In 24 games and 101 plate appearances for the Washington Nationals in July, 35-year-old outfielder Jayson Werth put up a .337/.446/.687 line with 11 doubles and six home runs, earning himself the distinction of being named the NL Player of the Month for the month of July in the process.
Werth started the month with a .266/.349/.370 line, and ended it with a .281/.371/.438 line on the year in his 12th major league season and his fourth campaign in the nation's capital.
The Nats' right fielder started the season with a .279/.375/.452 first month in March/April, then put up a .304/.372/.363 line in May before his production dropped off in June. After a .212/.297/.293 month, Werth made some adjustments at the plate that led to his resurgence.
"He's a big guy," Nationals' manager Matt Williams explained before Werth really started to take off.
"If he gets too crouched he tends to get long with his stride. So he just made a minor adjustment, he stood a little taller the plate. It gets him on top of the baseball a little bit more."
"If you stay on top, to your pull side," Williams explained, "you create backspin. He's hit a couple of homers the last three games and today that ball to center field is evidence of him really trying to stay on top and driving the ball, so, he looks good. He feels good too, which is a very good sign."
In the last ten games, Werth has slumped a little, putting up a .188/.308/.219 line, but he did enough in the month of July to earn the POTM honors for the second straight July.
In 2013, the Nats' outfielder put up a .367/.450/.622 line with two doubles and seven home runs in 27 games and 109 PAs and followed that up with a .380/.468/.620 August in which he connected for four doubles and six homers.
Congrats to #Nats RF Jayson Werth, the NL Player of the Month for a second straight July! http://t.co/7AGxC1G1l7 pic.twitter.com/PqZQBVePuP
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 4, 2014