April Players of the Month: Matthew Lugo and Jonathan Brand
The first full month of the minor-league season is in the books. As such, it is now time to present SoxProspects.com Players of the Month for April in Matthew Lugo (pictured, left) and Jonathan Brand (pictured, bottom right). Neither player is currently included in our top 60 rankings, but both have gotten their 2024 campaigns off to impressive starts.
Lugo really couldn't ask for a better start to his season after a down 2023. In 14 games for Portland this past month, the right-handed hitting 22-year-old batted a stout .313/.411/.792 (223 wRC+) with four doubles, two triples, five home runs, 16 runs driven in, seven runs scored, eight walks, and 16 strikeouts over 56 plate appearances. At present, he leads a talented Sea Dogs team in homers, RBIs, slugging percentage, OPS (1.203), isolated power (.479), and total bases (38).
In addition to being named Eastern League Player of the Week for the week of April 15-21, Lugo also took home SoxProspects.com Player of the Week honors for the fourth time in his professional career. This marks the first time that the native Puerto Rican has been recognized by SoxProspects.com as a Player of the Month award winner.
Brand, meanwhile, joined Lugo in Portland last week after dominating out of the Greenville bullpen to begin the season. In eight appearances between the two affiliates, the 24-year-old right-hander posted a 0.00 ERA (1.41 FIP) with 20 strikeouts to just three walks over 14 2/3 innings of relief in which he held opposing hitters to a .185 batting average against. He also recorded two holds and converted his lone save opportunity.
A former eighth-round selection in the 2022 amateur draft out of Miami University (Ohio), Brand is a first-time SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Month award recipient. The 5-foot-9, 200-pound hurler throws from a three-quarters arm slot and operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of an 89-90 mph fastball, a 74-76 mph curveball, an 80-82 mph slider, and an 80-82 mph changeup.
Photo Credit: Matthew Lugo and Jonathan Brand by Kelly O'Connor