Byron Buxton named American League Player of the Month for April

MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MN – The Minnesota Twins, in conjunction with Major League Baseball, announced today that outfielder Byron Buxton has been named recipient of the American League Player of the Month award for April. He becomes the 16th Twins player to win the award and the first since Delmon Young in July 2010. He is also just the third Twin to be named AL Player of the Month for April, joining Kirby Puckett (1986) and Torii Hunter (2002).

Buxton played in 18 games in the season’s first month, hitting safely in 16 of the 18 while batting .426 (29-for-68) with eight doubles, eight home runs, 14 RBI, 15 runs scored, a .466 on-base percentage, an .897 slugging percentage and a 1.363 OPS. He led qualified major league hitters in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS, and tied for second in home runs and extra-base hits (16) while ranking third in total bases (61) and fourth in on-base percentage. Buxton set Twins records for March/April in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS (min. 60 plate appearances). His OPS also set a new Twins record for any month, surpassing Joe Mauer’s 1.338 mark in May 2009.

The 27-year-old began the year with a 10-game hitting streak, the second-longest of his career, and recorded an extra-base hit in each of his first six games, the longest such streak to begin a season in Twins/Senators history. Buxton had multiple hits in seven of his 18 games, including four games with at least three hits. He capped off his month with a 5-for-5 performance on April 28 in Cleveland, when he became just the third player in Twins/Senators history with five hits, including a home run, and a stolen base in the same game. His effort at Progressive Field included a leadoff homer, as he also became the second player in Twins/Senators history to go 5-for-5 or better and hit a leadoff home run in the same game.