The first month of the American Major Leagues said goodbye and the longest applause have been for a couple of Cubans. One from the mound and the other with the bat, one making his opponents look bad with convoluted pitches dodging bats and other hitting huge homers way beyond the farthest fences. They, Cuban José Fernández and José D. Abreu, have been declared players of April in the MLB.
Abreu doesn’t get tired of making headlines in the Majors and continues his impressive and overwhelming pace, shattering records and statistics, numbers that earned him to be recognized as the player and rookie of the month in the American League, being the only player of the Chicago White Sox team that earns those awards from the distant 2003. Thus, the Cienfuegos-born player joins another compatriot, Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers as the only players in the history of Major leagues to win both the award for best player and the best rookie in the month of his debut.
In April Abreu hit for a 270 average, with 10 home runs, 8 doubles and a triple, with 32 RBIs in just 29 games. Statistics in this moment have thus varied since he is leading the league on homers with 12 and second in RBIs with 35 behind Giancarlo Stanton who leads with 37.
Meanwhile, pitcher Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins also made headlines in April as pitcher in the National League. The Villa Clara hurler, barely 21, is one of the greatest sensations in the MLB and each outing of his arouses the interest of the whole US media.
This April award was given to him for his lauded work with the franchise in Florida, where the Cuban recorded balance of 4 wins and one loss; he is a leader in strikeouts with 65 and fourth in ERA with 1.74. Also, he records a WHIP of .083 and its opponents are batting against him an anemic .165 average. Fernández, selected rookie of the year last season, is the first time that grabs an award of this type in his MLB career.
