The first full month of baseball has come to an end, and the Baltimore Orioles are off to an extremely hot start in the American League.
The Orioles are currently 19-10 to start the season and end the first month of baseball with a two-game winning streak and sole possession of first place in the juggernaut AL East.
The O’s offense has been a major factor for the great start of the season. The Birds are currently slashing .254/.312/.450 with a .762 OPS as a collective unit. They have collected 256 hits, 50 doubles, six triples and a lead-leaguing 45 home runs all in the first month of the season.
Not only is Baltimore tied for the best team record in the AL with the Cleveland Guardians, the O’s set March/April franchise records for HRs (45), runs (157), hits (256) and total bases (453). It’s also the first time the Orioles are in first place in AL East at end of April since 2017.
While the offense has been scoring runs, the pitching and defense has been solid as well. The Oriole pitching staff had a collective 3.68 ERA, gave up 230 hits and 107 earned runs, walked 76 batters and struck out 258 on the month.
While the team has looked great overall, there were four standout players who stood out and were key reasons for the team’s success as a whole.
Co-Offensive MVP: Colton Cowser
Colton Cowser’s bat has been on fire to start the year, as he is the only Oriole to have an OPS over 1.000 at the start of the season.
Cowser played in 28 games and slashed .303/.372/.632 with a 1.004 OPS for the month. He collected 23 hits, seven doubles, six home runs and 18 RBIs. The Milkman also went 3-for-3 in stolen bases to start the year.
Cowser hit his first big league home run and had his first multi-home-run game this month in the same game. The O’s rookie was given AL Player of the Week honors as well during this past month and is currently the AL Rookie of the Year front-runner after the hot start.
Co-Offensive MVP: Jordan Westburg
Another young star had an incredible start to the season. Jordan Westburg has been swinging a great bat, which includes the first walk-off home run of his career and even some fantastic defensive plays with the glove.
Westburg played in 27 games this past month and slashed .303/.355/.525 with a .880 OPS, collecting 30 hits, five doubles, one triple and five home runs with 19 RBIs. Westburg used his speed as well, stealing four bases in five attempts.
Just like his good buddy Colton Cowser, Westburg was also an AL Player of the Week winner. In fact, he and Cowser were crowned in back-to-back weeks.
Pitching MVP: Corbin Burnes
The greatest offseason acquisition for the Orioles, and maybe the entire league, really showed out in his first few starts of the year.
Burnes gave his club six solid starts, including an Opening Day win with 11 strikeouts, a seven-inning start in Fenway Park against Boston and a great start against Oakland in his most recent outing.
In his six starts, Burnes had a 2.55 ERA in 35.1 innings pitched, as he gave up 25 hits, 10 earned runs, eight walks and struck out 35. He held batters to just a .194 average and posted a 0.93 WHIP. The only issue with Burnes has been his first innings of games, where he’s given up a run in every start except one, but he’s been the ace hoped for when they acquired him from the Milwaukee Brewers.
Overall MVP: Gunnar Henderson
Arguably, the early AL MVP favorite to start the year is Gunnar Henderson. His start to the season has been nothing short of spectacular, as he’s shown all five tools so far this year.
In 29 games, Henderson has a .291/.356/.624 slash line with an OPS of .980. He has 34 hits, three doubles, three triples and a team-leading 10 home runs with 24 RBIs. He is also 6-for-6 in stolen bases.
Henderson has a major case of being the best player in the AL to start the year and all O’s fans hope it carries into the month of May.
Key Moments of the Month
Below is a list of all the key moments of the month for the Orioles:
- April 1: Jordan Westburg hits the first walk-off home run of his career to lead the O’s to a 6-4 win over Kansas City
- April 3: James McCann hits a walk-off RBI single to get the Orioles a 4-3 win over Kansas City
- April 10: Top prospect Jackson Holliday makes his MLB debut and records his first career RBI
- April 11: Colton Cowser has not only hits his first big league home run, but he has his first multi-homer game
- April 14: Jackson Holliday collects his first major league hit
- April 17: Cedric Mullins hits a walk-off two-run homer to have the Orioles win 4-2 over Minnesota
- April 20: Craig Kimbrel collects save number 422 of his career, tying him seventh all-time
- April 22: Albert Suarez pitches in his first game since 2017 against the Twins
So there we have it, the first monthly recap of the year. What a way to star off the year for the Orioles, and it’s only just been 29 total games. Ending the first month of the year in first place is just where we want to be.
What are your thoughts on the first month for the Orioles?
Like Zack’s content? Follow him on X – @Zackattack8211 and @OsMilbUpdates for all the latest news and updates on the O’s farm system! Also, check out the latest episodes of The First Flight podcast!
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