Vote for Rookie of the Month in June

The rookie class continues to shine in Major League Baseball and it's time for fans to help decide who deserves to be at the top of the list for June.

Beginning on Thursday, voting for the June Rookie of the Month award presented by Gillette will begin for both the American League and National League. The AL nominees are Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria, Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga, Kansas City shortstop Mike Aviles and White Sox second baseman Alexei Ramirez. In the NL, the nominees are Atlanta pitcher Jair Jurrjens, San Francisco first baseman John Bowker, San Diego second baseman Edgar Gonzalez and St. Louis pitcher Mitchell Boggs.

Fans can cast their Rookie of the Month votes through Tuesday, July 8, at mlb.com/gillette.

Geovany Soto of the Cubs and David Murphy of the Rangers won rookie honors in April, followed by Aaron Laffey of the Indians and Blake DeWitt of the Dodgers in May. Now it's time for two more rookies to receive recognition based on their body of work in June.

Longoria has established himself as a big part of Tampa Bay's attack, as the Rays continue to rank as one of the big success stories in baseball this year. Longoria hit .300 in June with eight homers and 19 RBIs.

Galarraga was 3-0 with a 3.34 earned run average in June as a starter for the resurgent Tigers, who have been making up ground in the AL Central after a slow start.

Aviles, who began the season at Triple-A Omaha, has been giving the Kansas City offense a major boost since taking over as the starting shortstop. Aviles hit .330 in June with three homers, 30 hits and 15 RBIs.

Ramirez set the tone for his .355 batting average last month with four three-hit games in the opening week of June. He had three homers in 17 RBIs for the month.

The NL nominees posted some equally impressive numbers in June.

Jurrjens was 3-0 with a 1.63 earned run average in June. Jurrjens didn't allow an earned run in three of his four starts during the month.

Bowker has been a key cog in the San Francisco offense, as the Giants continue to rebuild. Bowker hit .325 in June with four homers and 15 RBIS.

Gonzalez made big contributions to the San Diego offense in June with a .300 batting average. He finished the second with nine doubles and 11 RBIs.

Boggs has helped to stabilize an injury-challenged St. Louis pitching staff. He was 3-0 with a 4.37 ERA in June. The best outing of the month for Boggs came on June 28 when he worked six innings and allowed just four hits and one run in a 5-1 win over Kansas City.

Gillette will present the award winners with a Rookie of the Month trophy following the announcement and make a donation to a charitable organization in the award recipient's name. The online fan vote will represent 20 percent of the overall vote, with the remaining votes coming from team baseball writers and club broadcasters.

Gillette continues to make significant media commitments to national Major League Baseball rightsholders, This Week in Baseball presented by Aquafina, produced by Emmy Award-winning Major League Baseball Productions, and to MLB Jewel Event publications created by MLB Properties. Gillette is also a participating sponsor of DHL All-Star FanFest, the interactive baseball theme park that opens Major League Baseball All-Star Week. This year, DHL All-Star Fanfest will take place at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York from Friday, July 11-15, and during that week, Gillette will unveil the brand-new MLB-themed All-Star Shower & Shave attraction.