Jose Abreu, Troy Tulowitzki named players of the month for April

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White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu and Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki have been named Players of the Month for April.

Not bad for Abreu, who also happened to be playing his first ever month in the big leagues. In all, Abreu batted .270 (31-for-115) with eight doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, 32 RBI and 20 runs scored in 29 games, leading the Majors in homers, RBI, total bases (71) and extra-base hits (19). He set major league records for rookies in all four of those categories.

Tulowitzki led the majors with a .477 on-base percentage and a .727 slugging percentage. He was second in hitting behind teammate Charlie Blackmon, posting a .364 average for the month, he scored 24 runs scored (1st), had 64 total bases (2nd), knocked in 22 runs (T-3rd), had seven home runs (T-4th) and nine doubles (T-5th) too.

Abreu, at 27, is clearly a fully-formed product. Tulowitzki is, after a lot of injuries, healthy as can be. Both of them just had a whale of a month.

Cardinals sign pitcher Miles Mikolas to 3-year, $55.75M deal

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Rhona Wise/USA TODAY Sports
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ST. LOUIS — Miles Mikolas is sticking with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The right-hander signed a three-year, $55.75 million contract on Friday that will carry through the 2025 season.

The new deal replaces a $68 million, four-year contract signed in February 2019 that covered the 2020-23 seasons and was set to pay $15.75 million this year.

Mikolas will receive a $5 million signing bonus payable July 1 and will make $18.75 million in 2023 and $16 million in each of the following two seasons. Mikolas can earn a $250,000 bonus for winning a Cy Young Award, $50,000 for All-Star election or selection or winning a Gold Glove, $100,000 for League Championship Series MVP and $150,000 for World Series MVP.

Mikolas is scheduled to make the second opening-day start of his big league career next Thursday when the Cardinals host Toronto. Mikolas went 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA last season while helping St. Louis to the NL Central title.

“Miles stands among the top pitchers in the game today, and has continued to provide a steady presence for us both in the rotation and inside the clubhouse,” St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement.

Mikolas is 45-40 with a 3.79 in 143 games with San Diego, Texas and St. Louis. He recently pitched six shutout innings in two appearances for the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic.