MLB Player of the Month Awards - April 2010

It's hard to believe that it is already May and that we've already put a full month of baseball behind us. Wow does time fly when your team is already circling the drain.

As such, for this week's edition of MLB Minutes, we're going to mix things up a bit. Rather than go over my quick notes on various topics in the game, I'm going to hand out some monthly hardware to the top performers for the month of April. It'll be interesting to come back at the end of the season and see how these awards foretell the overall winners of each trophy, but for now, we'll just focus on the first month of the season.

April AL MVP: Robinson Cano - New York Yankees

Cano has been huge for the Yankees, especially in a month where they received relatively poor production from both Alex Rodriguez and Mark Texeira. Cano leads all of baseball with a .387 batting average, ranks second in home runs with 9 and runs scored with 23, and leads the team with 21 runs batted in. Oh, and he's made drastic improvements in the field as well, making only one error in 125 total chances so far in 2010. Not bad production from your second baseman.

Honorable Mention: Paul Konerko - Chicago White Sox

April NL MVP: Andre Ethier - Los Angeles Dodgers

This was really a two person battle between Ethier and teammate Matt Kemp. Both players have spent much of the season playing through hot streaks, but Ethier has the advantage, leading the National League in home runs with 9 and runs batted in with 26, while also posting a .365 batting average and an on base percentage of .432. Ethier gets the nod because his output increased when Manny Ramirez went on the DL, showing that Ethier stepped up to cover the gap.

Honorable Mention: Albert Pujols - St. Louis Cardinals

April AL Cy Young: Francisco Liriano - Minnesota Twins

As late as last season, it seemed like Liriano would never regain the form he had when he burst onto the scene in 2006. However, something clicked during the offseason and he's stepped up as Minnesota's ace through the first month of 2010, leading the American League with 4 wins, tied for third with 36 strike-outs, and ranking third with a 1.50 ERA. That kind of production isn't too bad for a guy that many pundits were calling to become the closer when Joe Nathan went down. Instead, he's become the stopper of the staff.

Honorable Mention: Matt Garza - Tampa Bay Rays

April NL Cy Young: Ubaldo Jimenez - Colorado Rockies

It's hard not to give the pitcher of the month award to a guy that came out and threw the first no-hitter in club history during his second start of the season. It's even easier to justify giving him the hardware when he follows that up in his next two starts by giving up a combined 7 hits and not a single run over 13 innings. Jimenez leads the National League in ERA after giving up all of 3 runs the entire month, and also leads the pack with 5 wins on the season.

Honorable Mention: Tim Lincecum - San Francisco Giants

April AL Rookie Of The Month: Austin Jackson - Detroit Tigers

When the Tigers pulled the string on the trade sending Curtis Granderson to New York, many pundits were indecisive on whether or not Austin Jackson, the big piece acquired from New York, would be ready to hit at the Major League level. Well, Jackson responded by posting a .367 batting average, scoring 21 runs, and stealing 5 bases during the first month of the season. That's pretty impressive for a 23-year-old rookie getting his first taste of the big leagues and being thrust into the lead-off spot.

April NL Rookie Of The Month: David Freese - St. Louis Cardinals

Now before the Heyward Nation comes out and strings me up for not putting him in this spot, remember that he only hit .240 in April, where as Freese put up a batting average of .324 with 3 home runs and 16 runs batted in. The 27-year-old rookie is finally getting his shot to play in the majors and he's stepped up to become a key part of the Cardinals offense.

Sources:

Sortable Team Stats, MLB.com

Ubaldo Jimenez, MLB.com

Austin Jackson, MLB.com

Jason Heyward, MLB.com

David Freese, MLB.com