After an intense first month of the season, Major League Baseball (MLB) made known this Sunday to the best players of April in each position, a kind of All-Star in which Cuban baseball players Yordan Álvarez and Aroldis Chapman were included.
Álvarez, one of the Houston Astros’ offensive mainstays, was selected as the most outstanding designated hitter in the American League, after hitting six home runs, driving in 12 runs and scoring the same amount during the first month of contention.
In April, the prodigious left-hander had 16 hits and half of them were extra-base hits, with an average of .276, an on-base percentage of .373, and a .621 slugging percentage, sixth among all American League players in this last section. .
As a very relevant detail, Yordan has only been left with the rifle on his shoulder nine times in 58 official trips to the plate, which means that he takes a strikeout every 6.4 at-bats. If we compare with what happened in April 2021, the man from Las Tunas has improved abysmally in this regard, since last year he was removed by way of strikes every 3.7 innings (20 in 73) in the first month of the contest.
His walk-per-strikeout rate has also taken a sharp turn. In April 2021, Álvarez had 20 chocolates and received only three free walks, but now count nine walks and the same number of strikeouts.
For all these merits, Álvarez has been selected as the best DH in the American League and was also included in the MLB team of the month, regardless of circuit. The Cuban beat Pirates DH Daniel Vogelbach, whom he outranks in most statistical departments.
Meanwhile, left-hander from Holguín Aroldis Chapman won the award for best reliever in the American League along with Boston firefighter Garret Whitlock, while Josh Hader (Milwaukee) and David Bednar (Pirates) reigned in the National League.
The New York Yankees closer has not allowed a score in ten outings to the center of the diamond, with 11 strikeouts and only two hits in his account after facing 34 batters. In addition, he has scored five saves and already has 311 in his career, 25th place all time tied with Tom Henke.
Chapman has seen the average speed of his four-seam fastball drop to 96.5 miles, his lowest average since making his major league debut in 2010, though he remains above 100 miles with his sinker. The West Indian has been much more dependent on his slider (29.9% of his pitches) and the split finger (17.7%), the latter being incorporated into his repertoire just two years ago.
All these elements have come together to make us see a less strikeout Chapman, to the point that he has a rate of 11.9 structured per nine innings, the lowest in his career. However, the man from Holguin has found the formula to remain dominant, which he hopes will bear fruit for the rest of the course.
Below we present the best players of the month of April selected by MLB at each position.
american league
A: Jonah Heim (Texas Rangers); 1 B: Anthony Rizzo (New York Yankees); 2B: Owen Miller (Cleveland Guardians); 3B: Jose Ramirez (Cleveland Guardians), H.H: Xander Bogaerts (Boston Red Sox); Gardeners: Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels), Aaron Judge (New York Yankees) and Byron Buxton (Minnesota Twins); Appointed: Yordan Alvarez (Houston Astros); Openers: Justin Verlander (Houston Astros), Alec Manoah (Toronto Blue Jays), Joe Ryan (Minnesota Twins), Logan Gilbert (Seattle Mariners) and Patrick Sandoval (Los Angeles Angels); relievers: Aroldis Chapman (New York Yankees) and Garrett Whitlock (Boston Red Sox).
National League
A: JT Realmuto (Philadelphia Phillies); 1 B: CJ Cron (Colorado Rockies); 2B: Jazz Chisholm Jr. (Miami Marlins); 3B: Nolan Arenado (St. Louis Cardinals), H.H: Francisco Lindor (New York Mets); Gardeners: Joc Pederson (San Francisco Giants), Seiya Suzuki (Chicago Cubs) and Nick Castellanos (Philadelphia Phillies); Appointed: Daniel Vogelbach (Pittsburgh Pirates); Openers: Pablo López (Miami Marlins), Carlos Rodón (San Francisco Giants), Kyle Wright (Atlanta Braves), Corbin Burnes (Milwaukee Brewers) and Max Scherzer (New York Mets); relievers: Josh Hader (Milwaukee Brewers) and David Bednar (Pittsburgh Pirates).
