MLB Team of the Month, April: Aledmys Diaz, Bryce Harper and Kenta Maeda Star
April is baseball's most tantalizing and least meaningful month.
On the one hand, cut grass is in the air and hope springs eternal. Plus, wins are wins whether they come now or in the heat of the pennant race.
On the other hand, we're still squarely in small-sample territory. Scalding starts will evaporate in the heat of summer, and early cold spells will thaw. The last shall be first and the first shall be last—maybe.
Still, with nearly a full calendar month of MLB action in the rearview, it's a fine time to take stock of where things stand.
Enter Bleacher Report's Team of the Week, which this time around is being rebranded as Team of the Month.
The ground rules remain mostly unchanged: These are the players—one per position, including a starting pitcher and designated hitter—who have busted box scores over the past calendar month. (Technically, stats are current as of April 28, but close enough.)
And while this is primarily about individual performance, bonus points are awarded if stellar stats translated to notches in the win column.
Slap on some pine tar, tap the dirt off your cleats and dig in when ready.
Catcher: Welington Castillo, Arizona Diamondbacks
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Yadier Molina is enjoying a nice start with the St. Louis Cardinals after a pair of offseason thumb surgeries. And Buster Posey is doing Buster Posey things for the San Francisco Giants.
So far, though, baseball's top offensive catcher is Welington Castillo.
The 29-year-old Arizona Diamondbacks backstop leads all regular catchers with six home runs, a .580 slugging percentage and a .930 OPS.
Castillo has also been coming on strong as the month progresses, blasting four homers and tallying nine RBI since April 20, which bodes well for the D-backs as the page flips to May.
Honorable Mention: Salvador Perez (KC): .838 OPS, 4 HR, 14 RBI
First Base: Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs
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This will be a hard sell for some considering Anthony Rizzo was batting a scant .213 entering play Friday.
But the Chicago Cubs slugger paces the positional pack with 23 RBI and eight home runs and ranks second with a .966 OPS.
Despite the presence of reigning National League Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant and shiny free-agent acquisition Jason Heyward, Rizzo might be Chicago's best hitter.
In fact, back in March, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein called him a "sneaky MVP candidate"—as in MVP of the whole league—per Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post.
Assuming Rizzo's average ticks up and the balls keep sailing over the fence, we can safely remove the "sneaky" part.
Honorable Mention: Paul Goldschmidt (ARI): .928 OPS, 6 HR, 16 RBI
Second Base: Neil Walker, New York Mets
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Second base has been a stacked position so far, with multiple star-level players—Dustin Pedroia, Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler—establishing their bona fides.
Neil Walker, however, leads the group with an eye-popping nine home runs to go along with 16 RBI and a .963 OPS.
More than anything, Walker is helping New York Mets fans forget about second baseman Daniel Murphy, who made history with his home run output in the 2015 postseason but bolted via free agency to the division-rival Washington Nationals.
Did New York know Walker possessed this kind of thump when it acquired him from the Pittsburgh Pirates this winter? Here's skipper Terry Collins' answer, per Maria Guardado of NJ Advance Media: "I did not. … But I'm glad he's got it right now."
Honorable Mention: Jose Altuve (HOU): 1.081 OPS, 6 HR, 13 RBI, 9 SB
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Shortstop: Aledmys Diaz, St. Louis Cardinals
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Take a gander at a rookie shortstop who's emerged from relative obscurity to light the league on fire.
And no, we're not talking about the Colorado Rockies' Trevor Story, though his record-breaking early power surge can't be ignored.
We're going to highlight Aledmys Diaz of the Cardinals, who leads all shortstops with a .446 average and 1.263 OPS.
Diaz, of course, wouldn't have landed a starting gig if not for a spring thumb injury suffered by veteran Jhonny Peralta. He wasn't on anyone's radar as a can't-miss prospect.
Now, the 25-year-old Cuban has a shot not just to merely stick as an MLB regular, but to also sneak into the Rookie of the Year conversation.
He may well cool off, as Story did. But Cards fans have to be elated with what they've seen thus far.
Honorable Mention: Zack Cozart (CIN): .397 AVG, .991 OPS, 2 HR, 8 RBI
Third Base: Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles
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On April 10, yours truly argued Manny Machado belonged squarely in the American League MVP conversation. A couple of weeks later, Machado hasn't made me look stupid.
If anything, the Baltimore Orioles' budding star has bolstered his case. Machado leads all third basemen with 29 hits and a 1.068 OPS and is tied for the AL lead among third-sackers with seven home runs.
Forget position. Machado is challenging the Nationals' Bryce Harper and Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout for the title of best all-around player in the game. Period.
"Manny’s just as talented as those two guys," Orioles first baseman Chris Davis said, per Bleacher Report's Bill Speros. "Obviously, he’s going to continue to have to prove himself."
On that front, consider April an unmitigated success.
Honorable Mention: Nolan Arenado (COL): 1.021 OPS, 9 HR, 20 RBI
Left Field: Colby Rasmus, Houston Astros
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When Colby Rasmus accepted the Astros' one-year, $15.8 million qualifying offer this winter, it was worth wondering if Houston got a raw deal.
Despite his pop, Rasmus hit just .238 in 2015, after all.
One month in, the 'Stros are receiving more than their money's worth. Rasmus has cracked seven home runs to go along with 19 RBI and a 1.037 OPS.
As Sports Illustrated's Michael Beller noted, the 29-year-old has lowered his strikeout rate while increasing his walks, which suggests "that Rasmus has made substantive adjustments that have led to his dramatic turnaround, and that he’s not simply exploiting the small-sample-size fairy."
Honorable Mention: Ryan Braun (MIL): 1.045 OPS, 5 HR, 17 RBI
Center Field: Yoenis Cespedes, New York Mets
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Yoenis Cespedes profiles better defensively as a corner outfielder, but the Cuban masher got the bulk of his April starts in center field, so that's where we're sticking him.
There's certainly no arguing with Cespedes' bat. After crushing it in Queens as the Mets' trade-deadline cavalry a year ago, he has posted a 1.056 OPS with six home runs and 17 RBI in 2016.
And while the Mets sit a half-game back of the Nationals in the NL East entering play Friday, that type of production from Cespedes plus the club's superlative starting pitching is a winning equation for the defending Senior Circuit champs.
Honorable Mention: Dexter Fowler (CHC): 1.103 OPS, 3 HR, 15 RBI
Right Field: Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
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Here's how far Bryce Harper has come from his early days as a hyped, polarizing enigma: When he hit his 100th career home run earlier this month and I wondered if he's the most likely candidate to break the all-time home run record, you guys didn't burn my premise down in the comments.
There was dissent and eye-rolling, of course. But Harper's ceiling is simply too high to count any feat out.
This month, the 23-year-old reigning NL MVP did his thing, cracking nine home runs, posting a 1.211 OPS and driving in 24 runs for the first-place Nats.
At this rate, it won't be long before Harper starts getting intentionally walked at an alarming pace, much the way home run king Barry Bonds did at the height of his powers. Just ask Washington skipper Dusty Baker, who coached Bonds during his steroid-tainted salad days with the San Francisco Giants.
"They pitched around (Harper) quite a bit last year, and they'll pitch around him most of his career," Baker said, per USA Today's Adam Woodard, "so he's gonna have to deal with that."
Honorable Mention: Mark Trumbo (BAL): 1.007 OPS, 6 HR, 18 RBI
Pitcher: Kenta Maeda, Los Angeles Dodgers
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It was tempting to hand this spot to the Cubs' Jake Arrieta, who has twirled 2016's only no-hitter and is clearly the best pitcher in the game right now if you dip back to his Cy Young Award-winning 2015 season.
There are other worthy candidates, too, including early Comeback Player of the Year contender Mat Latos of the Chicago White Sox and thunderbolt-hurling Norse god Noah Syndergaard of the Mets.
In the end, though, we're handing this spot to Kenta Maeda for simultaneously exceeding expectations and living up to his pedigree.
The Japanese right-hander signed an eight-year, $25 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers larded with incentives. Despite a sterling stat line in the Nippon Professional Baseball League, he arrived on American shores for that low, low price because of concerns about his health.
So far, all he's done is go 3-1 while surrendering five runs in 32 innings with 28 strikeouts while helping the Dodgers to a first-place tie in the NL West.
Again, his numbers don't sparkle quite as brightly as some. And Clayton Kershaw remains the top stud in L.A.'s stable. But adjusting for obliterated doubts, the slender Maeda stands tall.
Honorable Mention: Jordan Zimmermann (DET): 0.35 ERA, 26 IP, 16 SO
Designated Hitter: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
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We've used Team of the Week to sing David Ortiz's praises a few times already, but it bears repeating: Big Papi's farewell tour is off to one hell of a start.
It's tempting to say he's turning back the clock, but Ortiz is coming off a season that saw him smack 37 home runs, his highest total since 2006, and rack up 108 RBI.
Now, at age 40, Ortiz has tallied three home runs and 16 RBI in his final April, along with a .975 OPS and—what the hell?—his first stolen base in three years.
The question now is, can the Boston Red Sox—who enter play Friday 1.5 games back in the AL East—give their beloved basher one more shot at October glory?
Honorable Mention: Victor Martinez (DET): .912 OPS, 4 HR, 15 RBI
All statistics courtesy of MLB.com.
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