Historic Chases · 2026-09-11

Overnight: Kyle Schwarber (PHI) added 3 strikeouts. Schwarber has struck out 208 times, projecting to 228. 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 12.1 at-bats. The strikeouts are the price of the power.

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

The so-what: CJ Abrams (WSH) is on a 30/30 pace — 30 HR and 28 SB, projecting to 33/30. Power and speed usually live in different bodies, which is why fewer than fifty players have ever managed both in one season. 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.

HISTORY LAST NIGHT: Xander Bogaerts reached 1,000 career runs; Justin Martinez threw an IMMACULATE INNING (inning 6: 3 K on 9 pitches) — immaculate innings (3 strikeouts on 9 pitches) happen about 4 times a season ▶︎ watch.

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, 77 in 647 this season); Jackson Merrill (SD) — stolen bases up from 1 in 115 games in 2025 to 26 in 144 this season; Taylor Ward (SEA) — home-run rate down from 6.2% to 1.4% (36 in 579 at-bats in 2025, 7 in 489 this season); Nolan Arenado (AZ) — strikeout rate up from 12.2% to 22.5% (49 in 401 at-bats in 2025, 108 in 481 this season). 4 of 802 rate comparisons across 155 qualified hitters and pitchers, corrected for having looked that many times.

Also last night: Dustin May allowed two hits over 6.0 scoreless innings (6 K) ▶︎ watch; Yunior Marte went 5.0 scoreless ▶︎ watch; Matt Olson (ATL) homered for the first time since August 26, ending a 14-game drought — his 38th of the season.

Went deep more than once: Chase Meidroth hit 2 home runs — his first career multi-homer game ▶︎ watch.

Lines of the night: The Milwaukee Brewers hung 20 runs on the Cincinnati Reds (20-0); ONE GAME produced all of it: Garrett Mitchell hit a grand slam — his first; Brice Turang (MIL) drove in 4 runs; William Contreras drove in 6 runs ▶︎ watch; Kyle Tucker hit a grand slam — and drove in 5 runs ▶︎ watch; Donovan Walton's walk-off home run in the 10th beat the Mariners 6-5 ▶︎ watch; Jorbit Vivas' tiebreaking double in the 8th put the Nationals ahead for good in a 4-3 win over the Angels ▶︎ watch.

History movers: Dodgers — Win Streak: 8 now, modern record 22 (Cleveland Indians, 2017).