The first month of the 2023 campaign is in the books. There have been a couple minor hiccups, but overall the players have adapted to the new rules without issue. The Rays and Pirates have been fantastic, but the A’s have not been. The White Sox were a dumpster fire to end the month with an 10 game losing streak. This was their longest losing streak in a decade. The 10th loss was the worst by far considering they were up 3-0 after 6 innings and no hitting the Rays. They proceeded to give up 10 runs in the 7th inning alone and eventually lost 12-3. The A’s are the first MLB team in history with 23 or more losses before May 1st. They also went the full 28 games in April without a starting pitcher earning a victory, this is a MLB record. They are bad and it looks like eventually they will become the Las Vegas A’s.

There have been some impressive performances so far in the young season from Spencer Strider, Sonny Gray, Justin Steele, Gerrit Cole, Ronald Acuna Jr, Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Jorge Mateo, Nico Hoerner, Pete Alonso and others. Offense is up across MLB, unless you’ve faced Cole, Grey, Strider or Steele. The average game time has decreased and fans are packing every ballpark except Oakland. A few clubs that were fun to watch in April were the Orioles, Brewers, Cubs, Padres, Rangers, Mariners, Pirates and Rays.

APRIL STORYLINES:

• THE RAYS OPENED THE SEASON WITH A 13 GAME WINNING STREAK
• THE RAYS SET A RECORD BY WINNING THEIR FIRST 14 HOME GAMES TO START A SEASON
• THE RAYS HOMERED IN 22 STRAIGHT GAMES TO START THE SEASON
• IN APRIL, THE RAYS HAVE A RUN DIFFERENTIAL OF + 103, THE NEXT CLOSEST TEAM IS THE TEXAS RANGERS AT +72.
• PIRATES ARE 20-9 AND IN FIRST PLACE
• MADISON BUMGARNER WAS DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT AND RELEASED BY THE D-BACKS
• 5 MEMBERS OF THE 2022 LA DODGERS WENT ON THE PATERNITY LIST IN APRIL (4 CURRENT DODGERS AND CODY BELLINGER), SO….IT IS APPARENT THAT THE TEAM HAD A FUN 2022 ALL STAR BREAK / JULY ON AND OFF THE FIELD BECAUSE THE TEAM WENT 21-5 IN JULY 2022 AS WELL.
• JACOB DeGROM STARTED OFF LOOKING GOOD, BUT HE IS BACK ON THE INJURED LIST.
• BRYCE HARPER HAS BEEN MAKING PROGRESS AND COULD RETURN IN EARLY MAY.

POWER POLL TOP 10:

1.). TAMPA BAY RAYS

2.). PITTSBURGH PIRATES

3.). ATLANTA BRAVES

4.). BALTIMORE ORIOLES

5.). MILWAUKEE BREWERS

6.). TORONTO BLUE JAYS

7.). TEXAS RANGERS

8.). MINNESOTA TWINS

9.). LOS ANGELES DODGERS

10.). ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

BOTTOM 5 POWER POLL:

26.). WASHINGTON NATIONALS

27.). COLORADO ROCKIES

28.). KANSAS CITY ROYALS

29.). OAKLAND A’S

30.). CHICAGO WHITE SOX.

AMERICAN LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE MONTH:

• SP. SONNY GRAY. (MINNESOTA TWINS): 4 WINS, 35 INNINGS PITCHED, 41 STRIKEOUTS, ERA OF 0.77, WHIP OF 1.06, 3 EARNED RUNS ALLOWED AND A K PER 9 OF 10.5

AMERICAN LEAGUE HITTER OF THE MONTH:

• OF. RANDY AROZARENA. (TAMPA BAY RAYS): .327 BATTING AVG, 28 RBI’S, 36 HITS, 21 RUNS SCORED, 4 DBL, 1 TRIPLE, 7 HR, .392 OBP, .573 SLUG & .965 OPS

AMERICAN LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE MONTH:

• OF. MASATAKA YOSHIDA. (RED SOX): YES…HE HAS PLAYED FOR YEARS IN JAPAN, BUT ACCORDING TO MLB, HE IS A ROOKIE. 23 HITS (23/84), .274 BATTING AVERAGE, 14 RUNS SCORED, 3 DOUBLES, 4 HOME RUNS, 16 RBI’S, 2 STOLEN BASES & 11 WALKS

NATIONAL LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE MONTH:

• SP. JUSTIN STEELE. (CUBS): 6 STARTS / 5 QUALITY STARTS, 36.1 INNINGS PITCHED, 1.49 ERA, 4 WINS, 6 EARNED RUNS ALLOWED, 24 HITS ALLOWED, 32 STRIKEOUTS, WHIP OF 0.96.

NATIONAL LEAGUE HITTER OF THE MONTH:

• 1B/ 2B LUIS ARRAEZ. (MARLINS): 39 HITS (39/89), .438 BATTING AVERAGE, 12 RUNS SCORED, 5 DOUBLES, 1 TRIPLE, 1 HR, 11 RBI’S, 11 WALKS, .500 OBP, .551 SLUG, 1.051 OPS AND ONLY 5 STRIKEOUTS.
• HONORABLE MENTION: 2B. NICO HOERNER (CUBS): 39 HITS, .328 BATTING AVERAGE, 21 RUNS SCORED, 5 DOUBLES, 2 HR, 17 RBI’S & 11 STOLEN BASES.

NATIONAL LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE MONTH:

• OF. JAMES OUTMAN (DODGERS): 28 HITS (28/96), .292 BATTING AVERAGE, 7 HOME RUNS, 4 DOUBLES, 3 TRIPLES, 17 RUNS SCORED, 20 RBI’S, 11 WALKS & 4 STOLEN BASES.

SOME SERIES TO LOOK AHEAD TO IN MAY:

• PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES AT LA DODGERS. MAY 1ST — MAY 3RD
• LA DODGERS AT SAN DIEGO PADRES. MAY 5TH — MAY 7TH
• TAMPA BAY RAYS AT BALTIMORE ORIOLES. MAY 8TH — MAY 10TH
• TEXAS RANGERS AT SEATTLE MARINERS. MAY 8TH — MAY 10TH
• ATLANTA BRAVES AT TORONTO BLUE JAYS. MAY 12TH – 14TH
• CHICAGO CUBS AT HOUSTON ASTROS. MAY 15TH — MAY 17TH
• MILWAUKEE BREWERS AT TAMPA BAY RAYS. MAY 19TH — MAY 21ST
• HOUSTON ASTROS AT MILWAUKEE BREWERS. MAY 22ND — MAY 24TH

The month of May will be very telling on a lot of these fast starts. Can the Yankees dig themselves out of last in the AL East? Will Bryce Harper be able to return to the Phillies lineup and get them going? Perhaps the biggest plot is focused on the Angels and if they can surge up the standings and be contenders, if not, the Ohtani trade rumors will heat up.