Starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been voted the National League League Pitcher of the Month for March/April, and starting pitcher Max Fried of the New York Yankees has been named the American League Pitcher of the Month for March/April. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Yamamoto earned his first career Pitcher of the Month Award and is the first Dodger to win the award since Clayton Kershaw took home the honor in April 2023. He is the first Dodgers’ right-hander to win the award since Walker Buehler in July 2021. Born in Bizen, Japan, Yamamoto is just the fifth Japanese-born pitcher to win the award (six times total), following wins by Yu Darvish (2x, July/August 2020 & September/October 2022); Hideki Irabu (May 1998 & July 1999); Hideo Nomo (2x, June 1995 and September 1996); and Masahiro Tanaka (May 2014).
Fried won his second career honor after previously winning as a member of the Atlanta Braves in September 2021. He is the first Yankees pitcher to win the award since Luis Gil won last May, along with his AL Rookie of the Month honor, and is the first Yankees’ southpaw to win the award since 2025 Hall of Fame inductee CC Sabathia won in July 2011. Overall, Fried is the sixth Yankees’ left- hander to win the award, joining: Andy Pettitte (3x, April 1997, September 2002 & August 2007); Sabathia (2x, August 2009 & July 2011); Ron Guidry (August 1981); Tommy John (April 1979); Jimmy Key (April 1993); and Dave Righetti (August 1985).
Additionally, he is the first Yankees starter to win the award in the season’s opening month since Gerrit Cole in 2023.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers (@yoshinobu_yamamoto)
Across six starts, the 26-year-old went 3-2 with a 1.06 ERA (4 ER/34.0 IP) while allowing 23 hits with 11 walks, 43 strikeouts, a 1.00 WHIP, a .190 opponents’ batting average and 11.38 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
The Japan native led the Majors in ERA; tied for seventh in the NL in strikeouts; tied for eighth in the NL in WHIP; and ranked 10th among Major League pitchers in opponents’ average.
The 2024 World Series Champion posted back-to-back scoreless starts on April 11th against the Cubs and April 18th at Texas, marking the second time in his career that he won consecutive starts (also: 5/1 & 5/7/2024). Along with five scoreless innings to end his outing on April 4th at Philadelphia, Yamamoto threw 18.0 consecutive scoreless innings, and dating back to the fourth inning of his start on March 28th at Detroit, he did not allow an earned run in 21 consecutive innings.
The right-hander threw at least 5.0 innings in all of his starts and threw at least 6.0 innings in three straight starts to begin April. After setting a career high with 10 strikeouts on March 28th at Detroit, he matched his performance with another 10 punchouts on April 18th at Texas.
Overall, he became the second Dodger with at least 40 strikeouts and fewer than five earned runs allowed in the first month of the season, joining Fernando Valenzuela, who also had 43 strikeouts and allowed just one run in April 1981. Along with Houston’s Hunter Brown, the duo became the 16th and 17th players in Baseball history to reach those totals in March/April.
The Dodgers’ Opening Day starter against the Cubs in Tokyo earned the win in the first game of 2025, allowing a run on three hits with a walk and four strikeouts at the Tokyo Dome. He faced off against fellow countryman Shota Imanaga, marking the first-ever Opening Day game started by a pair of Japanese-born players. Along with Yusei Kikuchi’s Opening Day start for the Angels, it was the first time Opening Day featured at least three Japanese-born starting pitchers.
Max Fried, New York Yankees (@maxfried)
Over six starts, the 31-year-old went unbeaten with a 5-0 record and a 1.19 ERA (5 ER/37.2 IP) while allowing 30 hits with nine walks, 33 strikeouts, a 1.04 WHIP, a .207 opponents’ batting average and 7.88 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
The Santa Monica, California native tied for the Major League lead in wins; tied for second in ERA; tied for seventh among AL pitchers in innings pitched; and ranked 10th in the AL in WHIP.
After taking a no-decision in his first start of the year on March 29th, the southpaw won all five of his starts in April, joining Arizona’s Brandon Pfaadt and San Diego’s Nick Pivetta as the only starting pitchers to win five games in the first month of 2025. Fried is the first Yankees starting pitcher to win five of his first six starts to begin a season since Gerrit Cole in 2023, and the first to do so in his first five starts as a Yankee since J.A. Happ in 2018. Overall, he is the 10th Yankee starter to win five of his first six games with the club and the eighth to remain undefeated in those starts.
The two-time All-Star closed his month with four consecutive starts of at least 6.0 innings, tossing a season-high 7.2 scoreless innings on April 20th at Tampa Bay. He posted two scoreless starts, also holding the Tigers scoreless in 7.0 innings of work on April 9th, and did not allow an earned run in three starts, yielding an unearned run in the first game of a doubleheader on April 27th against Toronto. Fried did not allow an earned run in each of his final two starts to close April and dating to the fourth inning of his April 15th start against Kansas City, did not allow an earned run in 17.1 consecutive innings to end the month.
The 2021 World Series Champion with the Braves struck out a season-high 11 batters on April 9th at Detroit, marking his sixth career game with at least 10 strikeouts, five of which have come on the road. The contest marked the first time in his career that he tallied double-digit strikeouts without allowing a walk. He was the first Yankee to do so since Michael King struck out 13 batters with no walks on September 23, 2023 against Toronto. Overall, Fried retired 11 of the final 13 batters he faced in the contest and struck out multiple batters in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh innings.
Others receiving votes for NL Pitcher of the Month included Pivetta (5-1, 1.78 ERA, 6 GS, 35.1 IP, 21 H, 2 HR, 8 BB, 39 SO) and Michael King (4-1, 2.09 ERA, 7 GS, 1 SHO, 38.2 IP, 27 H, 3 HR, 12 BB, 46 SO) of the San Diego Padres; Jesús Luzardo (3-0, 1.73 ERA, 6 GS, 36.1 IP, 29 H, 1 HR, 10 BB, 41 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies; Paul Skenes (3-2, 2.39 ERA, 6 GS, 37.2 IP, 26 H, 1 HR, 4 BB, 39 SO) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; José Quintana (4-0, 1.14 ERA, 4 GS, 23.2 IP, 19 H, 1 HR, 8 BB, 15 SO) of the Milwaukee Brewers; and Griffin Canning (4-1, 2.61 ERA, 6 GS, 31.0 IP, 29 H, 2 HR, 14 BB, 31 SO) of the New York Mets.
Others receiving votes for AL Pitcher of the Month included Hunter Brown (4-1, 1.22 ERA, 6 GS, 37.0 IP, 24 H, 1 HR, 7 BB, 40 SO) of the Houston Astros; Tyler Mahle (3-0, 1.14 ERA, 6 GS, 31.2 IP, 18 H, 13 BB, 26 SO) and Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 2.11 ERA, 7 GS, 1 SHO, 42.2 IP, 30 H, 3 HR, 3 BB, 34 SO) of the Texas Rangers; Garrett Crochet (3-2, 2.05 ERA, 7 GS, 44.0 IP, 28 H, 2 HR, 18 BB, 50 SO) of the Boston Red Sox; and AL Reliever of the Month Andrés Muñoz (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 15 G, 11 SV, 15.0 IP, 5 H, 0 HR, 6 BB, 19 SO) of the Seattle Mariners.