Historic Chases · 2026-05-29 RECONSTRUCTED

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Nightly briefing

Baseball last night

Games of 2026-05-29

No history was made last night, but the box scores still talked: Charles McAdoo hit his FIRST career home run ▶︎ watch; Braydon Fisher earned his FIRST career save ▶︎ watch.

Oneil Cruz has struck out 89 times, projecting to 249. Mark Reynolds' record is 223. That pace would be the most strikeouts in any season since 1901.

History movers: CJ Abrams — Franchise RBI: 47 now, pace 131.3, record 131 (Vladimir Guerrero) · Kyle Schwarber, after homering — Franchise Home Runs: 22 now, pace 62.5, record 58 (Ryan Howard); Home Runs: 22 now, pace 63, record 73 (Barry Bonds).

Lines of the night: Thomas Saggese hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 29 ▶︎ watch; David Hamilton hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 44 ▶︎ watch.

The .400 chase: Otto Lopez went 1-for-4 last night and saw his average slip 1 point to .341. The gap to .400 is now .059.

The so-what: through 57 team games, Kyle Schwarber sits 4 HR behind Bonds' 73-homer pace (26 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 .341 average into today; a .400 finish takes a .435 clip the rest of the way (174-for-400). That is .003 harder than yesterday. A 3-for-4 tonight lowers the requirement to .432; an 0-for-4 raises it to .439.

On this date in 2010, Roy Halladay of the Phillies threw a no-hitter.

30/30 watch: Oneil Cruz sits at 12 HR / 17 SB — 18 homers short and 13 steals short of a 30/30 season, projecting to 34/47.

Historical intelligence

How the night stacked up

Pace through history

Kyle Schwarber versus the great home-run seasons

Kyle Schwarber has 22 home runs through 57 team games, 8 behind Barry Bonds's 2001 pace at the same checkpoint (30). Comparable chases finished with a median of 44; 21.7% reached 50 and 6.7% reached 60 (n=60).

Retrosheet · verified play-by-play

If the pace holds

A projected top-6 season

If Kyle Schwarber finishes at the current projection of 63, it would rank No. 6 among all seasons since 1901 — only 5 finished higher.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021

Franchise pressure

A franchise record is under pressure

The single-season record is 131 RBI, set by Vladimir Guerrero in 1999. CJ Abrams projects to 131 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