Two players stand out on the offensive side for April 2023. Luis Arraez of the Marlins pulled off the rare feat of hitting .400 for a month. His .439 BA led the majors, and more importantly, so did his .500 OBP. Sixty seven points behind him sits Matt Chapman of the Blue Jays at .372, and he’s also second in OBP at .459. The two are much closer in that regard. Arraez hit mostly singles, however, his .549 slugging percentage comes mostly from his high BA. While Max Muncy of the Dodgers led the majors in slugging percentage at .743, Chapman was right behind him at .691. Chapman also hit 15 doubles. No one reached 60 doubles in a season since 1936, and Chapman is a quarter of the way there. His 15 doubles also ties a Mark set by Mike Lowell in 2002, most doubles through the end of April.

Ronald Acuna Jr.deserves a mention as well. Not only did he post high BA/OPB/Slug, he led the majors with twelve steals while only being caught twice.

Chapman’s superior power takes the day, and Matt Chapman is the Baseball Musings Offensive Player of the Month for April 2023.

On the pitching side, Sonny Gray of the Twins made six starts and posted a 0.77 ERA in 35 innings. That was the best in the majors with a minimum of 25 innings. He blew batters away with 41 strikeouts and did not allow a home run. He went 4-0 in those six starts. Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks pitched 33 innings in five starts with a 1.09 ERA. He went deeper in games, and his K and walk rates were superior to Gray. He did allow two home runs, however.

Note that Gray was close to the top in innings pitched, if not IP per game. Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays accumulated 38 1/3 innings in his six starts, good for a 2.33 ERA. Josh Hader pitched great out of the pen for the Padres, leading the majors in saves with 10 while allowing just one run in thirteen innings.

Gray’s ability to keep the ball in the park and his extremely low ERA makes him a bit better case than Gallen, and Sonny Gray win the Baseball Musings Pitcher of the month for April 2023.