Ronald Acuña Jr. named National League Player of the Month for April

Ronald Acuña Jr. has gotten off to a terrific start during the 2023 season and was rewarded Wednesday when he was named as National League Player of the Month for April. It is Acuña’s second career Player of the Month Award and is the first Braves player to win the honor since Austin Riley in July of last season.

Acuña hit .352/.440/.546 with four homers and a 167 wRC+ to go along with a league-high 13 stolen bases in April. He currently leads the National League with 1.9 fWAR which trails only Toronto’s Matt Chapman who took home the Player of the Month honor for the American League.

Acuña reached base in 26 of the 27 games he played in, hit safely in 20 games and scored at least one run in 17 contests. His 13 stolen bases were the most by any player through 24 games since Billy Hamilton also had 13 steals in 2015. He also became the fastest player in major league history (538 games) to reach both 120 stolen bases and 120 home runs, surpassing Eric Davis, who accomplished the feat in 559 games.

Acuña’s 31 hits through the Braves’ first 20 games of a season were the most by a Braves player since Chipper Jones had 34 in 2008.

Chapman took home Player of the Month Award for the American League. Gerrit Cole and Clayton Kershaw were named Pitchers of the Month. Josh Jung and James Outman were named Rookies of the Month and Felix Bautista and Josh Hader were also named Relievers of the Month.