Minnesota Twins third baseman Miguel Sanó has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending April 30th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Sanó batted .524 (11-for-21) with four runs scored, a double, three home runs and 11 RBI over five games. Among AL leaders, Minnesota's slugger finished first in RBI; tied for first in hits; second in batting average and total bases (21); tied for third in home runs; fourth in slugging percentage (1.000); tied for fifth in extra-base hits (4); and seventh in on-base percentage (.545). In the midst of his third season, this is Miguel's first career Player of the Week Award.
Entering play today, Sanó is currently riding a four-game hitting streak, each of which have been of the multi-hit variety. During his torrid four-game stretch from April 25th-30th, the San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic native tallied 11 hits, three round-trippers and 11 RBI. In yesterday's 7-5 win over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium, Sanó contributed three hits, including a three-run home run in the third inning, and a pair of RBI singles later in the game that helped clinch the Twins' 12th win of the season. With his team-leading seventh home run during the month of April, Miguel became the first Twins player to reach that mark in April since teammate Brian Dozier accomplished the feat in 2014. The seven-homer month represents the third-most that Sanó has recorded in his career, trailing his AL Rookie of the Month-winning nine-homer month in August 2015, and his eight-homer month in May 2016. Led by their surging young slugger, Minnesota finished the month of April with a 12-11 record, a significant improvement from last year's 7-17 start to the 2016 campaign.
Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros collected two wins during his excellent week on the mound, posting a 1.62 ERA with 14 strikeouts over 16.2 innings pitched. The 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner became the first pitcher in franchise history to begin a season by tossing 7.0-or-more innings, while allowing two-or-fewer runs in his first six starts. Keuchel's five wins this past month also matched the club record for wins in April, joining Roger Clemens, who did so for the Astros during his NL Cy Young Award-winning season in 2004. Additionally, Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees hit .400 (6-for-15) with nine runs scored, four home runs and seven RBI. His 10 homers this past month matched Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies (2016) and José Abreu of the Chicago White Sox (2014) for the most by a rookie in the month of April in MLB history. Judge also became just the second player in Yankees history age 25-or-younger to hit 10 homers in the team's first 22 games of a season, joining Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle (11 HR in 1956). Other noteworthy performances included Nelson Cruz (.474, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 1.158 SLG) of the Seattle Mariners, as well as Bud Norris (4 SV, 0.00 ERA, 8 SO) and Mike Trout (.400, 7 R, 5 XBH, 20 TB) of the Los Angeles Angels.
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Miguel Sanó will be awarded a watch courtesy of Rockwell.