Historic Chases · 2026-08-20

Overnight: nothing — Kyle Schwarber (PHI) held flat, and flat bends the projection down. Schwarber has struck out 184 times, projecting to 233. Mark Reynolds' record is 223. That pace would be the most strikeouts in any season since 1901. League strikeout rates have roughly doubled since 1980, so the all-time list is not an even comparison. But he's doing damage too: he leads MLB in home runs (37) — one every 12.3 at-bats. The strikeouts are the price of the power.

The Phillies have won 6 straight, and are 8-2 in their last 10.

The so-what: Yordan Alvarez (HOU) is holding an AL Triple Crown — he leads the AL in average (.319), home runs (36) and RBI (88). He leads the AL in all five of batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, home runs and RBI — every one of them, among the 67 qualified AL hitters. It has been done four times in the AL since 1920, most recently by Frank Robinson in 1966. No one has won one since Miguel Cabrera in 2012, and only 17 have ever been won. Hold all three to the end and it is one of the rarest seasons in the sport.

Seasons on a historic footing: Jacob Misiorowski (MIL), an ERA of 1.75, 8th since 1969 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. Those ranks are 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: Jackson Merrill (SD) — stolen bases up from 1 in 115 games in 2025 to 24 in 125 this season; Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) — walk rate up from 4.7% to 12.3% (29 in 620 plate appearances in 2025, 68 in 555 this season); Nolan Arenado (AZ) — strikeout rate up from 12.2% to 23.4% (49 in 401 at-bats in 2025, 96 in 411 this season); Taylor Ward (SEA) — home-run rate down from 6.2% to 1.6% (36 in 579 at-bats in 2025, 7 in 448 this season). (2 more cleared the same bar.) 6 of 799 rate comparisons across 156 qualified hitters and pitchers, corrected for having looked that many times.

Sweep watch: the Royals swept the Athletics (4 games). 1 other club was swept the same night.

Also last night: JJ Wetherholt (STL)'s go-ahead error in the 9th put the Cardinals ahead for good in a 10-9 win over the Reds ▶︎ watch; Aaron Ashby (MIL) has not allowed a run in his last 12 innings; Gavin Williams (CLE) reached 200 strikeouts for the season — he is there in 154.2 innings, the fourth-fewest of the 604 200-strikeout seasons since 1920 — only Spencer Strider's 2022 (131.2), Garrett Crochet's 2024 (146.0) and Chris Sale (ATL)'s 2019 (147.1) were finished in fewer.

Lines of the night: Zach Neto (LAA) drove in 7 runs — seven-RBI games happen roughly 10 times a season — and went 5-for-6 — five-hit games happen roughly 20 times a season ▶︎ watch; Grant Holmes carried a NO-HITTER into the 7th — broken up by a single — and allowed one hit over 6.0 scoreless innings (3 K) ▶︎ watch; THE SAME GAME produced both: Matt McLain hit a grand slam; Jordan Walker (STL) drove in 4 runs ▶︎ watch; The Los Angeles Angels hung 18 runs on the Houston Astros (18-3) — a 15-run margin; Jacob deGrom struck out 10 over 6.0 IP — a season high, past his previous 3 — and combined with three relievers on a ONE-HITTER (15 K) ▶︎ watch.