Historic Chases · 2026-04-14 RECONSTRUCTED

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Nightly briefing

Baseball last night

Games of 2026-04-14

No history was made last night, but the box scores still talked: Carson Kelly hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 15 ▶︎ watch; Mike Trout, Jo Adell, Jorge Soler went BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK — back-to-back-to-back happens a few times a season.

Chandler Simpson is hitting OVER .400. Needs a .400 clip the rest of the way to finish at .400.

Chandler Simpson sits at .407 — the last .400 season was Ted Williams in 1941.

History movers: Yordan Alvarez — Franchise RBI: 16 now, pace 144, record 136 (Lance Berkman) · Andy Pages — Franchise Hits: 25 now, pace 238.2, record 241 (Babe Herman); Hits: 25 now, pace 238, record 262 (Ichiro Suzuki).

Lines of the night: Iván Herrera hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 17 ▶︎ watch; Francisco Lindor hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 18 ▶︎ watch.

The .400 chase: Chandler Simpson went 1-for-3 last night and saw his average slip 4 points to .407. He is OVER .400.

The so-what: through 17 team games, Jordan Walker sits 0 HR ahead of Bonds' 73-homer pace (8 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: Oneil Cruz is on a 40/40 pace — 5 HR / 7 SB, projecting to 48/67. Only five players have ever done it: Canseco, Bonds, A-Rod, Soriano, and Ohtani. Every game matters from here.

The .400 burndown: Chandler Simpson carries a .407 average into today; a .400 finish takes a .400 clip the rest of the way (215-for-538). That is .001 harder than yesterday. A 3-for-4 tonight lowers the requirement to .397; an 0-for-4 raises it to .403.

On this date in 2021, Carlos Rodon of the White Sox threw a no-hitter (one of 2 thrown on this date).

30/30 watch: Oneil Cruz sits at 5 HR / 7 SB — 25 homers short and 23 steals short of a 30/30 season, projecting to 48/67.

Historical intelligence

How the night stacked up

Pace through history

Jordan Walker versus the great home-run seasons

Jordan Walker has 8 home runs through 17 team games, even with Barry Bonds's 2001 pace at the same checkpoint (8). Comparable chases finished with a median of 34; 5.8% reached 50 and 0.8% reached 60 (n=259).

Retrosheet · verified play-by-play

If the pace holds

A projected top-1 season

If Jordan Walker finishes at the current projection of 76, 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 136 RBI, set by Lance Berkman in 2006. Christian Walker projects to 135 and projects to finish 1 short.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021

Only X seasons ever

Jordan Walker is building a rare combination

At his current pace, Jordan Walker would reach at least .320 AVG, 60 HR, and 125 RBI. Only 3 completed seasons in the configured historical cohort reached every mark. The recent company includes Barry Bonds (2001), Sammy Sosa (2001), Babe Ruth (1927).

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021

Closest to .400