Historic Chases · 2026-08-18

Collapse watch in the NL West: the Dodgers' lead over the Padres was 13.0 games 18 days ago — it's 8.0 now. The Dodgers have gone 7-10 while the Padres went 12-5.

Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) is on a 40/40 pace — 31 HR and 31 SB, projecting to 40/40. Only six players have ever done it: Canseco, Bonds, A-Rod, Soriano, Acuña, and Ohtani. Power and speed in the same season is the whole story from here.

Seasons on a historic footing: Jacob Misiorowski (MIL), an ERA of 1.75, tied for 8th among the 4,338 qualified seasons since 1969 with Justin Verlander's 1.75 in 2022 and 13.60 strikeouts per nine innings, 2nd among the 9,603 qualified seasons on file and behind only Gerrit Cole's 13.82 in 2019; Dylan Cease (TOR), 13.14 strikeouts per nine innings, 5th. The earned run average rank is given from 1969 on because the lowest earned run averages were thrown before the mound was lowered in 1969, and a rank across those eras is not a comparison the numbers support.

What changed from last season: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) — walk rate up from 4.7% to 12.3% (29 in 620 plate appearances in 2025, 68 in 551 this season); Jackson Merrill (SD) — stolen bases up from 1 in 115 games in 2025 to 24 in 124 this season; Nolan Arenado (AZ) — strikeout rate up from 12.2% to 22.9% (49 in 401 at-bats in 2025, 93 in 406 this season); Taylor Ward (SEA) — home-run rate down from 6.2% to 1.6% (36 in 579 at-bats in 2025, 7 in 442 this season). (1 more cleared the same bar.) 5 of 809 rate comparisons across 157 qualified hitters and pitchers, corrected for having looked that many times.

Also last night: Jacob Webb has not allowed a run in his last 12 innings; Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD) hit 2 home runs — and led off the game with a home run ▶︎ watch.

Lines of the night: Two go-ahead plays: Trent Grisham's tiebreaking single in the 7th put the Yankees ahead for good in a 3-1 win over the Orioles ▶︎ watch; Bobby Witt Jr.'s walk-off single in the 9th beat the Athletics 4-3 ▶︎ watch. Shane Baz struck out 10 over 6.1 IP — a season high, past his previous 2 ▶︎ watch; Three starts of note: George Klassen allowed one hit over 7.0 scoreless innings (7 K) ▶︎ watch; Cal Quantrill went 7.0 scoreless ▶︎ watch; Kyle Leahy went 5.0 scoreless ▶︎ watch.

Milestones reached last night: Shohei Ohtani (LAD) reached 30 HR.