Blue Jays 3B Matt Chapman named AL Player of the Month in April

To the surprise of nobody, Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman has been named the American League Player of the Month for April of the 2023 regular season.

Chapman, 30, has been on an absolute tear to begin the current campaign. Long known as a defensive whiz who can hit for power, he's been a much more well-rounded hitter through the first 29 games of his season.

In just 107 at-bats, Chapman already has an MLB-leading 15 doubles with five home runs, 18 runs scored and 21 RBI. He's walking more and striking out less than he did last season and currently sports an AL-leading .374 batting average and .455 OBP. He also leads all of baseball in OPS+ (209) and total bases (70). The OPS+ is especially impressive because it implies that he has been 109 percent above league-average at the plate.

Taking a quick look at his Baseball Savant page, it's no wonder why he's performing so well through the first month-plus of the year. Here are his percentile rankings in Savan't offensive categories.

That is some highly impressive stuff.

There's been all sorts of talk about how Chapman's elevated game is due to his pending free agency, which is entirely possible but unlikely. Over the course of his seven-year career, he's always been known to be an exceptional teammate, clubhouse presence and grinder on the field. His numbers are certainly not sustainable as the year goes on, but he is off to a red-hot start as he looks to take the Blue Jays to the playoffs one more time before his likely departure.

On the National League side of things, Ronald Acuña Jr. is healthy and back to showing everyone how incredible of a baseball player he is when he's on his A-Game. The 25-year-old leads the NL in runs (26), hits (42), doubles (11) and total baes (68) which leading the majors in steals with 14. He's one of the very best outfielders in the game and has been showing why he's earned that label to kick off the season.