Historic Chases · 2026-09-09

Kyle Schwarber (PHI) hit a grand slam — and drove in 4 runs. Schwarber has struck out 203 times, projecting to 225. 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 (44) — one every 11.9 at-bats. The strikeouts are the price of the power.

The Dodgers have won 7 straight, and are 8-2 in their last 10.

The so-what: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) is on a 40/40 pace — 41 HR and 36 SB, projecting to 45/40. Only five players have ever done it: Canseco, Bonds, A-Rod, Soriano, and Ohtani. Power and speed in the same season is the whole story from here.

Seasons on a historic footing: Jacob Misiorowski (MIL), 13.17 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), 12.66 strikeouts per nine innings, 7th.

Also last night: A.J. Ewing's tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the 7th put the Mets ahead for good in a 15-14 win over the Marlins ▶︎ watch; Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD) struck out 10 over 7.0 IP ▶︎ watch; Rico Garcia has not allowed a run in his last 12 innings.

Went deep more than once: Jackson Merrill (SD) hit 2 home runs, driving in 6 ▶︎ watch.

What changed from last season: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) — walk rate up from 4.7% to 11.8% (29 in 620 plate appearances in 2025, 76 in 642 this season); Jackson Merrill (SD) — stolen bases up from 1 in 115 games in 2025 to 25 in 143 this season; Nolan Arenado (AZ) — strikeout rate up from 12.2% to 22.6% (49 in 401 at-bats in 2025, 108 in 478 this season); Taylor Ward (SEA) — home-run rate down from 6.2% to 1.4% (36 in 579 at-bats in 2025, 7 in 488 this season). 4 of 802 rate comparisons across 155 qualified hitters and pitchers, corrected for having looked that many times.

Lines of the night: Elly De La Cruz (CIN) homered for the 26th time — four homers and five steals from a 30/30 season; Fernando Tatis Jr. (881) passed Chase Headley (879) on the Padres' all-time hits list; George Lombard Jr. hit a grand slam — his first — and drove in 4 runs ▶︎ watch; The New York Mets hung 15 runs on the Miami Marlins (15-14); Shay Whitcomb's tiebreaking double in the 8th put the Giants ahead for good in a 7-6 win over the Cardinals ▶︎ watch.

Sweep watch: the Dodgers swept the Reds (3 games) — their 4th sweep in 24 days. Only 11.2% of team-seasons since 1897 have swept 4 clubs inside 30 days — 340 of 3043. 4 other clubs were swept the same night.