American and National League Players and Pitchers of the Month

Friday marked the final day of April and the end of the first month of baseball. We have seen all-star players slump while young athletes ascend the tower of baseball stardom. There have been plenty of Cy Young and MVP performances through April, but only one player in each league will be awarded as the best player or pitcher in baseball for April. This is not part of the segment, but my teams of April have to be the Tampa Bay Rays and the San Diego Padres. The Rays went 17-6, beating the Yankees 2 of 3 and sweeping the Red Sox in Boston in a four game series. The Padres, who I picked to finish last in the NL West, has been the surprise of the 2010 baseball season along with the Washington Nationals. The Padres went 15-8 in April and I still can't name an All-star on the team outside of slugger Adrian Gonzalez.

American League Player of the Month: Robinson Cano, New York Yankees second baseman. With Mark Teixeira hitting under the Mendoza line in April and Alex Rodriguez only off to an average start, Cano has carried this team. He is lead the American League in hitting at .400 and hit 8 home runs and drove in 18 runs in April. He leads the league with 23 runs and is second in on-base percentage, slugging and on-base plus slugging. And all of this from a second baseman. Once Mark Teixeira comes around, this Yankees team is really going to push the Rays for American League supremacy.

American League Pitcher of the Month: Matt Garza, Tampa Bay Rays. I wanted to pick Francisco Liriano here, but I couldn't resist with Garza. I've been waiting the last few years for Garza to fully reach his potential and he has showed it this year. He went 4-1 with a 2.06 ERA in April and 34 strikeouts in five starts. Aside from his start against Toronto when he allowed five runs in five innings, Garza only allowed three runs in 30 innings pitched in his other four starts. Along with another pitcher of the month nominee, David Price, the Rays are in this for the long haul. They have the pitching and certainly have the lineup. Garza on his game makes the Rays a top three World Series contender.

National League Player of the Month: Jorge Cantu, Florida Marlins third baseman. A lot of good choices here including Ryan Braun, Matt Kemp and of course, Albert Pujols. But I'm going to go with Jorge Cantu. I think the Marlins are a real wild card contender if Cantu continues his hot April. Cantu hit .311 in April with five homers and 23 RBIs. He opened the season with 10 straight games with a hit and RBI and the Marlins went 11-12 in the first month. They could have found themselves in a much bigger hole if not for Cantu. The National League East is very competitive and Hanley Ramirez needs help on the Marlins offense. Cantu has been that answer so far.

National League Pitcher of the Month: Ubaldo Jimenez. Again, there are a lot of contenders including former Cy Young winners Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito. But there is no doubting Jimenez's dominance in April. Not only did he throw a no hitter against the Braves, but he went 5-0 in April with a minuscule 0.79 ERA. He's given up just three runs in 34.1 innings and batters are hitting just .186 against him. Jimenez ended April by running off three scoreless starts spanning a total of 22.1 innings. The Rockies were just 6-12 when Jimenez did not pitch in April.