To keep things fresh, we are going to do this week’s Breakdown a little bit differently. Today, I’m going to jump right in with the awards for the week. Normally, I do an All-Star Team at the end of every month. Instead, for April I did a little recap where I just looked at the stats and picked the players of the month. Several people messaged me on Twitter wanting an All-Star Team so they are going to get their wish today.

Awards for the Week

Hitter of the Week – Moises Balesteros and Pedro Ramirez were both out of their minds at the plate this week. They are going to have to share the award this week.

Starting Pitcher of the Week – There were good performances this week from Nick Dean, Drew Gray, Luis Devers, and Will Sanders. I am putting Sanders in for the award as he tossed 3.1 scoreless innings with 5 Ks. 

Reliever of the Week – Mitchell Tyranski arrived at South Bend this week and pitched twice. In four scoreless frames, he whiffed six. 

Team of the Week – The Mesa Cubs debuted with a 2-0 shutout!

Standings Update

Iowa – 16-17, 7.5 GB

Tennessee – 15-11, 4 behind

South Bend – 10-17, trailing by 7 

Myrtle Beach – 10-16, 5.5 back

Mesa – 1-0, first place!!!

Dinger of the Week

A go-ahead 3 run jack by Pedro Ramirez in the top  of the ninth ought to do.

The April All-Star Team

Catcher – I’m rolling with Pablo Aliendo on this one. He was outstanding and was one of the wRC+ leaders in the system for the month at 175!

1B – Moises Ballesteros gets the nod as he seems to just be getting better with age. He dropped a lot of weight during the last year and looks pretty buff now and I’m just waiting for the power to play every day.

2B – Pedro Ramirez led the system in hitting and has not stopped in May! He hit .349 for April with a 129 wRC+.

SS – Jefferson Rojas. No explanation needed here.

3B – Jake slaughter had a better month than Matt Shaw and gets the plaudit after a month with a 147 wRC+..

Outfielders – Brett, Bateman, Andy Garriola, and Yohendrick Pinango dominated statistically. Pinango led the system in wRC+ while Garriola had 25 RBI in the month. Bateman was top in terms of on base percentage. Had April lasted another week, Kevin Alcantara and Owen Caissie would’ve made this list.

DHs – Luis Vazquez was the man at Iowa. His performance pretty much solidified the choice the Cubs made by adding him to the 40-man last November. James Triantos is also here just like I thought he would be. As well, Reggie Preciado and Cristian Hernandez played extremely well at the plate and should be on this team.

Starting Pitchers – In general, pitching seemed to be down in April. Over the past two years, I’ve usually had about eight starting pitchers for an All-Star team. We are not going to reach that number for April. From Iowa, Chris Clarke and Riley Thompson both had very good Aprils. Cade Horton, who was the Pitcher of the Month, dominated at Tennessee with a 1.10 ERA. Juan Bello was outstanding with an ERA just above one at Myrtle Beach. Sam Armstrong was also very good for South Bend in a hybrid role and he did not allow an earned run all month. Drew Gray threw limited innings, but he gave up next to nothing for South Bend in 4 starts with an ERA of 1.59.

Relievers – Outside of Tennessee, relievers struggled in the first month of the season. The Smokies placed 4 guys on the team, including Eduarniel Nunez, Frankie Scalzo, Jr., Michael Arias and Zac Leigh. Joe Nahas made the squad from South Bend while Shane Marshall was the Pelicans’ only relieving representative. Lefty Brad Wieck and righty Carl Edwards made it from Iowa.

Overall, the hitting outdid the pitching but things are changing already as Nick Dean, Will Sanders, Luis Devers, and Brody McCullough are off to good starts this month and the Mesa squad will get their two cents in this May. It should be an exciting month!