Folks always say don’t put much stock into April baseball, considering there is still about 75 percent of the season still to play. Alas, sometimes it’s impossible to not be awed at the start some teams or players have. This year two folks in particular are having eye-popping starts: the Brewers’ Christian Yelich and the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger. The reigning NL MVP Yelich was hurt over the weekend, ending his month prematurely.
Meanwhile, Bellinger is closing in on some April records. While he has the benefit of the season beginning in late March, it shouldn’t take away from the ridiculous 29-game start to the 23-year-old’s year. He’s in the mix for the best April performances in MLB history, but where does he rank?
5) Mark McGwire, 1998:
Though the information we know now takes away from the accomplishment, McGwire and Sammy Sosa’s 1998 home run chase brought much-needed life back to baseball. McGwire was on the record-trail from the get-go, starting April by hitting .318 with 11 homers and 36 RBIs. He hit home runs in each of the first four games of the season, added three more on April 14, and reached safely in all but one game that month.
4) Albert Pujols, 2006:
The 2005 NL MVP began his defense in historic fashion, hitting two home runs on Opening Day, adding a third homer in the second game, and continuing from there. Pujols finished the month with 14 home runs in 25 games, finishing with as many walks (28) as hits, good for a .509 on-base percentage. Eighteen of his 28 hits went for extra bases, as he slugged .914. He’d ultimately finish second in MVP voting, but Pujols would ultimately help lead the Cardinals to the 2006 World Series.
3) Cody Bellinger, 2019:
The qualifier here is that the Dodgers’ season started on March 28, but anyways here’s the list of players with 14 home runs before May 1:
Cody Bellinger
Christian Yelich
Alex Rodriguez
Albert Pujols
That’s pretty good company, and we’ve seen it done twice in 2019 alone. Bellinger is doing far more than just hitting the ball out of the park, with a .427 average, a .500 on-base percentage and a 1.413 OPS. He’s striking out far less than last year, with just one multi-K game to date compared to 16 games without striking out.
2) Larry Walker, 1997:
A criminally underrated player, Walker was far more than just a product of Coors Field. The five-time All-Star and seven-time Gold Glover started what would become his only MVP season with a bang for the Rockies. After a quiet 0-for-4 Opening Day, Walker collected eight hits over the next four games, including six home runs. He’d hit .456 for the month (41-for-90), racking up seven games with at least three hits, and four four-hit games. Walker finished with 11 home runs and a 1.449 OPS.
1) Barry Bonds, 2004:
The three-time MVP heading into the season would add a fourth in ’04, winning the last of his seven MVP honors. And it started right away with a 3-hit Opening Day (a homer and two doubles) that started a magnificent April. Bonds hit .472 with 10 home runs in 23 games that month, with a ludicrous .696 on-base percentage, walking 39 times in 92 plate appearances. His OPS for the month was 1.828, which for comparison’s sake is 400 points better than Bellinger, or anyone else for that matter. Though there’s the asterisk, it’s still remarkable just how much better Bonds was than everyone else.