NEW YORK -- The MLB Draft League announced that Trenton’s Chris Brito and State College’s Daniel Padysak were named Hitter and Pitcher of the Month, respectively, for the month of June.
Brito, 23, garnered Hitter of the Month honors for the first month of the MLB Draft League season after batting .367 (22-for-60) with three home runs, four doubles and 16 RBIs in 22 games for the Thunder. He led all MLB Draft League hitters during the month in on-base percentage (.500), ranked second in both slugging (.617) and OPS (1.117), and finished third in average (.367). Brito was tied for second in the Draft League in total bases (37), home runs and RBI, and third in hits and runs scored (22).
Brito had two multi-hit performances and hit safely in three of his first four games with Trenton. He connected on his first home run of the season on June 4, hitting a two-run shot against Frederick as part of a 3-for-6, four-RBI effort. Brito batted .424 with five extra-base hits while hitting safely in 10 of his final 12 games in June. He delivered a walk-off, two-run double with two outs in the ninth inning against Williamsport on June 23 and closed out the month on a five-game hitting streak, compiling a .450 average (9-for-20) with four straight multi-hit efforts in that span.
A Perth Amboy, N.J., native, Brito broke Rutgers University’s career home run (46) and RBI (200) records as a senior this past spring. The All-Big Ten Second Team selection batted .304 with 14 home runs in 53 games, becoming the first player in program history to have three straight seasons of 10 or more home runs. Brito received All-Big Ten Third Team honors in 2022 after establishing a new Rutgers single-season RBI record (74) and setting career-high marks in both home runs (16) and OPS (1.077). Overall, Brito batted .293/.416/.529 across 213 games with the Scarlet Knights.
Padysak, 22, took home Pitcher of the Month honors after posting a 0.57 ERA with 22 strikeouts and a pair of saves across eight relief appearances. The Spikes right-hander ranked second in the Draft League in WHIP (0.77), ERA (tied) and saves (tied), and accrued the third-most innings pitched (15.1) among relievers. He also finished tied for sixth in strikeouts (fifth-most among relievers) and had the Draft League’s eighth-best opponents’ batting average. Padysak previously was named the Pitcher of the Week for the Draft League’s opening week (June 1-4).
Padysak earned the save for the Spikes on Opening Day by striking out three over two scoreless innings. He racked up eight strikeouts across three innings on June 4 and made consecutive two-inning scoreless appearances on June 10 and June 14. After allowing his only earned run of the season against Frederick on June 18, Padysak closed out the month of June with three straight scoreless outings. He picked up his second save of the season on June 24, when he retired all five batters he faced against Mahoning Valley, and struck out three batters over two scoreless frames against West Viriginia on June 27. Overall, Padysak completed at least two innings in six appearances and worked more than one inning in all but one outing.
Padysak, who was born in Prague, pitched in two games for the Czech Republic in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He started his team’s opening game March 9, pitching four scoreless innings without giving up a hit in an 8-5 victory of China, and later appeared as a reliever in the Czech Republic’s loss to Australia on March 12.
After returning from the World Baseball Classic, Padysak went on to lead Charleston Southern’s pitching staff in ERA (3.19) and saves (2). Appearing in 16 games, including two starts, Padysak compiled 46 strikeouts against 20 walks in 42.1 innings while limiting the opposition to a .232 average.
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