This season, Battery Power has been awarding a Braves Player of the Week as a way acknowledge the contributions of a player based on their weekly on-field performance.

As a reminder, here are the Atlanta Braves players who have been bestowed this honor since the start of the regular season: Spencer Schwellenbach, Spencer Schwellenbach again, Marcell Ozuna, Grant Holmes and Eli White.

Now that the team has wrapped the first month of the 2025 campaign, it is time to honor the player whose overall contribution impacted the Braves the most during March/April with the Battery Power Braves Player of the Month.

First, it is worth acknowledging several players who in many months would be vying for this honor.Prior weekly winner Ozuna still leads the NL in walks and has a 158 wRC+ while last week’s honoree, White, has torpedoed his way into the starting line-up with a 163 wRC+ and 0.6 fWAR in only 49 plate appearances.

In addition to the individual weekly honorees listed above, Sean Murphy’s return from a broken rib suffered in Spring Training on April 8th added a surge of power to the line-up with a team-best seven home runs in only 17 games. His 168 wRC+ leads the team while and his fWAR is tied with Riley for best on the team.

It is hard to overlook the impact another outfielder made after he joined the Braves line-up.

Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Honorary Battery Power Braves Player of the Month April 2025: Alex Verdugo

On April 16, the Braves lost the series finale to the Toronto Blue Jays and saw their record fall to 5-13. After an 0-7 start to the season, the Braves were still playing below-.500 ball with a 5-6 record and an offense that was struggling.

Before the start of the home series against the Minnesota Twins on April 18, the Braves called-up Alex Verdugo, the veteran outfielder who the team had signed prior to the start of the regular season. Verdugo, who accepted an optional MiLB assignment to get into playing shape after missing Spring Training due to his lingering free agency, was thrust into the line-up, batting lead-off and playing left field.

In the 12 games since Verdugo was added to the big league squad, the Braves have gone 9-3 – including a 8-2 record in games Verdugo has started.

In those 10 games, Verdugo has slashed .341/.396/.455 with a 138 wRC+ with only three strikeouts in 48 plate appearances. He has added five doubles and four walks while driving in six runs and scoring the same amount. He has also provided the offense with two four-hit games – one on April 19 and the other on April 27.

While he has a likely unsustainable .366 BABIP, his ability to work deep counts adds an element to the offensive the Braves didn’t have at the top of the line-up after the loss of Jurickson Profar to an 80-game PED suspension. With 189 pitches seen, he’s averaged almost 19 pitches per game. He also has a career-best 43.9-percent hard hit rate and .359 wxOBA, with the typical small-sample-size disclaimer.

Although other Atlanta players have better counting stats or provided more advanced statistical value, part of the impact Verdugo made during his two weeks with Atlanta was based on the situation the Braves found themselves in prior to his addition to the 26-man roster.

With Ronald Acuña, Jr. still recovering from his 2024 knee surgery, Profar’s early season suspension and the negative offensive value provided by primary corner outfielders Bryan De La Cruz and Jarred Kelenic — both of whom are now at Triple-A — Verdugo provided stability in the outfield and in the line-up with his ability to relieve center fielder Michael Harris II and second baseman Ozzie Albies of batting at the top of the order.

Typically, a position player who only saw action in one-third of the team’s games wouldn’t qualify for a Player of the Month award, but in this case – during the crazy first 30 games of the 2025 season – the team’s performance took a huge leap forward once Verdugo was plugged into the lineup.

Sometimes you have to sleep on big decisions. And that is what happened when it came to this month’s award.

Was Verdugo the catalyst the Braves needed? Did his spark on the field and in the clubhouse cause the offense to catch on fire?

After the Braves returned to listless offensive form in the series-ending loss to the Rockies, an argument could be made.

But in the end, there’s something to be said for availability – and 10 games does not a first 30 make.

And thus, Verdugo is the honorary winner of this month’s award.

Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Battery Power Braves Player of the Month April 2025: Austin Riley

Arguments for Ozuna and Murphy are valid and justifiable. In the end, despite some unevenness offensively, Riley provided production through the first month of the season at the hot corner and in the batter’s box.

Riley’s contributions in the middle of the line-up after struggling out-of-the-gate catapulted him to the team lead in RBI. Riley’s low start offensively – hitting only .143/.211/.259 nine games into the season with his Opening Day home run being one of his few high-points – was a cause for concern in the season’s first two weeks.

But, in his next 21 games, Riley had 11 multi-hit games, hitting .333/.368/.544 during that stretch, with five home runs and 17 RBI. That level of premium production raised his triple-slash line to .280/.323/.464 on the season.

By the end of April he hit six home runs, drove in a team-best 20 runs, scored 12 runs and was credited with two defensive runs above average on defense. His 35 hits also lead all Braves hitters.

Riley also answered any lingering questions about his defensive aptitude at third base. He’s shown elite range – a 92nd percentile from Baseball Savant – including a nice grab of a line drive against the Cardinals, as seen below.

Riley still has work to be done as he’s carrying a career worst walk rate (5.3-percent) and strikeout rate (30.8-percent) and a abnormally high .372 BABIP. His 117 wRC+ is almost identical to his mark last season, which was a down year for him prior to his injury. The good news is his hard hit rate, barrels, and other indicators are from above average to elite levels.

In the end, the blend of his contributions on the field – including the best sprint speed of his career – combined with his playing in every Braves game this season, led to Riley being the choice for Battery Power’s Braves Player of the Month for April 2025.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Think Murphy was robbed? Believe Ozuna was the obvious choice?

Let us know in the comments below.