C/1B Ben Rice and RHP Drew Thorpe Sweep Eastern League Monthly Awards For August
Bridgewater, New Jersey – Minor League Baseball has announced that Somerset Patriots C/1B Ben Rice and RHP Drew Thorpe have been named the Double-A Eastern League Player and Pitcher of the Month for August.
Bridgewater, New Jersey – Minor League Baseball has announced that Somerset Patriots C/1B Ben Rice and RHP Drew Thorpe have been named the Double-A Eastern League Player and Pitcher of the Month for August.
SWEEP VICTORY! In their first month together at Double-A, Ben Rice and Drew Thorpe have swept Eastern League Player and Pitcher of the Month honors! 🧹🎖 pic.twitter.com/6V3TW4aiE6
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) September 5, 2023
In his first full month at the Double-A level, Rice batted .345/.397/.700 and led the league in home runs (10), RBI (29), R (24), H (38), TB (77), SLG (.700) and OPS (1.097). He was fifth in batting average (.345).
He posted an 11-game hitting streak from August 10 - 23 and 11 multi-hit games, including a pair of four-hit games.
Rice, 24, was selected by the Yankees in the 12th round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Dartmouth University.
Since his call up to Double-A on August 11, Thorpe has gone 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA in four starts. He allowed just four earned runs on 12 hits over 26.1 innings and finished second in the league with 39 strikeouts.
He led the league in average against (.133) and WHIP (0.65). Thorpe’s 14 wins through August were the most by Minor League starters. He leads all of MiLB with 177 strikeouts on the season.
Thorpe, 22, was selected by the Yankees in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Cal-Poly.
Rice and Thorpe become the second duo in franchise Double-A history to sweep an MiLB monthly award, joining INF Diego Castillo and RHP Janson Junk (June 2021). Rice and Thorpe previously swept MiLB’s Weekly Award honors together for the week of August 7-13, becoming the second Patriots to do so (INF Diego Castillo and LHP J.P. Sears, 6/1/21 - 6/6/21).
Rice and Thorpe become the second and third MiLB monthly award winners this season for Somerset, joining 3B Tyler Hardman (July). They become the eighth and ninth MiLB Award winners for the Patriots this year.
About the Somerset Patriots
The Somerset Patriots are the New York Yankees Double-A Affiliate and develop today’s top minor league talent into the pinstriped superstars of tomorrow for MLB’s winningest team. The Patriots are the reigning Eastern League Champions and play their home games at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ, where fans of all ages and levels of baseball fandom get to enjoy the unique experience that is minor league baseball. To learn more, visit: somersetpatriots.com.