Another honor for Machado

After being named South Atlantic League player of the week yesterday, today, shortstop Manny Machado of the Class-A Delmarva Shorebirds was named the Orioles' minor league player of the month for April. The 18-year-old that was the Orioles 2010 first-round draft pick hit .338 with four home runs and 18 RBI in the month. In 21 games in April, Machado also had 27 hits, including six doubles and two triples. He also showed great patience at the plate with 16 walks and only 11 strikeouts and Machado had ten multi-hit games during the month. The Miami, Florida native went homerless in his first 15 games of the season. Then, he exploded for homeruns in three straight games (April 25-27). Machado hit four home runs in the final six games in April. Machado leads the Shorebirds in runs scored (20), homeruns (5), RBI (21), walks (18), on-base percentage (.445) and slugging percentage (.611). Machado and the Shorebirds begin an eight-game road swing on Thursday night against the Asheville Tourists. The Orioles also announced that pitcher Wynn Pelzer, of the Double-A Bowie Baysox, was named the minor league pitcher of the month. He is 1-2 with an ERA of 1.44 through six games, four starts. Over 25 innings, he has allowed just 13 hits with 22 strikeouts.