Handing out MLB's early awards: Best and worst of wacky opening month

It’s the Year of the Rookie, the Year of the Underdog, and the Year of the Underperforming.

Who could have envisioned that Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora and Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson would be unemployed before May?

Who could have imagined, in their wildest dreams, that that the Colorado Rockies would have a better record than the Mets, Phillies and San Francisco Giants?

How in the world of economics can four of the top six highest-paid teams have losing records: the Mets, Phillies, Blue Jays and Red Sox?

It’s been a strange but certainly entertaining start to the season, so why not hand out awards to some of the best, worst and funkiest events of April.

BEST REACTION TO A FIRING

Former Boston Red Sox starter Josh Beckett

Beckett, upon hearing that Alex Cora was fired as Red Sox manager while retaining GM Craig Breslow, sent a text message to Boston reporter Rob Bradford.

“It’s like (expletive) your pants and changing your shirt.”

A few days later, there was a plane hovering above Fenway with a banner that read: “Fire Craig! Sell the team!”

No idea whether Beckett was the pilot.

BEST SPEECH AFTER A BLOWN SAVE

New York Mets reliever Luke Weaver

“This pursuit of perfection is just an ultimate pressurized failure mindset. I just think it becomes everybody wants to be the hero because we care and we want to win really, really bad. And I just don’t think success lives in that realm. The freedom of which we play day to day is kind of being suffocated a little bit.”

RUDEST WELCOME

Philadelphia Flyers fans to their hometown Phillies

The Phillies thought it would be cool to catch a Flyers playoff game across the street after their own game.

They made some calls, got a suite, and were shown on the Spectrum Jumbotron in front of the Flyers’ fans.

Oops.

They were loudly booed.

CY YOUNG KRYPTONITE

St. Louis Cardinals

They are the only team in the world that can make Pittsburgh Pirates Cy Young winner Paul Skenes look ordinary.

Skenes has faced the Cardinals seven times in his brief stellar career.

And he has never beat them even once, going 0-5.

The Cardinals are the lone team who has beaten Skenes more than twice in his young career.

Skenes has an illustrious 25-15 career record and 2.08 ERA, but if he never faced the Cardinals, he’d be 25-10 with a 1.96 ERA.

BIGGEST IMPACT OF A HATED RIVAL

New York Yankees

The Yankees have long been the Red Sox’s worst nightmare, but now they’re playing a vital role in the Red Sox’s decision-making. Look at the circumstances firing executives and managers in recent years.

Let’s see, in September 2019, the Red Sox fired Dave Dombrowski, their president of baseball operations, during a four-game sweep by the Yankees at Fenway Park.

In September, 2023, Chaim Bloom, who replaced Dombrowski, was fired after the Red Sox lost three of four games to the Yankees at Fenway Park.

And now, just two days after the Red Sox were swept by Yankees at Fenway, manager Alex Cora was fired.

EASIEST PRE-SEASON PREDICTION

New York Mets center fielder Luis Robert would go on the injured list

The Mets, ignoring the fact that Robert has missed 289 games the last five years with the Chicago White Sox, still traded for him during the winter. And it took just a month for Robert to go back on the IL with lumbar spine disc herniation.

Robert, who is earning $20 million with a $20 million club option in 2027, hits the IL with a .224 batting average and .656 OPS with two homers.

BEST PLAYER

Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros

The big guy (6-foot-4, 233 pounds) is not only one of the greatest power hitters in the game, but also one of MLB’s finest pure hitters.

Entering Saturday, Alvarez was slashing .341/.446/.707 with 12 home runs, 27 RBIs and an MLB-leading 42 hits. He has struck out only 15 times in 154 plate appearances.

But the key phrase is “Best Player,” not, “Most Valuable Player.’’

It’s awfully hard to win the official BBWAA MVP award when your team is the worst in baseball - unless your name is Andre Dawson.

MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER

Rafael Devers, San Francisco Giants

Remember when the Giants were wildly celebrating their trade a year ago when they acquired Devers from the Boston Red Sox, assuming the remaining $250 million on his contract, and predicting that he’d be their greatest slugger since Barry Bonds?

Well, Bonds is 61 years old these days, hasn’t played since 2007, and he’d be performing a whole lot better than Devers, who has become one of the worst everyday players in baseball.

Devers is hitting .211 with a paltry .547 OPS and has two home runs with a negative 1 WAR. He’s not catching up to fastballs, and is swinging at pitches out of the strikezone. He drew 112 walks last year. This year he has seven.

Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow: “There’s one guy in the Giants lineup that pitchers don’t respect right now, and that’s Devers.”

BEST LOST BET

Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer

Palmer is 80 years old and a color analyst for the Baltimore Orioles, and until this past week, had never eaten a chicken wing in his life.

He made a bet last year with fellow broadcaster Kevin Brown a year ago that he’d eat a chicken wing if the Orioles hit a grand slam in a game that he was broadcasting. Adley Rutschman hit a slam against the Houston Astros, and the MASN crew had a chicken wing ready.

His reaction after 80 years of abstinence?

“These are pretty good,” he said. “What have I missed all these years?”

BEST STARTER

Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels

Soriano always had the talent, but it never has transformed to consistency on the mound. That has dramatically changed this year.

Soriano, until giving up three runs in his last start, had a preposterous 0.24 ERA. Still, he is 5-1 with a 0.84 ERA, striking out 49 batters in 42 2/3 innings.

He could be the Angels’ best pitcher since they had that two-way dude, Shohei Ohtani.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Ildermaro Vargas, Arizona Diamondbacks

This is a guy who was signed out of the Bridgeport Bluefish Independent League in 2015 by Arizona Diamdonbacks scout Chris Carminucci.

He has had three different stints with the Diamondbacks, playing parts of 10 different seasons with six different teams, and signing a minor-league contract this winter when no one else would give him a big-league deal.

Now, here he is, barely making over the minimum salary at $1.25 million, and making history. He opened the season with a 24-game hitting streak, 27 games extending to last season, which came to an end Saturday.

It was the second-longest hitting streak to open a season since 1940.

“Those things don’t happen by accident or because he’s lucky,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo says. “He’s paid his dues, he worked his butt off  and he’s learned how to play the game at a very high level.”

BEST ROOKIE

Kevin McGonigle, Detroit Tigers

It has been the year of the rookie with Sal Stewart of the Cincinnati Reds, Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox, Chase DeLauter of the Cleveland Guardians, JJ Wetherholt of the St. Louis Cardinals, Nolan McLean of the Mets, and McGonigle.

But no one has shined more than McGonigle.

He slashed .333/.420, .518 with two homers, 13 RBI, 11 doubles and two triples in his first 30 games. He leads all AL rookies in hits, doubles, triple,s batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. He has come up 25 times with a runner in scoring position, and has yet to strike out.

He’s the first Tigers’ rookie to have a 13-game hitting streak since Al Kaline in 1955.

BIGGEST POWER OUTAGE

Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres

OK, after Tatis got popped for PEDs in 2022, there were questions how much of his previous power was PED-influenced.

He certainly hasn’t been the same offensive force since the suspension, but he’s now having the worst power outage of his career.

He has gone a major-league leading 139 plate appearances without a homer, with just one extra-base hit in his last 16 games.

In his last full season before the suspension in 2021, he was hitting .309 with 13 homers, 26 RBI, .727 slugging percentage, 1.111 OPS after 30 games, as reporter Hector Gomez tracks daily.

This year: .261, five extra-base hits, .311 slugging percentage, .644 OPS, and ZERO homers.

BEST RELIEVER

Mason Miller, San Diego Padres

Miller, the greatest strikeout artist in the game, just threw a franchise-record 34 ⅔ innings dating back to Aug. 7, 2025. He not only didn’t give up a single run, he didn’t even give up an extra-base hit.

Miller, who is perfect in an MLB-leading 10 save opportunities with a 1.17 ERA, has struck out 29 of the 54 batters he has faced (53.7%), with a chance to produce the greatest strikeout rate for any pitchers with at least 50 innings in baseball history.

He is also vying to become the first reliever to win the Cy Young award since Eric Gagne with the 2003 Dodgers.

MOST OVERWORKED RELIEVER

James McCann, Arizona Diamondbacks

He happens to be a catcher.

And has already pitched in four games, including two in three days with the Diamondbacks.

It’s ties the most appearances by a position player before May in MLB history.

BEST MANAGER

Oli Marmol, St. Louis Cardinals

How in the world is this team winning with a young, rebuilding roster like this?

They are in a full-blown rebuild, trading away all of their stars, and looked like a team headed for a dead-last finish, hoping to avoid a 100-loss season.

Well, here they are, 20-13 entering Sunday – the same record as the Dodgers – and would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.

Who knows how long the Cardinals’ run will last, but no team is out-performing expectations more than this group.

DEAD MAN (SLOWLY) WALKING

New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza

Mendoza has been on the managerial death row for weeks, with Mets’ reporters wondering each and every day whether this would be the day an e-mail would drop informing them that Mendoza was of his duties, and thanking his for his services.

Having the worst record in baseball in on the last year of your contract, isn’t real healthy for your job security.

David Stearns, president of baseball operations, waited until the Mets departed on a three-city, nine-day road trip before giving Mendoza a vote of confidence, saying that he is safe.

Well … at least for now.

BEST EXECUTIVE

Alex Anthopoulos, Atlanta

They have a payroll dwarfed by the Mets and Phillies, but despite losing three key starters, their starting shortstop, their starting catcher and their DH before opening day, here they are with the best record in MLB at 24-10.

They’re off to the second-best start in franchise history without having the benefit of playing the Mets yet.

Anthopoulos’s under-the-radar moves acquiring Mauricio Dubon from the Houston Astros and signing journeyman free agent Dom Smith have looked brilliant, and their depth has enabled them to not only survive, but thrive.

The scary thing for the rest of the league is that this team may get even better with Spencer Strider returning Sunday to give Atlanta a lethal 1-2 punch with Chris Sale.

BEST RESURGENCE

Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals, who were expecting Walker to be a star far too early in his career, and became exasperated when he wasn’t, with a negative WAR the past three seasons, letting teams know he was available in trade talks.

They wound up keeping him, and now have watched him emerge into the star they envisioned all along.

Walker is hitting .315 with 10 homers, 27s RBI and a .982 OPS. He is just one homer shy of his total the past two years combined.

Now, instead of trying to trade him, the Cardinals should be looking for ways to keep him on a long-term extension.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

Just when it looked like we would never see vintage Mike Trout again, along comes April when he reminded everyone of his greatness.

Trout, who returned to center field, hit 10 homers with 21 RBI in April to go along with a .999 OPS. He even stole five bases.

Trout, the three-time MVP winner who hasn’t been an All-Star since 2023, and hasn’t received a single MVP vote in four years, is back to being one of the elite players in the game.

WILDEST DAY

Luis Garcia, Minnesota Twins

Garcia, 39, has played parts of 14 years, for different 10 teams, but never in his life did he experience a day like April 28.

Then again, maybe no one else has either.

Garcia was in the bullpen for the Twins’ Triple-A St. Paul team with a game in the morning, was called up to the Twins for their night game against the Seattle Mariners. On the ride over to Target Field, he was on his cell phone watching the birth of his second child on FaceTime, born a week early in the Dominican Republic. And that evening, he was pitching in the ninth inning for the Twins.

Mom and daughter, Adhara, are doing well.

And dad?

“It was a long day,” Garcia told the Minnesota Star-Tribune.

BEST FATHER-SON MOMENT

Carl and Justin Crawford

On April 8, 2014, Carl Crawford produced a walk-off hit for the Dodgers, playing for manager Don Mattingly.

On April 30, 2026, Justin Crawford, Carl’s son, produced a walk-off hit for the Phillies, playing for manager Don Mattingly, whose son, Preston, happens to be the Phillies’ GM.

It’s only the second time since at least 1920 that a father-son combination had walk-off homers for the same manager, according to Sarah Lang’s research.

CLASSIEST MOVE

Rob Thomson, Philadelphia Phillies

Thomson, who was fired Tuesday morning, spoke with reporters on a Zoom call in the afternoon, taking every single question, saying he felt it was his obligation to address the media one final time.

“I think if you’re an accountable person and you’re a leader, you’re going to stand up in front of people and answer the questions when it’s all over,” Thomson said. “And I just wanted to make sure I did that in the right way.”

BEST COMEBACK TEAM

San Diego Padres

They have already had five comeback victories when trailing by at least four runs.

WORST COMEBACK TEAM

Boston Red Sox

They have not won a single game this year in which they trailed by more than one run.

BEST CLUTCH PERFORMANCE

Cincinnati Reds

The Reds entered the weekend having been outscored by 11 runs this season, but they are sitting with a 20-12 record and tied for first place in the NL Central.

How did they do it?

They were 12-0 in games decided by two or fewer runs.

WORST EXCHANGE

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates unceremoniously dumped Andrew McCutchen, one of the greatest players in franchise history, believing he was no longer useful, even as a part-time DH.

They replaced him with Marcell Ozuna, giving him a one-year, $12 million contract. Ozuna’s start has been horrific, hitting .185 with a .560 OPS.

McCutchen has struggled with Texas, hitting just .195 with one homer, five RBI and a .562 OPS, but at least he was beloved, and wouldn’t have been booed every time he steps to the plate.

BEST DECISION

Alex Bregman, Chicago Cubs

Bregman wrestled with his free agency all winter, but when the Boston Red Sox refused to increase their offer, or even provide a no-trade clause, he pivoted to the Chicago Cubs.

He was spared the Red Sox soap opera with manager Alex Cora, a close friend,  and six of his coaches being dumped three weeks into the season. He’s now on a team with stability, a team that’s in first place in the NL Central, and a place with peace and tranquility in a place that he can call home.

BEST MONEY SPENT

Chicago White Sox

Just how many teams are kicking themselves now for not signing Japanese free-agent first baseman Munetaka Murakami, who wound up getting just a cheap two-year, $34 million deal from the Chicago White Sox?

You think the Mets wish they had invested in Murakami instead of giving Jorge Polanco a two-year, $40 million deal?

Murakami has been a steal. He leads MLB with 13 home runs, and set an MLB record with 12 homers in April. He’s also one of only five players in MLB history to produce at least 13 homers with at least 27 walks in the first 32 games of a season. He joins Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Albert Pujols and Jim Thome.

WORST MONEY SPENT

San Francisco Giants

If it’s not bad enough that they still owe infielders Rafael Devers and Willy Adames about $385 million into the next decade, the Giants are spending a record $10.5 million on managers this season.

They fired Bob Melvin, and paid him $4 million to go away two months after giving him an extension.

They hired Tony Vitello, who became the first collegiate coach to go directly to the MLB managerial chair, is being paid $3.5 million in the first year of a three-year, $10.5 million contract.

They had to pay the University of Tennessee $3 million for the buyout in Vitello’s contract.

The result?

The Giants are last in the NL West with a 13-20 record, having the worst offense in baseball, and a bloated payroll, with Devers and Willy Adames owed $432 million by the Giants.

They have already been shut out seven times, the most after 32 games in the franchise’s last 50 years. They rank last in runs. Last in homers. Last in walks. Last in stolen bases.

But first in managerial pay.

AROUND THE BASEPATHS

• While Alex Cora will be the hottest free-agent commodity this winter, the Phillies are confident that he will be managing their team in 2027. Cora also is expected to be wooed by the Houston Astros and New York Mets.
• Now that Carlos Mendoza has been informed that his job is safe for the time-being, Houston Astros manager Joe Espada could be the next manager dismissed amid the Astros’ struggles.
• Dave Dombrowski, Phillies president of baseball operations, said that with so many teams with big payrolls struggling this year, trade talks have already picked up. The hottest commodity at the trade deadline is expected to be Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara and the Boston Red Sox could trade left-handed hitting outfielder Jarren Duran before the Aug. 3 deadline.
• The Boston Red Sox wanted to fire several of their coaches last year before being saved by manager Alex Cora, but he wasn’t given that opportunity this time around with Craig Breslow, president of baseball operations, not even asking if Cora would be willing to stay without his most trusted coaches.
• While Breslow is getting torched for dumping Cora, it still will be impossible to upend his worst move: Trading Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves for infielder Vaughn Grissom and throwing in $17 million. Sale has gone 30-9 with a 2.45 ERA and won a Cy Young award with Atlanta. Grissom played 31 games for the Red Sox and is now with the Angels.
• Teams in need of catching help are paying close attention to the Athletics and Shea Langeliers. The 28-year-old backstop is earning $5.25 million and in line for a fat raise in his second year of salary arbitration this winter with his fabulous start. The A’s must decide whether they can sign him to a long-term contract as they have with four other young players, go year-to-year in arbitration, or even trade him at some juncture.
• Interim managers Don Mattingly (Philadelphia Phillies) and Chad Tracy (Boston Red Sox) will be making history if they produce a winning record. There have been 18 interim managers who took their place within the first 30 games of a season since the divisional era. The only who had a winning record was Billy Martin, who went 91-54 after replacing Yogi Berra with the 1985 Yankees.
• They divorced back in 2010, but now are back together again with Dan Lozano and his MVP sports agency merging with the Beverly Hills Sports Council. The new name is EVOLV Sports Management, reuniting Lozano and Danny Horwitz. Lozano, who worked 22 years with the Beverly Hills Sports Council before starting his own agency, negotiated four contracts in excess of $200 million: Manny Machado (11 years, $350 million), Fernando Tatis Jr. (14 years, $340 million), Albert Pujols (10 years, $250 million) and Joey Votto (10 years, $225 million).
• MLB executives and scouts believe that the New York Yankees are the best team in the American League, and there’s not another team particularly close.
• Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery is emerging into a star, hitting 30 homers and driving in 75 runs since the 2025 All-Star break.
• The Miami Marlins, drawing just 12,032 fans a game, still are enjoying a home-field advantage with a 10-7 record at home this season. Their pitching staff certainly has enjoyed the home confines, yielding a 2.85 ERA – second best in the NL – with a league-best .192 opponent’s batting average.
• The Seattle Mariners’ MVP the first month is young second baseman Cole Young, who was rated one of the worst defensive second basemen in the game last year but now is ranked No. 1 in defensive runs saved. He’s also hitting .276 with a .751 OPS and team-leading 19 RBI. The Mariners have had a different starting second baseman on opening day since 2018, but with Young’s emergence, that should finally end.
• Hard to believe that in Shohei Ohtani’s past eight starts, allowing just two earned runs in 44 ⅔ innings, the Dodgers are 2-6.
• Don’t look now, but the White Sox might be closer to contending than originally envisioned. They still are likely a year away, but their 13-13 record in April was the first calendar month since June 23 they didn’t have a losing record.
• Infield coaching guru Ron Washington is working his magic again. When Luis Arraez arrived to San Francisco, he was considered one of the worst defensive second basemen in baseball, producing a negative-36 outs above average in defensive metrics. This year, he is 6 outs above average, tied for the fourth-best rating in baseball, behind only Gold Glove winners Pete Crow-Armstrong, Bobby Witt Jr. and Nico Hoerner. And, oh yeah, he’s also hitting .303.
• The NL Central became only the fourth division in the history of divisional play in 1969 to have every team at .500 or better entering May. The others? The AL West in 1996 and 1997 and the AL East in 2012 and 2023.

Follow Bob Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale