The Kansas City Royals announced that third baseman Mike Moustakas has been named Royals Player of the Month and left-handed pitcher Jason Vargas is the Pitcher of the Month for April. The player award is determined by a combined fan and media vote, with the pitcher award voted on by local media.
Moustakas tied for third in the American League with seven home runs in April, including homers in back-to-back games on April 14-15. He recorded a hit in 19 of the 21 games in which he had an at-bat, including an 11-game hitting streak from April 12-25, tied for the second longest of his career. He led the Royals in hits, home runs and slugging percentage to earn his third career Royals Player of the Month award, and first since June 2015.
Vargas ranked sixth in the Majors with a 1.40 ERA (4 ER in 25.2 IP) and started 3-0 for the second time in his career (also, as a rookie in 2005), recording at least 6.0 innings and allowing one run or less in each of his first three starts, becoming the fourth Royals pitcher to record three such starts to begin a season, joining Zack Greinke (2008), Runelvys Hernandez (2003) and Kevin Appier (1992). He recorded 15.2 consecutive scoreless innings across three starts, tied for the third-longest streak in the Majors last month. On April 19 vs. San Francisco, he recorded nine strikeouts, his most in 46 starts as a Royal and one shy of his career high, which contributed to his 14.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio (28 SO, 2 BB) that ranked third in the Majors. This marks Vargas’ first Royals Pitcher of the Month award.
Photo credit – AP Photo/Colin E. Braley /Kansas City, MO