Overnight: Schwarber added 3 strikeouts. Kyle Schwarber (PHI) has struck out 161 times, projecting to 235. Mark Reynolds' record is 223. That pace would be the most strikeouts in any season since 1901. But he's doing damage too: he is 3rd in MLB in home runs (33) — one every 11.8 at-bats. The strikeouts are the price of the power.
Nightly briefing
Who is chasing baseball history right now — and whether the numbers say they can get there.
Baseball last night
The box scores did the talking last night: Max Clark hit his FIRST career home run ▶︎ watch; Martín Pérez carried a NO-HITTER into the 7th — broken up by a single ▶︎ watch.
The AL West is a coin flip: Astros (57-55) lead Rangers by 1.5.
The so-what: Yordan Alvarez (HOU) is holding an AL Triple Crown — he leads the league in average (.324), home runs (35) and RBI (82). No one has won one since Miguel Cabrera in 2012, and only 17 have ever been won. Hold all three to the end and it is one of the rarest seasons in the sport.
Milestones reached last night: Matt Olson (ATL) reached 30 HR.
Batter Strikeouts
NEGATIVE HISTORY
Kyle SchwarberPHI
Kyle Schwarber is on pace for 235 strikeouts
Kyle Schwarber has struck out 161 times, projecting to 235. Mark Reynolds' record is 223. That pace would be the most strikeouts in any season since 1901. League strikeout rates have roughly doubled since 1980, so the all-time list is not an even comparison. But he's doing damage too: he is 3rd in MLB in home runs (33) — one every 11.8 at-bats. The strikeouts are the price of the power.
Mark Reynolds struck out 223 times in 2009, a mark that has survived the highest-strikeout era in history.
98History score
- Current
- 161
- Projected
- 235
- Record
- 223 Mark Reynolds · 2009
Triple Crown (AL)95
Yordan AlvarezHOU
Yordan Alvarez ranks 1/1/1 in the AL in AVG/HR/RBI. He leads all three.
Fastest Pitch89
Misiorowski, Jacob
Record 105.8 · Aroldis Chapman
Misiorowski, Jacob's 105.5 mph 4-Seam Fastball on 2026-06-26 is the fastest pitch of 2026.
Runs79
James WoodWSH
145 projectedRecord 177 · Babe Ruth▲ 1
Needs 20 more to reach 120.
Team Wins79
BrewersMIL
102 projectedRecord 116 · 1906 Cubs / 2001 Mariners▲ 1
31 wins from a 100-win season.
Longest Ball79
Fernando Tatis Jr.
A 474-foot home run on 2026-07-21 — the longest ball of the season.
Team Wins78
DodgersLAD
101 projectedRecord 116 · 1906 Cubs / 2001 Mariners▼ -1
31 wins from a 100-win season.
Hardest-Hit Ball78
Oneil Cruz
Record 122.4 · Giancarlo Stanton
A 119.0 mph double on 2026-04-16 — Stanton's tracked record is 122.4.
Saves76
Bryan BakerTB
46 projectedRecord 62 · Francisco Rodriguez▲ 2
19 from a 50-save season.
Pace through history
A
Yordan Alvarez versus the great home-run seasons
Yordan Alvarez has 35 home runs through 112 team games, 12 behind Barry Bonds's 2001 pace at the same checkpoint (47). Comparable chases finished with a median of 46 (95% CI 45-47); 20% reached 50 (13.2-29.1% at 95% confidence), from 95 comparable seasons.
Franchise pressure
A
A franchise record is under pressure
The COL single-season record is 49 home runs, set by Larry Walker in 1997. Hunter Goodman projects to 48 and would finish 1 short.
The environment matters
A
This is an unusual batter-strikeout climate
MLB teams are averaging 8.38 batter-strikeout events per team game. The last completed season at least this high was 2021. The stored historical peak is 8.81 in 2019.
Only X seasons ever
A
Yordan Alvarez is building a rare combination
At his current pace, Yordan Alvarez would reach at least .320 AVG, 50 HR, and 110 RBI. Only 12 completed seasons in the configured historical cohort reached every mark. The recent company includes Barry Bonds (2001), Luis Gonzalez (2001), Sammy Sosa (2001).
Under the surface
Deep signals
drought group
The power outage is plural: Jordan Walker (22 HR) hasn't homered in 15 games; Zach Neto (19 HR) hasn't homered in 14 games. The longest quiet stretches of their seasons are costing them the pace.
riserFrom nowhere: Freddie Freeman is now 5th in MLB in batting average — he wasn't in the top 30 a month ago.
Tonight's stakes
What to watch today
The hot hand: Freddie Freeman (LAD) brings a 11-game hitting streak into tonight. The benchmarks ahead: 20 gets noticed, 30 gets a nightly countdown.
Tightest race: the AL West — Astros (57-55) lead Rangers (55-56) by 1.5.
Year-over-year: the Braves are 66-45 — 20 wins ahead of where they stood on this date last season (46-63).
Rookie watch: Kazuma Okamoto has 24 HR and 69 RBI in 108 games — the top rookie power line in baseball.
Franchise ladder watch: Yandy Díaz (TB) sits at 1007 career hits — 9 from Ben Zobrist's 1016 on the Rays' all-time list.
On this date in 2023, Framber Valdez of the Astros threw a no-hitter (one of 2 thrown on this date).
Career milestone watch: Freddie Freeman sits at 382 career home runs — 18 from 400.
Career milestone watch: Willson Contreras (BOS) sits at 195 career home runs — 5 from 200.
Clean gloves: the TEX have played 10 straight errorless games.
From nowhere: Nick Gonzales (PIT) is now 4th in MLB in hits — he wasn't in the top 30 a month ago.
Luck watch: Austin Wells is hitting 0.162 while his batted-ball quality says 0.215. Statcast's verdict: the hits are coming.
30/30 watch: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) sits at 24 HR / 26 SB — 6 homers short and 4 steals short of a 30/30 season, projecting to 35/38.
How to read the site
The chase, in plain English
No one is chasing .400 this season; the season log has the date it closed. Luis Arraez leads MLB at .328.
Every chase gets a 0–100 History Score against the record book, allowing home-run pace, streaks, Statcast extremes, and even negative history to share one radar.