Diamond Deep Dives: April Recap
Welcome to Diamond Deep Dives my articles covering all things MLB!
Well, we are officially through one month of this long season and boy has it been an exciting one. I will more than likely be changing the format of these articles on a month-to-month basis due to my work schedule, but I have not fully decided on that yet. Regardless of that though, let's dive in and see where everything sits after one full month of play!
Players of the Month
I want to start off by saying this is based solely off my opinion, but I am sure there will be times where my picks line up with the official players of the month due to a player just being that far ahead of the pack. Today is a great example of that!
American League: Aaron Judge
Judge was on an absolute heater to start the year. He earned the official MLB AL Player of the Month, and it wasn’t really even close. In 31 games Judge was holding a resounding .427/.521/.761 split with 10 home runs and 32 RBIs. It was arguably one of the greatest single months by a player in MLB history, especially with the fact that you could not call it a fluke with Judge leading all of the MLB in pretty much every single advanced batting metric you could find.
National League: Pete Alonso
This one was a much harder choice for me. I was extremely torn between Alonso and Diamondbacks center fielder Corbin Carroll, but I think Pete really deserves his flowers. Most well known for his home run derby wins, Pete Alonso has had a lot of questions surrounding his actual worth on the field.
After an incredible rookie season in 2019, Alonso remained a solid hitter, mostly known for his power, but he could not seem to fully put together the success he obtained back in 2019. I mean it’s baseball, it is the hardest sport in the world and success is never guaranteed, but Alonso came out swinging to start the season. Over 31 games Alonso had 7 homers, 31 RBIs, and a .343/.474/.657 batting splits. Alonso’s start has been even more important to the Mets success with the slower than usual start of perennial superstar Juan Soto.
Most Impressive Team
I want this to be less about which team has the best record, and more about which team was the most surprising. Now having a good record definitely helps that case, but it is not the end all be all in this decision. The San Francisco Giants. What a start to the year for a club that nobody really had making any noise this season. Through the first 31 games the Giants held a 19-12 record, which is by no means absurd, but they have been about as exciting of a team to watch as anyone.
A big reason for this is the breakout campaign being put on by their center fielder Jung Hoo Lee. Counting just the 26 games he played in April, Lee had 3 homers, 16 RBIs, a .909 OPS, and a split of .324/.369/.539. The Giants coming off three straight .500 or below seasons, have themselves in contention for the NL West title, but it won’t be easy as the Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres are right there with them.
The Colorado Rockies
Speaking of the NL West, we need to have a discussion about the Rockies. Through 30 games this season the Rockies have an overall record of 5-25. They are easily on pace to have the worst record in MLB history and they have not had a winning record since going 91-72 in 2018. Somehow despite the abysmal performance on the field throughout each season, they still have one of the highest average attendance numbers in the MLB every year. The fans are some of the most dedicated in the sport and deserve more than the Rockies ownership, led by the Monfort brothers, Charles K. and Richard L. Monfort, are willing to give them. Something needs to change and soon, because ownership groups like this are what ruins the game of baseball.
That is all for this one. I hope you enjoyed the read and found it interesting and knowledgeable. As always I am always looking for ways I can improve my writings for my audience so let me know if there is anything I missed that you wish I had covered. Lastly, keep an eye out on the AL Central, the Tigers, Guardians, and Royals are all off to solid starts in what could be one of the most exciting divisions to watch this year.