The Atlanta Braves have the first month of the 2023 season in the rearview mirror. We take a look at the 10 best players from the month.

Atlanta Braves 10th Best Player in April 2023 – Ozzie Albies

Ozzie finished April second on the team in runs batted in. His 23 RBI were second only to Matt Olson‘s 25 RBI. A couple years ago, the second baseman proved he was a run producer in the middle of the lineup when he drove in 106 runs with 77 extra-base hits. Albies continues to slug and drive in runs in 2023. He routinely finds himself hitting 4-6 in the lineup and is slugged a robust .488 in April with seven homers, three doubles, and a triple.

Atlanta Braves 9th Best Player in April 2023 – Charlie Morton

Uncle Charlie signed a $20 million extension this offseason with the Braves. Despite some struggles last year, Morton still finished fifth in the NL in strikeouts. Despite his 4.34 ERA in 2022, there was a lot to like about Morton’s performance with stretches of brilliance. Morton finished April with a sparkling 2.76 ERA over five starts, going 3-2.

Atlanta Braves 8th Best Player in April 2023 – Orlando Arcia

The Braves surprised the masses when they elected to option Vaughn Grissom to Gwinnett and roll with Orlando Arcia to begin the season. While we thought the decision made sense for several reasons, Arcia made the Braves look smart with his production out of the gate.

Arcia played in just 12 games before Hunter Greene fractured his hand with a million mph fastball. Prior to the injury, Arcia was one of the hottest hitters on the team to start the season. Orlando Arcia slashed .341/.400/.537 prior to his injury.

Atlanta Braves 7th Best Player in April 2023 – Sam Hilliard

Hilliard has all the tools and just never quite put it together for the Rockies. His Baseball Savant page has a history of elite exit velocity and elite speed.

Year	Max EV	Speed
2019	93rd Percentile	93rd Percentile
2020	79th Percentile	97th Percentile
2021	90th Percentile	93rd Percentile
2022	97th Percentile	85th Percentile
2023	97th Percentile	93rd Percentile

Michael Harris’ injury earlier in the season opened the door for Sam Hilliard to get some reps. He has taken full advantage of the opportunity to make his mark.

Hilliard has posted some impressive Statcast numbers across the board in 2023.

Hilliard finished April with 60 plate appearances in 20 games with 13 starts. He batted .296/.367/.537 crushing seven extra-base hits, six walks, and four stolen bases. His speed has played well in center for the Braves, as well. Fans are pleased to see Michael Harris II make his return but Hilliard has gained the trust of Brian Snitker. Hilliard has earned more playing time as the season progresses. His strong showing in April could put heat on Eddie Rosario and Marcell Ozuna in leftfield.

Atlanta Braves 6th Best Player in April 2023 – Bryce Elder

At the beginning of the season, the talk about Elder was his stellar performance down the stretch last season. With five starts in the books for 2023, Elder has people talking about how stellar he has been this season, as well. Bryce didn’t allow an earned run until his third outing of the season. Elder’s 2.17 ERA is good for the 11th best among qualified starters in all of baseball.

Atlanta Braves 5th Best Player in April 2023 – Max Fried

Speaking of qualified pitchers, if Fried had enough innings he would be number one in ERA among starters. Fried was removed from the Opening Day start against the Nationals with a hamstring injury after 3.1 innings. He gave up three earned runs in that game. Max Fried made his return on April 17th and in the 16.2 innings since hsi return he has not allowed a single run.

Fried is 2-0 through four starts this year with a 0.45 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. He has 18 strikeouts and just four walks in 20.0 innings.

Atlanta Braves 4th Best Player in April 2023 – Matt Olson

Matt Olson’s red hot spring turned into a red hot April. Matt Olson currently has a 140 OPS+, meaning his OPS was 40% better than league average in April. Olson posted 15 extra-base hits, eight homers, a team-leading 25 runs batted in, and slashed .252/.369/.563 out of the two-hole for the Atlanta Braves in April.

Atlanta Braves 3rd Best Player in April 2023 – Spencer Strider

Strider is blossoming into a star right in front of our eyes. He has gone no fewer than five innings in any start this year while flirting with a perfect game in his final start of April against the Marlins. He finished that game with 8.0 IP, 0ER, 2 H, 0 BB, and 13 SO. In April, Strider finished first in Major League Baseball with 14.7 K/9 IP, which is nearly two whole strikeouts better than second place!

Atlanta Braves 2nd Best Player in April 2023 – Sean Murphy

The Oakland Athletics probably need to stop taking calls from Alex Anthopoulos. Sean Murphy and Matt Olson both came over via trade and are key cogs on a World Series contending Atlanta Braves team. Murphy and Travis d’Arnaud were set to make up the best catching tandem in all of baseball in 2023. After d’Arnaud suffered a concussion early in the season, Murphy stepped up.

In April, Murphy led all catchers in MLB in homers, runs, RBI, slugging percentage, wRC+, fWAR, and overall awesomeness.

Atlanta Braves Best Player in April 2023 – Ronald Acuna Jr.

The superstar has his name in the early MVP conversation. He finished April with the most steals in the league (12), second most runs scored (23), and second highest fWAR (1.6). Acuna Jr. slashed a magnificent .353/.455/.549 for the month. It’s good to see the kid 100% healthy again.

Take a gander at all the red on Acuna’s Statcast page.

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Well, let us know if we got anything wrong in the comments below!