The Brooklyn Knights lost their first two games and opened the season 3-4. They rattled off 14 wins in their next 15 games, however. At the end of April, the Knights sat atop their division with a two game lead on the Luck. The Luisville Beasts, the defending league 1 champs, also looked very strong to start the season. In League 2, the Washington Allies and the surprising St. James Crusaders finished April in first place.

April 2023 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Manuel Montaya (Luisville Beasts)
Pitcher of the Month: Whitney Sanders (Luisville Beasts)
Rookie of the Month: Stephen Wolfgang (Las Vegas Luck)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Kurt Johnson (Stade Maples)
Pitcher of the Month: Renato Balcazar (Stade Maples)
Rookie of the Month: Roddie Estes (Quebeck Sky Chiefs)

The Brooklyn Knights finished spring training with an NALB best 20-10 record. The Luisville Beasts had a 17-13 record and looked good this spring. In League 2, the Washington Allies (19-11) and Vancouver Wild (18-12) posted the best spring training records.

The Knights tried to keep oft-injured Blas Ramos healthy, moving him from right field to designated hitter. The team is pretty healthy going into the regular season. No major leaguers were injured. Unfortunately, four minor league relief pitchers were sent to the injured list: Pat Johnstone, James Massey, Anderson Eliserio, and newly acquired Ginton Venereo.

Other key injuries in spring training:

• Cornfield Axemen: SP Everett Burleigh requires elbow ligament reconstruction surgery. He will miss the entire 2023 season.
• Dunedin Otters: SP Maureo Frederick tore the flexor tendon in his elbow and will be unable to play this season.
• Las Vegas Luck: SP Stanley Jackson will undergo elbow ligament reconstruction surgery. He will not play this year.
• Phoenix Rattlers: RP Vic West has a partially torn UCL. It will be at least 11 months before he can resume throwing a baseball.
• Stade Maples: RP Yusuf O'Croly has a partially torn labrum. He is expected to miss 2 to 3 months.
• Washington Allies: SP Leif Kondo has a herniated disc. This back injury will require 2 to 3 weeks of recovery time.
• Washington Allies: RP Jesus Brandariz needs surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow. He will be out for an estimated 6 months.

Here were some notable roster moves prior to the 2023 NALB season.

The Brooklyn Knights had the following offseason/preseason activity:

• Two NALB legends announced their retirements on October 25, 2022—3B Hooks Goetz and 2B Flavio Marquez.
• Assistant general manager Allen Humphreys decided to join the St. Rock Mudcats as their new general manager. The Knights replaced him with Orlondo Corvalán.
• The Knights extended the contracts of 5 players through salary arbitration: Norman Forbes, Kent von Kantzow, Armando Alfaro, Chase Combs, and Ramone Alconer.
• 3B John Ruben and RP Stokley McGruder filed for free agency.
• 2B Bryan Inge was selected in the Rule 5 Draft by the Key West Corals. They later released him and he returned to the Knights organization.
• Traded 24-year old minor league RHP Tim Menard to Dayton in exchange for 24-year old SS Don Hartz and 25-year old CF Beagan Cajar.
• The Knights swapped 19-year old minor league RHP Mário López, 19-year old minor league RHP Teófilo Martínez, 25-year old minor league 1B Jamie Gentle, 25-year old minor league LHP Daniel Gutérrez, 25-year old minor league 2B Tommy Lesher, and 25-year old minor league 3B Vinny Warrilow to the Sky Chiefs getting 24-year old RF Dick Gosden and 23-year old minor league RHP Ginton Venereo in return.
• Former Brooklyn catcher Ted Pollet was elected to the Hall of Fame with 89.6% of the vote.
• Signed 31-year old free agent 3B Dave Crayton to a 1-year, $600,000 minor league contract with majors option.
• Amateur free agent CF Rufo Rivas inked a deal with the Knights. The 16-year old Puerto Rican signed a minor league contract with an $860,000 signing bonus.

Notable offseason free agent signings:

• 3B Pete Chavez signed a 2-year, $19.2 million contract with the Stade Maples.
• RF Manuel Montaya offered his big bat to the free agent market. In the end, he decided to re-sign with the Luisville Beasts. His new contract is worth $58 million over 5 years.
• 1B Jorge Morales is moving from Las Vegas to Nashville. The Firecats 3-year $10,960,000 offer convinced him to sign.
• After spending the first 12 years of his career in Richmond, living legend Tony Rodarte has become a mercenary bat for hire. This season, the 40-year old will play for the Nashville Firecats. His new contract is for 3-years and $10.32 million.
• LF Luís Vergel found a new home in Washington. The Allies swayed him with a $12.8 million deal over 4 years.
• 1B/3B John Ruben left the Knights to join the Luck. Las Vegas gave him $8,040,000 for 3 years.
• Ximien Palmeiro was the top closer in this year's free agent market. After weighing his options, he elected to return to Key West. The Corals value relief pitching probably more than any other team and had no problems giving him $12.72 million for 3 years.
• RP Júlio Guillén found it tough to pass up Key West's offer to join the league's best bullpen. He will earn $11.04 million over 3 years.
• The Corals weren't done adding top-notch arms to their bullpen. They rounded out their relief staff with free agent Matt Genge. His contract is worth $9.6 million over 3 years.
• Veteran SP Tyler Stivers will be back in Stade. The Maples offered him a 2-year deal worth $12.6 million.
• The Dayton Grizzlies took a big gamble on shortstop Carlos Cardenas. The 37-year old has a history of injuries and will need to stay healthy in order to earn his $13.4 million, 2-year contract.
• CF Terry Bannatyne declared free agency and landed a sizable 4-year, $20.4 million contract with the Firecats.
• As one of the few coveted starters in this free agent class, David Bracy was in demand. He was happy to ink a 4-year, $28.8 million deal with the Allies.
• Veteran 3B Lariel Gómez is going to St. Rock. The 36-year old joined the Mudcats after they offered him $11.8 million over 2-years.

Notable offseason trades:

• The St. Rock Mudcats traded 30-year old 1B Toru Kobayashi (retaining 40%) to the Dayton Grizzlies, getting 20-year old minor league CF LLemuel Zachery, 24-year old minor league RF Alberto Fonticoba, 22-year old minor league C Jon Rupp, and 23-year old minor league LF Mercutio Averill in return.
• The Richmond Slam traded 22-year old minor league 2B Francisco Segura and 19-year old minor league RHP Dongdo-pa Duan to the Dunedin Otters, getting 28-year old 3B Derk McParland in return.
• The Nashville Firecats traded 31-year old LF Sancho Malclonado (retaining 100%) to the Cornfield Axemen, getting 22-year old LF Ambrosio Sánchez and 19-year old minor league RHP Tim Andrade in return.
• The Luisville Beasts traded 21-year old minor league LHP José Scharf and 23-year old minor league RHP Jeff Ayliffe to the Key West Corals, getting 28-year old RHP Tim Sanders (retaining 95%) in return.