Historic Chases · 2026-04-03 RECONSTRUCTED

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Nightly briefing

Baseball last night

Games of 2026-04-03

No history was made last night, but the box scores still talked: Matt Wallner struck out 5 times — the 'platinum sombrero' — a 5-strikeout game happens only a few times a season.

Andy Pages is hitting OVER .400. Needs a .397 clip the rest of the way to finish at .400.

Andy Pages sits at .480 — the last .400 season was Ted Williams in 1941.

History movers: Yandy Díaz — Franchise Home Runs: 2 now, pace 46.3, record 46 (Carlos Pena) · Nico Hoerner — Stolen Bases: 4 now, pace 93, record 130 (Rickey Henderson).

The .400 chase: Andy Pages went 3-for-4 last night and pushed his average up 51 points to .480. He is OVER .400.

The so-what: through 8 team games, Chase DeLauter sits 1 HR ahead of Bonds' 73-homer pace (4 at this point). That's the number that decides whether this season becomes a chase or a footnote.

That morning's stakes

What we were watching

MUST TRACK: Jake Bauers is on a 50/50 pace — 2 HR / 2 SB, projecting to 54/54. Only one player has ever done it — Shohei Ohtani's 54/59 in 2024. Every game matters from here.

The .400 burndown: Andy Pages carries a .480 average into today; a .400 finish takes a .397 clip the rest of the way (220-for-554). That is .002 easier than yesterday. A 3-for-4 tonight lowers the requirement to .395; an 0-for-4 raises it to .400.

On this date in 1998, Jose Valentin hit 3 home runs in one game.

30/30 watch: Jake Bauers sits at 2 HR / 2 SB — 28 homers short and 28 steals short of a 30/30 season, projecting to 54/54.

Historical intelligence

How the night stacked up

Pace through history

Chase DeLauter versus the great home-run seasons

Chase DeLauter has 5 home runs through 8 team games, 1 ahead of Mark McGwire's 1998 pace at the same checkpoint (4). Comparable chases finished with a median of 29; 2.1% reached 50 and 0.3% reached 60 (n=1145).

Retrosheet · verified play-by-play

If the pace holds

A projected top-1 season

If Chase DeLauter finishes at the current projection of 101, it would be the most home runs in any season since 1901 — no season on record has finished higher.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021

Franchise pressure

A franchise record is under pressure

The single-season record is 46 home runs, set by Carlos Pena in 2007. Yandy Díaz projects to 46 and projects to tie it.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021

Only X seasons ever

Chase DeLauter is building a rare combination

At his current pace, Chase DeLauter would reach at least 60 HR, and 150 RBI. Only 3 completed seasons in the configured historical cohort reached every mark. The recent company includes Sammy Sosa (2001), Sammy Sosa (1998), Babe Ruth (1927).

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021

Closest to .400