May 3, 2023

Official Major League Baseball News Release

All-Star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves has been named the National League Player of the Month presented by Chevrolet for April, and All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman of the Toronto Blue Jays has been voted the American League Player of the Month presented by Chevrolet for April.

Acuña claimed his second career NL Player of the Month Award, previously winning in April 2021, and is the first Braves player to win the honour since his All-Star teammate Austin Riley in July 2022. Chapman earned his first career AL Player of the Month Award, and became the first Blue Jays player to be named since Marcus Semien in May 2021. In addition, Chapman is the first Jays player to win for the opening month of a season since José Bautista in April 2011.

Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves (@ronaldacunajr13)

-The three-time All-Star batted .352 (38-for-108) with 23 runs scored, nine doubles, four home runs, 14 RBI, 16 walks, 13 stolen bases, a .440 on-base percentage and a .546 slugging percentage over 27 games played.

-The 25-year-old reached base safely in 26 of his 27 games played, hit safely in 20 games and scored at least one run in 17 contests. His 55 times on base during the month were two more than the next closest player (Chapman).

-Acuña recorded a double in the first inning on April 25th against Miami, marking his 16th time on base to lead off a game this season (14 hits; two walks). His 14 hits in the opening frame through the first month were the most in the Majors.

-The 2018 NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year stole his Major League-leading 13th base of the season on April 25th, which marked the most by any player through 24 team games since Cincinnati’s Billy Hamilton (13) in 2015. The stolen base was the 120th of Acuña’s career, making him the fastest player in Major League history (538 games played) to reach both 120 stolen bases and 120 home runs, surpassing Eric Davis, who accomplished the feat in 559 games.

-The Venezuela native recorded his fifth three-hit game of the season on April 17th and enters play today with six overall, tied for the Major League lead after registering six such games all of last season.

-Acuña registered 31 hits through the team’s first 20 games of the season, marking the most by a Braves player since Hall of Famer Chipper Jones had 34 in 2008, when he claimed the NL Batting Title.

-The two-time Silver Slugger Award winner collected five multi-hit efforts in the first 10 games of the season, and along with Matt Olson, the pair became the first Braves teammates to accomplish that feat within the same season since Jones and Jeff Blauser in 1997.

Matt Chapman, Toronto Blue Jays (@mattchap6)

-The 2019 AL All-Star hit .384 (38-for-99) with 15 doubles, five home runs, 21 RBI, 14 walks, 17 runs scored, one stolen base, a .687 slugging percentage and a .465 on-base

-The 30-year-old finished off his month with a 3-for-5 performance on Sunday, including two doubles, for his AL-best fifth three-hit game of the He ranked first in the AL in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS (1.152) and total bases (68), while tying for first in hits.

-His 15 doubles and 20 extra-base hits were the most in the Majors during the opening month and the most-ever by a Toronto player entering the month of May.

-The California native homered in three consecutive contests from April 8th-11th, marking the fifth time in his career in which he has accomplished that. He drove in eight runs over the three-game stretch, highlighted by his first career grand slam on on April 9th against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim.

-Chapman, a three-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner and two-time Platinum Glove Award winner, was named AL Player of the Week for the period of April 3rd-9th after leading AL batters with 12 RBI and 24 total bases. His 3-for-4 performance at Kansas City on April 4th marked his third three-hit game of the season.

-The Cal State Fullerton product collected 11 hits through the first five games of the season, tied for the most in team history with George Bell (1984) and Shannon Stewart (2001).

Others receiving votes for NL Player of the Month presented by Chevrolet included infielder Luis Arraez (.438, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 12 R, 1 SB, .500 OBP, cycle on 4/11) of the Miami Marlins, who was the 2022 Rod Carew AL Batting Champion; infielder Max Muncy (.238, 1 2B, 11 HR, 22 RBI, 18 R, 1 SB, .663 SLG) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; first baseman Pete Alonso (.257, 2 2B, 10 HR, 25 RBI, 20 R, .562 SLG) of the New York Mets; shortstop Xander Bogaerts (.308, 4 2B, 6 HR, 13 RBI, 21 R, 1 SB, .514 SLG) of the San Diego Padres; outfielder Bryan Reynolds (.320, 9 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 17 R, 5 SB, .618 SLG) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; and outfielder Brandon Marsh (.329, 7 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 17 R, 1 SB, .647 SLG) of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Others receiving votes for AL Player of the Month presented by Chevrolet included outfielder Brent Rooker (.353, 2 2B, 9 HR, 22 RBI, 14 R, .779 SLG, .465 OBP) of the Oakland Athletics; outfielder Randy Arozarena (.327, 4 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 28 RBI, 21 R, 3 SB, .573 SLG) of the Tampa Bay Rays; designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (.294, 4 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 18 RBI, 18 R, 3 SB, .547 SLG) of the Angels; outfielder Adolis García (.267, 4 2B, 8 HR, 30 RBI, 24 R, 1 SB, .533 SLG) of the Texas Rangers; third baseman Rafael Devers (.232, 7 2B, 10 HR, 27 RBI, 20 R) of the Boston Red Sox; and shortstop Jorge Mateo (.347, 5 2B, 6 HR, 17 RBI, 21 R, 10 SB, .667 SLG) of the Baltimore Orioles.