Mr. April: Best MLB April performances of all time

The greatest pitcher of his era, Johnson had an unbelievable month of April in 1912 for the Washington Senators. He threw three shutouts and didn't allow an earned run in 44 innings. The following April, Johnson allowed only one run in 37 innings en route to the MVP.

Aaron had plenty of historic accomplishments during his career, including an amazing month of April in 1959. He hit an incredible .508-6-15 in only 14 games with the Milwaukee Braves en route to his second batting title.

Perez had the best season of his Hall of Fame career in 1970, and it started with his amazing April. He became the first player to hit above .400 with at least 10 home runs and 20 RBI during the month, finishing April hitting .455-10-26. The Reds third baseman finished the season hitting .317-40-129.

Blue had quite a start to his 1971 season with the A's, a year in which he'd go on to winthe  AL Cy Young and MVP. The ace went 6-1 with a 1.20 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 52.2 innings over seven starts, with a record six complete games for the month. He finished the year at 24-8 with a 1.82 ERA in 312 innings.

Already an MLB star, Stargell's true breakout came in 1971. He started the season hitting .347-11-27 in 20 games during the month of April and finished the year second in the MVP voting after leading the league with 48 home runs.

Perry won the AL Cy Young Award in his first season with the Indians in 1972 and continued his surge in April 1973. The right-hander completed all six of his starts, finishing April with a 2.47 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 51 innings. He ended the year leading the AL in complete games for the second straight season.

Jenkins made quite an impression at the start of his first season with the Rangers in 1974. He started six games during the month of April and finished all of them, ending the month 5-1 with a 1.84 ERA and 0.82 WHIP over 53.2 innings. He finished second in the AL Cy Young voting at the end of 1974 after going 25-12 with 29 complete games.

"Fernandomania" was on full display at the start of 1981, Valenzuela's first full season. The 20-year-old lefty allowed only one run in in five starts over 45 innings for the Dodgers. He threw a record-shattering four shutouts for the month. Valenzuela eventually won the NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards.

Henderson hit just .228 to start the 1982 season, but that wasn't the story of his April. He managed to set two offensive records during the month, walking 31 times and stealing 22 bases in only 22 games. He would go on to steal 130 bases in the 1982 season, the most in the modern era.

Junior won his lone MVP in 1997, and it started with his spectacular April. He hit 13 home runs for the month, a record at the time, also hitting .340 and driving in 30 runs. Griffey finished the season with a league-leading 56 home runs and 147 RBI.

Entering his third season in Colorado, Walker had a spectacular year and won NL MVP in 1997. It all started with his huge April, when he hit .456-11-29 with seven steals in 23 games.

With the help of Coors Field, Bichette had a record 47 hits in April plus four more on Opening Day, March 31. The four-time All-Star hit above .300 for the fifth straight season in 1998 by the time the year was over, starting at a .398 clip in April.

It's easy to forget Juan Gone's huge April in 1998 due to the home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Gonzalez won his second MVP Award in three years for the Rangers after hitting .351-7-36 to start the season that began on March 31. Gonzalez and McGwire tied with a record 36 RBI when including that extra day, but Gonzalez had more RBI in the actual month of April. 

It was clear Big Mac was on to something big with the way his 1998 season started with the Cardinals. McGwire tied Texas slugger Juan Gonzalez with 36 RBI from March 31 through the end of April, also hitting .318 with 11 home runs. He started the season with a home run in four straight games and had a three-homer game vs. Arizona later in the month.

Dye had a breakout season in 1999 for the Royals and continued on his torrid offensive pace the following April. The right fielder set an April record with 23 extra-base hits, hitting .388-11-28 with 12 doubles for the month. He would make his first All-Star appearance that year, finishing the season hitting .321-33-118.

Erstad was a good player over 14 seasons, but his 2000 season was a clear outlier when he hit an incredible .355-25-100 with a league-leading 240 hits. It all started with his big April of .449-3-18 with 48 hits in 25 games.

Johnson had some amazing months of April during his career but none better than his 2000 season in Arizona. The Big Unit went 6-0 with a 0.91 ERA, 0.73 WHIP and 64 strikeouts in 49.1 innings for the Diamondbacks. He threw three complete games in a row during the month, including two shutouts.

Gonzalez was the Arizona Diamondbacks' first true everyday player star, putting together an unprecedented 2001 season that ended with a World Series win. He tied Ken Griffey Jr. for the April home run record with 13 long balls and went on to hit 57 home runs for the season, easily the highest total of his career.

Bonds had already won three consecutive MVP Awards as he entered the 2004 season, and he capped them off with an unprecedented April. He hit .472-10-22 with 39/6 BB/K, along with 18 intentional walks, posting a record 1.828 OPS for the month. Bonds would go on to win his fourth straight MVP, leading the league in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging.

The reigning NL MVP picked up where he left off, hitting a record 14 home runs in the month of April at the start of the 2006 season. For the month, he hit an incredible .346-14-32 with 28/7 BB/K.

Albert Pujols set the April home run record of 14 one year earlier, and A-Rod was able to match it in 2007. For the month, Rodriguez hit .355-14-34 en route to his third MVP Award.

Kemp finished second to Ryan Braun in the 2011 NL MVP vote and came out just as hot the following season. He became just the third player to finish April hitting above .400 with at least 10 home runs and 20 RBI, hitting .417-12-25 for the month. Unfortunately, Kemp played only 106 games in 2012 due to injury.

K-Rod was the second relief pitcher ever to finish April with 13 saves, matching Kazuhiro Sasaki's mark set in 2001. Unlike Sasaki, Rodriguez also didn't give up a run over that time while closing for the surging Brewers, allowing only 12 base runners and fanning 23 hitters in 16 innings.

Story garnered the starting shortstop job due in large part to Jose Reyes' suspension and had quite the rookie debut. The Rockies shortstop began his career with at least one home run in five of his first six games, hitting seven long balls during that stretch. He ended the month with 10 home runs and hit 27 in 97 games before a thumb injury ended his season prematurely.

After a disappointing 2016 season, Harper wasted no time getting on track in 2017. He hit .391-9-26 during April and also set a record for the month with 32 runs scored, shattering Larry Walker's record of 29 set in 1997.

Cole was traded from Pittsburgh to Houston prior to the 2018 season and had a remarkable first month with his new team. He led all pitchers with 61 strikeouts over only 41.2 innings, posting a 1.73 ERA and 0.79 WHIP for his new team. Cole went on to have one of the best years of his career, with a 2.88 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 276 strikeouts over 200.1 innings.

After struggling during his sophomore season, Bellinger had his true coming out party in 2019. It started in the first month of the year, hitting .431-14-37 with a 1.397 OPS.

Coming off an MVP season, Yelich showed he wasn't done. The outfielder hit .353-14-34 with a 1.264 OPS during the first month of the season for the Brewers en route to another monstrous year.