Historic Chases · 2026-07-19

Kyle Schwarber (PHI) has struck out 147 times, projecting to 238. Mark Reynolds' record is 223. That pace would be the most strikeouts in any season since 1901. But he's doing damage too: he leads MLB in home runs (33) — one every 10.9 at-bats. The strikeouts are the price of the power.

The AL West is a coin flip: Rangers (50-49) lead Mariners by 0.5. The Rockies' single-season record is 49 home runs, set by Larry Walker in 1997. Hunter Goodman (COL) projects to 48 and would finish 1 short.

History movers: Red Sox — Win Streak: 13 now, modern record 22 (Cleveland Indians, 2017).

Sweep watch: the Red Sox swept the Rays (4 games) — their 5th sweep in 25 days. Only 2.3% of team-seasons since 1897 have swept 5 clubs inside 30 days — 71 of 3043. 2 other clubs were swept the same night.

Lines of the night: Arizona Diamondbacks came back from 7 runs down to win; Drake Baldwin had a perfect day: 5-for-5 ▶︎ watch; Victor Mesa Jr. hit an INSIDE-THE-PARK home run — a half-dozen or so happen a season ▶︎ watch; Geraldo Perdomo hit an INSIDE-THE-PARK home run — a half-dozen or so happen a season ▶︎ watch; Grant Wolfram earned his first career save ▶︎ watch.

What changed from last season: Jackson Merrill (SD) — stolen bases up from 1 in 115 games in 2025 to 20 in 96 this season; Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) — walk rate up from 4.7% to 11.5% (29 in 620 plate appearances in 2025, 48 in 418 this season). 2 of 328 rate comparisons across 63 men on this season's leaderboards, corrected for having looked that many times.

Milestones reached last night: Hunter Goodman (COL) reached 30 HR.

The so-what: Kyle Schwarber (PHI) has 33 home runs through 100 team games, a 53-homer pace — 10 behind McGwire's 1998 total at the same point (43 of his eventual 70). That gap is the whole story: it closes, or the chase does.