Schimpf Earns July N.L. Rookie of the Month

By Bill Center

By Mike Janela

After 7 seasons toiling in the minors, Padres rookie second baseman Ryan Schimpf can now boast some Major League hardware: he was named the National League Rookie of the Month for July.

When you take a look at some of the numbers the 28-year-old put up in his first full month in the bigs, one easily sees why.

In the 24 games he played in July, Schimpf hit a respectable .269 (21-for-78), but the true story lies in what he did with those hits.

Schimpf smoked five doubles, one triple, and nine home runs en route to accruing 17 RBI and 17 runs scored, to go along with an impressive 1.092 OPS, fueled by a .387 OBP and .705 SLG.

Schimpf’s nine homers led all of the Majors in July while his .705 SLG ranked third. He’s also the only Padre rookie to ever lead the Majors in home runs in a single month (excluding October) and the first Padre to solely lead the Majors in home runs in a month since Ken Caminiti did so in August 1996 with 14.

Among big league rookies, Schimpf led everyone in July with his nine homers and .705 SLG, plus OPS and extra-base hits, while finishing second among NL rookies in runs scored and tying teammate Travis Jankowski for the most walks (13) among all rookies in the month.

He becomes the fourth Padre to earn the distinction, which began in 2001. Schimpf joins previous winners Xavier Nady in May 2003, Khalil Greene in April and August 2004, and Josh Barfield in July 2006.