Ramírez, Arenado named Players of the Month

Two of baseball's best third basemen are taking home the first Player of the Month honors of the 2022 season.

Guardians slugger José Ramírez was named the American League Player of the Month for April on Monday, and Cardinals star Nolan Arenado was named the National League Player of the Month.

Ramírez, who agreed to a new seven-year, $141 million contract with Cleveland just before Opening Day, batted .342 with seven home runs, 28 RBIs, 15 extra-base hits and a 1.133 OPS over the first month of the season.

The 29-year-old led the Majors in RBIs while ranking second in OPS and tied for second in home runs. Ramírez was also top-five in the AL in batting average.

Arenado batted .375 for St. Louis with five home runs, 17 RBIs, 12 extra-base hits and an 1.125 OPS. He led the NL in OPS, ranked third in batting average, tied for second in RBIs and tied for fourth in home runs.

This is the third career Player of the Month Award for Ramírez, who previously won in July 2018 and September 2020. He's the Guardians' most recent winner.

It's also the third career Player of the Month Award for Arenado, who also won with the Rockies in September 2015 and July 2017. Arenado is the second straight Cardinals player to be named NL Player of the Month, since Tyler O'Neill won the final Player of the Month Award of the 2021 season.