Historic Chases · 2026-06-23 RECONSTRUCTED

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Nightly briefing

Baseball last night

Games of 2026-06-23

No history was made last night, but the box scores still talked: Taylor Trammell hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 31 ▶︎ watch; Joey Loperfido hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 32 ▶︎ watch.

Zach Neto has struck out 116 times, projecting to 232. Mark Reynolds' record is 223. That pace would be the most strikeouts in any season since 1901.

History movers: Yordan Alvarez — Triple Crown (MLB) · Corbin Carroll — Triples: 9 now, pace 18, record 36 (Chief Wilson).

Lines of the night: Kahlil Watson hit his FIRST career home run ▶︎ watch; Yainer Diaz, Cam Smith, Taylor Trammell went BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK — back-to-back-to-back happens a few times a season; Logan VanWey earned his FIRST career win ▶︎ watch; Brandyn Garcia earned his FIRST career save ▶︎ watch; Alex Call hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 48 ▶︎ watch.

Milestones reached last night: Nasim Nuñez reached 30 SB.

The .400 chase: Otto Lopez went 2-for-5 last night and pushed his average up 1 point to .337. The gap to .400 is now .063.

The so-what: through 79 team games, Kyle Schwarber sits 7 HR behind Bonds' 73-homer pace (36 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

01

The .400 burndown: Otto Lopez carries a .337 average into today; a .400 finish takes a .463 clip the rest of the way (148-for-320). That is .001 harder than yesterday. A 3-for-4 tonight lowers the requirement to .459; an 0-for-4 raises it to .468.

02

On this date in 1971, Rick Wise of the Phillies threw a no-hitter (one of 2 thrown on this date).

03

30/30 watch: Pete Crow-Armstrong sits at 17 HR / 18 SB — 13 homers short and 12 steals short of a 30/30 season, projecting to 35/37.

Historical intelligence

How the night stacked up

Pace through history

Kyle Schwarber versus the great home-run seasons

Kyle Schwarber has 29 home runs through 79 team games, 10 behind Barry Bonds's 2001 pace at the same checkpoint (39). Comparable chases finished with a median of 48; 38.3% reached 50 and 3.3% reached 60 (n=60).

Retrosheet · verified play-by-play
If the pace holds

A projected top-10 season

If Kyle Schwarber finishes at the current projection of 59, it would rank No. 10 among all seasons since 1901 — only 9 finished higher.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021
Historical season twin

Whose season does Kyle Schwarber resemble?

The completed season closest to Kyle Schwarber's projected shape is Pete Alonso's 2019 (75% similarity). The match is strongest in speed, runs, hit volume; the largest difference is run production. This is a comparison, not a forecast of how the season must finish.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021
Closest to .400
.337AVG
34 consecutive hits needed to reach .400
EXTREME
Home Run Leader
29HR
59 projected HR · 7 behind Bonds's 73 pace
Hits Leader
105H
213 projected H · 24 behind Suzuki's 262 pace
Stolen Base Leader
31SB
63 projected SB · 33 behind Henderson's 130 pace
Doubles Leader
232B
48 projected 2B · 9 behind Webb's 67 pace
Triples Leader
93B
18 projected 3B · 9 behind Wilson's 36 pace
Triple Crown Watch (MLB)
.325· 25 HR · 56 RBI
3 / 2 / 6 in AVG/HR/RBI league ranks — full board on the Watch page
30/30 Club Pace
17/18HR/SB
35/37 projected HR/SB · team-game pace · 2 others in the hunt
ON PACE
Wins Leader (Team)
Dodgers
51W
103 projected wins · record 116
LONG SHOT
Run Differential Leader
Dodgers
+143
+290 projected run differential