couple outings.

Check out the episode for many more (extremely) hot takes!

Marlins Director of Pitching Bill Hezel

We were joined this week by the Director of Pitching for the Miami Marlins on the Just Baseball Show this week!

Bill Hezel provided us with a behind-the-scenes dive into the role of a Director of Pitching and the world of pitching development in its entirety.

Check out this full interview for excellent pitching information!

Other Headlines

• MLB announced the starting lineups for the All-Star Game yesterday with a lot of familiar faces and a couple interesting selections by the fans. Some choices weren’t necessarily the right ones though. Read about some of the snubbed players here!

• The trade deadline is looming, which brings plenty of buzz around the league. We’ll be checking in a number of top trade candidates over the next few weeks including Sandy Alcantara, Luis Robert Jr., and many others.

• Speaking of trades…our Daniel Curren caught up with James Tibbs, the top prospect sent to Boston in the Rafael Devers deal, this past weekend. He shared his perspective on being traded in the blockbuster deal with us. Read the full story here!

Just Baseball Discord

We launched a Just Baseball community on Discord!

Our Discord channel is the ultimate baseball group chat while also providing exclusive access to Peter’s MLB best bets, Aram’s prospect content, giveaways, and direct connection to the entire Just Baseball staff.

Read all the details about our Discord community here.

Collectibles Corner

We’re running a giveaway to celebrate The Call Up reaching 10k followers!

Follow these instructions to have a chance at winning a James Tibbs Auto Card⬇️

Trivia Answer: D) Aaron Judge

With “only” nine home runs in the month of June, Judge trailed Suarez, Raleigh, Adell, and Soto, who all hit 11 home runs in the month.

Just Baseball Merch

Our newest line of merchandise features Adidas performance gear!

We have also restocked on all your favorites including our vintage World Series line, hats, hoodies, City Series line, spring line, and much more.

Check out the full collection of Just Baseball swag here!