The awards for the month of April are in and the Cleveland Guardians have taken home a couple of big ones for the American League.
Star third baseman Jose Ramirez took home his third career AL Player of the Month Award and rookie outfielder Steven Kwan was named the AL Rookie of the Month after a hot start in April.
Kwan is hitting .340 with 7 RBIs and a .911 OPS to start his career and has earned himself a starting spot in Cleveland’s outfield.
Ramirez, who was recently extended for seven years and $141 million, is hitting .341 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs.
For the third time in his career (July 2018, Sept 2020) Jose Ramirez has been named the AL Player of the Month.
And Steven Kwan has been named the AL Rookie of the Month. It’s his first Rookie of the Month win because, ya know, it was also his first month in the majors.
— Ryan Lewis (@ByRyanLewis) May 2, 2022
Guardians Racking Up The Honors
The Guardians may be struggling, but this is one bright spot for them.
It’s still early in the season, but having two guys take home some monthly awards is impressive.
Ramirez had also been Player of the Month in July of 2018 and September of 2020.
But the Guardians are really cleaning up April honors in the American League and it’s rare to see multiple guys from the same roster pick up monthly honors like this.
Ramirez is on an MVP pace with the numbers he has put up so far this season and Kwan has come out of nowhere and put himself in the conversation for the American League Rookie of the Year Award along with Bobby Witt Jr, Spencer Torkelson, Julio Rodriguez, and others.
Granted, the AL has a solid class of rookies this year, but Kwan was not expected to put himself in that company.
If these two keep up their production, perhaps we could see them both take home some awards at the end of the season.
Time will tell.
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