April Players of the Month for the Atlanta Braves
We're now one full month into the 2023 regular season, so we stop and look at who performed the best for the Atlanta Braves in April.
The Atlanta Braves have gotten off to slow starts in recent years, but that has not been the case in 2023 as they finished the first month of the season with the second-most wins in the National League despite a lot of key injuries.
For the sake of ease and clarity, we'll be combining March and April stats for the first "month" of the season.
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Hitter of the Month: Ronald Acuna Jr.
No real shock here as Ronald Acuna Jr. has not only been the best hitter for the Braves through the first month, but it is also in the early discussion for NL MVP.
He leads all Braves batters with 38 hits. That's 12 more than Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson who are second on the team with 26.
Acuna Jr. also leads the team in runs scored (23), doubles (9), stolen bases (14), AVG (.352), OBP (.440), and OPS (.986).
Perhaps something not getting talked about enough is his plate discipline. He currently has a K% of just 14.4 percent, which is well below his career average of around 24%.
We're still waiting on that launch angle to get back up so the home runs start coming more frequently, but if this is the version of Ronnie we get going forward, that's still a pretty dangerous player.
Pitcher of the Month: Spencer Strider
Another fairly obvious choice, Spencer Strider is 3-0 to begin the season with a 1.80 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in 30 innings with 49 strikeouts and just 14 hits allowed.
His strikeout rate is even higher than it was during his record-setting season in 2022.
If you wanted to make one small criticism of Strider it's that he's walked too many batters at times. But he really cleaned that up in his last outing when he didn't walk a batter over 8 innings and took a no-hitter into the eighth inning.
Max Fried is right there with Strider, and had he not missed a couple of starts we might have a real discussion for pitcher of the month.
Let's hope that healthy competition carries over into May.
Biggest Surprise and Biggest Disappointment
Sam Hilliard was the best surprise in the month of April. Not only did he do a great job filling in at center field for Michael Harris while he was injured, but he is currently fifth on the team with a .904 OPS.
The strikeout rate is a bit concerning, but he's racked up the hits with 4 doubles and 3 home runs mixed in. He's also added to the speed element for Atlanta with 4 stolen bases.
With MH2 back, Hilliad is in line to get the majority of starts in left field against right-handed pitching.
Marcell Ozuna is easily the biggest disappointment. He, more than anyone, needed to get off to a good start. Instead, he has just 5 hits in 59 at-bats with 18 strikeouts.
With the emergence of the aforementioned Hilliard, and Eddie Rosario heating up, Ozuna is starting to see his playing time diminished.
It's to the point that the Braves may actually consider moving on from him once everyone is back from the injured list.
Some other notable performers in April include Sean Murphy, Orlanda Arcia, Bryce Elder, and Nick Anderson.
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