Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado has been voted the Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month for April.
Budweiser, the official beer sponsor of Major League Baseball and sponsor of 25 of 30 clubs, is also the presenting sponsor of the National League Player of the Month Award.
Machado batted .344 (33-for-96) with 20 runs scored, 10 doubles, seven home runs and 16 RBI over 23 games to claim his first career Player of the Month Award and the first for the Orioles since Chris Davis took home AL Player of the Month honors in April 2013. Among AL leaders in April with a minimum of 70 at-bats, the 23-year-old finished first in hits, batting average and slugging percentage (.667), tied for first in extra-base hits (17), tied for second in runs scored, was third in doubles and tied for third in home runs.
To begin his 2016 campaign, Machado posted a career-high 16-game-hitting streak from April 4th through April 23rd, becoming the first Orioles player to hit safely in the club's first 16 games of a season. During this time, the two-time AL All-Star hit .397 (27-for-68) with 15 runs scored, eight doubles, six home runs and 11 RBI. Machado's hot start propelled the Orioles to a 7-0 record to begin the season, which marked the best start without a loss in Orioles history. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the all-time franchise record for most wins without a loss to begin the season is nine, set by the St. Louis Browns in 1944. In a home tilt on April 10th against the Tampa Bay Rays, Machado logged his fifth career game with at least four hits, delivering a double and home run to go along with a pair of singles. The game also marked the third consecutive game in which he homered. On April 28th, the 23-year-old Florida native set a career-high with five RBI, including his second career grand slam. Moreover, the two-time AL Gold Glove winner is the current active Major League leader in consecutive games started with 186 games, starting every game thus far in 2016 and having been the only player in the Majors to play 162 games in the 2015 season. Manny became the first Oriole to do so since Adam Jones in 2012 and is the ninth Oriole (since 1954) to accomplish the feat. Led by its dynamic third baseman, the O's spent each day of April in first place (or tied) of the AL East and currently hold a 14-10 (.583) record.
Others receiving votes included Josh Donaldson (24 R, 8 HR, 20 RBI, .646 SLG) of the Toronto Blue Jays; David Ortiz (11 2B, 5 HR, 19 RBI, .654 SLG) and Mookie Betts (19 R, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 6 SB) of the Boston Red Sox; Jose Altuve (20 R, 11 2B, 6 HR, 9 SB) of the Houston Astros; Logan Forsythe (.426 OBP, 14 R, 8 2B, 4 HR) of the Rays; and Manny's Baltimore teammate Mark Trumbo (.337, 30 H, 6 HR, 19 RBI).
The Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month, Manny Machado, will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, for his accomplishment.