Since April is almost over, it’s time for an activity we like to call the all-April All-Stars, when we dig deeper into the performances we’ve witnessed throughout baseball’s first month.
Although it’s simple to place too much stock in a player’s performance right away, difficulties in the beginning may also portend future difficulties. In keeping with that, one area of the game I keep a careful eye on in April is which young hitters are making adjustments and getting better, and which ones aren’t.
After his first meteoric rise to fame, we seen Elly De La Cruz struggle the previous season, but it looks like he is starting to get his act together. He appears to have a better understanding of how pitchers are hitting him and is not pursuing as frequently. Consequently, he’s hitting seven home runs at.281/.395/.573 (and still slugging it out, leading the majors with 18 stolen bases). Bobby Witt Jr. seems to be developing into one of the game’s top all-around players as he hit.308/.349/.547 with 16 extra-base hits in his 2023 sophomore season, which marked a significant improvement after his rough rookie year.
Even though those two have been excellent, they won’t remain the starting shortstop for the whole April Superstars. That’s because they both play the same position as Gunnar Henderson and Mookie Betts, the latter of whom is a sophomore sensation who, like De La Cruz this season and Witt last year, is only improving on his rookie numbers. Betts is a future Hall of Famer who is tearing it up at the plate while adjusting to a new position. The most interesting contests at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, during the All-Star Game will be for starting shortstop as the season progresses.
As April draws to a conclusion, let’s go through each position and select an All-Star, a player to watch, and someone off to a terrible start.