Historic Chases · 2026-09-03

No club in baseball has been hotter: the Phillies have won 22 of their last 30, 4 clear of the next club among the 30 with 30 games played. They were 10 games under .500 on April 24 (8-18); they are 79-61 now. Collapse watch in the NL East: the Braves' lead over the Phillies was 7.5 games 18 days ago — it's 4.0 now. The Braves have gone 9-7 while the Phillies went 12-3.

CJ Abrams (WSH) is on a 30/30 pace — 29 HR and 27 SB, projecting to 33/31. Power and speed usually live in different bodies, which is why fewer than fifty players have ever managed both in one season. Both numbers have to land — that is what makes the club so small.

Also last night: Two go-ahead plays: Nick Sogard's tiebreaking home run in the 8th put the Red Sox ahead for good in a 6-5 win over the Orioles ▶︎ watch; Teoscar Hernández's walk-off double in the 9th beat the Cardinals 3-2 ▶︎ watch. Cal Quantrill allowed two hits over 7.0 scoreless innings (5 K) ▶︎ watch.

Went deep more than once: Adley Rutschman hit 2 home runs ▶︎ watch.

Seasons on a historic footing: Jacob Misiorowski (MIL), 13.18 strikeouts per nine innings, 5th among the 9,603 qualified seasons on file, behind four seasons, led by Gerrit Cole's 13.82 in 2019; Dylan Cease (TOR), 12.72 strikeouts per nine innings, 6th.

What changed from last season: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) — walk rate up from 4.7% to 11.9% (29 in 620 plate appearances in 2025, 73 in 616 this season); Jackson Merrill (SD) — stolen bases up from 1 in 115 games in 2025 to 24 in 137 this season; Nolan Arenado (AZ) — strikeout rate up from 12.2% to 22.8% (49 in 401 at-bats in 2025, 104 in 457 this season); Taylor Ward (SEA) — home-run rate down from 6.2% to 1.5% (36 in 579 at-bats in 2025, 7 in 482 this season). 4 of 820 rate comparisons across 158 qualified hitters and pitchers, corrected for having looked that many times.