Historic Chases · 2026-05-20 RECONSTRUCTED

← 2026-05-19 All days 2026-05-21 →

Nightly briefing

Baseball last night

Games of 2026-05-20

No history was made last night, but the box scores still talked: Hunter Feduccia hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 28 ▶︎ watch; Andrew Alvarez earned his FIRST career save ▶︎ watch.

Oneil Cruz has struck out 75 times, projecting to 248. Mark Reynolds' record is 223. That pace would be the most strikeouts in any season since 1901.

History movers: CJ Abrams, after homering — Franchise RBI: 42 now, pace 136.1, record 131 (Vladimir Guerrero) · Corbin Carroll — Triples: 6 now, pace 20, record 36 (Chief Wilson).

The .400 chase: Otto Lopez went 2-for-4 last night and pushed his average up 3 points to .349. The gap to .400 is now .051.

The so-what: through 50 team games, Kyle Schwarber sits 2 HR behind Bonds' 73-homer pace (22 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

The .400 burndown: Otto Lopez carries a .349 average into today; a .400 finish takes a .423 clip the rest of the way (185-for-437). That is .002 easier than yesterday. A 3-for-4 tonight lowers the requirement to .420; an 0-for-4 raises it to .427.

On this date in 1970, Rod Carew hit for the cycle.

30/30 watch: Oneil Cruz sits at 10 HR / 16 SB — 20 homers short and 14 steals short of a 30/30 season, projecting to 33/53.

Historical intelligence

How the night stacked up

Pace through history

Kyle Schwarber versus the great home-run seasons

Kyle Schwarber has 20 home runs through 50 team games, 6 behind Barry Bonds's 2001 pace at the same checkpoint (26). Comparable chases finished with a median of 44; 18.6% reached 50 and 4.3% reached 60 (n=70).

Retrosheet · verified play-by-play

If the pace holds

A projected top-4 season

If Kyle Schwarber finishes at the current projection of 65, it would rank No. 4 among all seasons since 1901 — only 3 finished higher.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021

Franchise pressure

A franchise record is under pressure

The single-season record is 49 home runs, set by Harmon Killebrew in 1964. Byron Buxton projects to 49 and projects to tie it.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021

Only X seasons ever

Kyle Schwarber is building a rare combination

At his current pace, Kyle Schwarber would reach at least 60 HR, and 110 RBI. Only 8 completed seasons in the configured historical cohort reached every mark. The recent company includes Barry Bonds (2001), Sammy Sosa (2001), Mark McGwire (1999).

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021

Closest to .400