Before taking a tough-luck loss on Thursday as the Texas Rangers lost their first series of the year, Justin Grimm was honored when he was named the American League Rookie of the Month for April, becoming the second straight Rangers pitcher to earn the award in April as Yu Darvish did it last season.
Grimm made it through 6 2/3 innings on Thursday and threw one bad pitch — a three-run homer — that turned a shutout into a 3-1 loss after he got essentially no help from his offense. But for the month of April, Grimm was fantastic and appears to have earned himself a long-term spot in the rotation, at least until things go bad.
In his three April starts, Grimm put up a 2-0 record with a 1.59 ERA, which is a league-high for qualified rookie starters. His opponents' batting average of .239 is the second-lowest among American League rookies.
Grimm edged out his rotation mate in the voting, as fellow rookie starter Nick Tepesch took second place in the voting.
