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Nathan Church named St. Louis organization Player of the Month for April

He hit safely in 19 of 20 games played in April.
May 6, 2024

SPRINGFIELD, MO - The St. Louis Cardinals have announced that OF Nathan Church has been named St. Louis Minor League Player of the Month for April 2024. This is his first career Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month award. Church joins RHP Tink Hence, who was just named the

SPRINGFIELD, MO - The St. Louis Cardinals have announced that OF Nathan Church has been named St. Louis Minor League Player of the Month for April 2024. This is his first career Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month award. Church joins RHP Tink Hence, who was just named the Texas League’s Pitcher of the Month for April, as Cardinals who have won awards already this season.

According to St. Louis, Church led all qualified Cardinals hitters with a .914 OPS and ranked within the top three for the month in runs (17, first), hits (30, first), total bases (44, first), RBI (18, second), extra-base hits (8, t-second) and stolen bases (5, third). He put up a career-best 13-game hit streak from April 14-30, which is the longest such streak in the Texas League this season. Church was recognized as the Texas League Player of the Week from April 15-21.

“Nathan’s month of April was highlighted by a .349 average and .914 OPS, with only five strikeouts in 95 plate appearances,” said Cardinals Assistant GM & Director of Player Development Gary LaRocque in a press release.

Church was an 11th-round pick in 2022 out of UC Irvine. He played three seasons at UC Irvine in the Big West Conference from 2020-2022. The Southern California native slashed .341/.405/.515 in 120 NCAA games. During the 2021 season, he led the NCAA in triples (8) while setting a program record with 100 hits in a single season for the Anteaters. Church was named All-Big West First Team, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Third Team All-American and Freshman All-American that season. He owns a MiLB career .356 batting average in 170 games played.

Springfield is on the road this week but returns home for a 12-game homestand starting on May 14. Don’t miss our Infuze Credit Union & Fort Leonard Wood Military Appreciation Night and Fireworks Celebration including a Patriotic Camo Specialty Jersey Auction benefiting MSU ROTC on May 18, our first Springfield Cashew Chickens Night of the year on May 23, the St. Louis Cardinals Lars Nootbaar Nickname Jersey Giveaway (2,000) on May 25 and so much more coming up. Check out all the upcoming fun and get your tickets right now at SpringfieldCardinals.com.