What stood out for Cubs in April?

This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Cubs would not be in the postseason field if the current standings held true through October. The North Siders are, however, on the fringe of the playoff picture, which aligns with the external expectations going into this important season for the veteran-infused ballclub.

The good news for Chicago is that it is only May, and the first month-plus of baseball has started to reveal the brand the Cubs will feature deep into the summer. The biggest development early on has been that the North Side nine have out-performed preseason prognostications in the batter’s box.

“It's kind of the same thing we said during Spring Training,” Cubs left fielder Ian Happ said. “This team's going to catch it, play good defense and pitch. But what's the offense going to look like? I think a lot of us said, ‘Hey, this group's pretty proven. The back of the baseball card doesn't lie.’

“There's a lot of very good players who have had a lot of success in their careers. When you put that together in a lineup, you just get professional at-bats.”

Cubs manager David Ross is still working to unlock the bullpen’s ideal formula, and starters Jameson Taillon and Kyle Hendricks should be off the injured list in May to help what has been a solid rotation. To date, the Cubs have the makings of a contender for the October stage -- a step forward after two years of rebuilding.

With that in mind, let’s get into some notable performances from April:

Player of the month: Nico Hoerner

Installed as the Cubs’ new leadoff man, Hoerner has been a tone-setter for Chicago’s lineup. He headed into May riding an on-base streak of 25 games and had a .328/.367/.437 slash line as one of baseball’s elite contact hitters. Hoerner’s showing also marked the 13th time in modern Cubs history that a batter had 39-plus hits and 10-plus steals in a month. Juan Pierre was the last to achieve the feat, doing so twice in 2006.

Pitcher of the month: Justin Steele

Steele finished April with a National League-best 1.49 ERA. The lefty became the first Cubs pitcher to enjoy an opening month with at least four wins and an ERA under 1.50 since Jake Arrieta went 5-0 with a 1.00 ERA in 2016. In 36 1/3 innings, Steele had 32 strikeouts and 11 walks, and held batters to a .190 batting average.

Reliever of the month: Mark Leiter Jr.

The Cubs’ bullpen has lacked a lefty for much of the first month, but the right-handed Leiter -- armed with an elite splitter -- has helped fill that void. In 12 outings, Leiter logged a 1.69 ERA with 17 strikeouts and six walks in 10 2/3 innings. He handled both righties (.111 average/.540 OPS) and lefties (.200/.639) along the way, becoming one of Ross’ trusted relievers for big moments.

Game of the month (batter): Yan Gomes

In an 8-2 win over the Dodgers on April 14, Gomes homered twice and finished the day with three hits and three runs scored. He also stole a base -- just the eighth steal in his 12 MLB seasons. Gomes became one of six catchers in modern history with three hits, two homers and a steal in a game, and the first since Ivan Rodriguez on Aug. 16, 1999.

Game of the month (pitcher): Drew Smyly

On April 21, Smyly took on the Dodgers and flirted with a perfect game for 21 batters. The run ended due to a collision with Gomes, as the pitcher and catcher both tried to field a fluky infield single by David Peralta in the eighth. Smyly struck out 10, walked none and allowed just the one hit in 7 2/3 innings. His 87 Game Score was the highest in modern Cubs history in an outing consisting of fewer than eight frames.

Play of the month: Bellinger robs Heyward of a homer

In the second inning on April 15, former Cub Jason Heyward sent a Taillon pitch deep to center field at Dodger Stadium. Former Dodgers star Cody Bellinger glided back and timed a jump perfectly, reaching over the wall to turn a homer into a flyout. Bellinger then smiled as his old home crowd began to boo him for the first time.