The season book

The 2026 Regular Season

The season as it finished, kept from the Oct. 1 boards that hold its final totals, so it reads the same after the next season starts. What made it unusual is listed with how often each thing happens in an average season, and its leaders are placed against history where the history covers them.

Nightly reports are on file from March 25 through Sept. 25 (182 nights). The reports for the season's last days, after Sept. 25, are missing, so moments from those days are not in the lists below; the final totals, leaders and verdicts are complete. Counts are of what is on file, so they are floors.

The verdicts

How it finished

Colson Montgomery finished with 227 strikeouts, a single-season record, past Mark Reynolds' 223 (2009).

Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) led the majors in WAR for the regular season, at 10.6 by MLB's figure.

AL Triple Crown: no winner. Yordan Alvarez won the batting title at .316; Pete Alonso led in home runs (43) and RBI (113).

NL Triple Crown: no winner. Kyle Schwarber and Pete Crow-Armstrong shared the home run lead at 45; Gabriel Moreno won the batting title at .311; Alec Burleson led in RBI at 116.

Against history

Jacob Misiorowski's 0.80 WHIP is second-best among 7,363 seasons of 162 or more innings since 1920, behind Pedro Martinez's 0.74 in 2000.

Jacob Misiorowski's 12.98 strikeouts per nine innings is fifth-best among 7,363 seasons of 162 or more innings since 1920; the best is Gerrit Cole's 13.82 in 2019.

The extremes

Fastest pitch: Jacob Misiorowski, 105.5 mph (four-seam fastball), June 26.

Hardest-hit ball: Oneil Cruz, 119.0 mph (double), April 16.

Longest hit: Fernando Tatis Jr., 474 feet (home run), July 21.

What seasons usually do not do

The record book

Single-season records

1 on file

  1. Sept. 25Colson Montgomery reached 224 strikeouts, passing Mark Reynolds' single-season record of 223 (2009)

Power-and-speed clubs

3 on file

  1. Sept. 18CJ Abrams stole his 30th base to complete a 30/30 season
  2. Sept. 24Pete Crow-Armstrong stole his 40th base to complete a 40/40 season (45 home runs, 40 stolen bases)
  3. Sept. 25Elly De La Cruz stole his 30th base to complete a 30/30 season

No-hitters

1 on file

About 3.9 in an average season

  1. May 25The Astros threw a no-hitter against the Rangers

Cycles

4 on file

About 4.2 in an average season

  1. June 15Pete Crow-Armstrong hit for the cycle (4-for-4, HR, 3B, 2B, 1B)
  2. June 20Bryce Harper hit for the cycle (4-for-5, HR, 3B, 2B, 1B)
  3. July 10Tristan Peters hit for the cycle (4-for-4, HR, 3B, 2B, 1B)
  4. Aug. 22JJ Bleday hit for the cycle (4-for-6, HR, 3B, 2B, 1B)

Immaculate innings

5 on file

About 4.0 in an average season

  1. March 30Michael Soroka threw an immaculate inning in the fifth
  2. July 23Gavin Williams threw an immaculate inning in the fourth
  3. Aug. 25Taj Bradley threw an immaculate inning in the fifth
  4. Sept. 11Justin Martinez threw an immaculate inning in the sixth
  5. Sept. 13Payton Tolle threw an immaculate inning in the first

Walk-off grand slams

6 on file

About 4.7 in an average season

  1. March 28Dominic Smith hit a walk-off grand slam
  2. April 9Xander Bogaerts hit a walk-off grand slam
  3. May 13Daulton Varsho hit a walk-off grand slam
  4. May 24Heriberto Hernández hit a walk-off grand slam
  5. June 10Bryce Eldridge hit a walk-off grand slam
  6. July 30Kody Clemens hit a walk-off grand slam

Triple plays

1 on file

About 2.3 in an average season

  1. July 21A triple play was turned with Jose Altuve at bat

A run in every inning

1 on file

About once every five seasons

  1. July 28The Tigers scored in every inning they batted

Fifteen-strikeout games

1 on file

About 3.2 in an average season

  1. June 12Jacob Misiorowski struck out 15 in nine innings

Twenty-run games

2 on file

About 3.7 in an average season

  1. Aug. 18The Brewers beat the Mariners 22-0
  2. Sept. 11The Brewers beat the Reds 20-0

Complete-game one-hitters

2 on file

About 3.5 in an average season

  1. Aug. 16Noah Cameron threw a complete-game one-hitter with eight strikeouts
  2. Sept. 25Eury Pérez threw a complete-game one-hitter with eight strikeouts

Final totals

The leaders

Batting

Batting average

  1. .316Yordan Alvarez HOU
  2. .311Gabriel Moreno AZ
  3. .310Luis Arraez PHI

Batting

Home runs

  1. 45Kyle Schwarber PHI
  2. 45Pete Crow-Armstrong CHC
  3. 43Pete Alonso BAL

Batting

RBI

  1. 116Alec Burleson STL
  2. 113Pete Alonso BAL
  3. 112Sal Stewart CIN

Batting

Hits

  1. 191Otto Lopez MIA
  2. 185Luis Arraez PHI
  3. 181Fernando Tatis Jr. SD

Batting

Runs

  1. 119Pete Crow-Armstrong CHC
  2. 113Randy Arozarena SEA
  3. 106James Wood WSH
  4. 106Miguel Vargas CWS

Batting

Stolen bases

  1. 49Nasim Nuñez WSH
  2. 46Chandler Simpson TB
  3. 45Bobby Witt Jr. KC

Batting

Doubles

  1. 40Bryan Reynolds PIT
  2. 38Wilyer Abreu BOS
  3. 37Alec Burleson STL
  4. 37Brice Turang MIL

Batting

Triples

  1. 17Corbin Carroll AZ
  2. 13Jake McCarthy COL
  3. 9Geraldo Perdomo AZ
  4. 9Otto Lopez MIA

Pitching

Strikeouts

  1. 252Jacob Misiorowski MIL
  2. 248Gavin Williams CLE
  3. 239Cam Schlittler NYY
  4. 239Dylan Cease TOR

Pitching

Wins

  1. 18Cristopher Sánchez PHI
  2. 18Sonny Gray BOS
  3. 16Drew Rasmussen TB
  4. 16Eduardo Rodriguez AZ
  5. 16Jacob Misiorowski MIL

Pitching

Saves

  1. 41Bryan Baker TB
  2. 41Cade Smith CLE
  3. 38Mason Miller SD
  4. 38Riley O'Brien STL

Pitching

ERA

  1. 1.80Jacob Misiorowski MIL
  2. 1.95Cam Schlittler NYY
  3. 2.16Chris Sale ATL

Pitching

WHIP

  1. 0.80Jacob Misiorowski MIL
  2. 0.87Yoshinobu Yamamoto LAD
  3. 0.91Drew Rasmussen TB

Pitching

Strikeouts per nine

  1. 12.98Jacob Misiorowski MIL
  2. 12.73Dylan Cease TOR
  3. 12.11Gavin Williams CLE

Thirty clubs

The clubs

Best records

Brewers, 103-59 (run differential +214)

Dodgers, 100-62 (run differential +201)

Rays, 98-64 (run differential +86)

Worst records

Rockies, 58-104 (run differential -192)

Angels, 62-100 (run differential -97)

Athletics, 64-98 (run differential -238)

Longest winning streaks

Red Sox: 15 straight wins (July 3-22), level with the franchise record (15).

Cubs: 10 straight wins (April 14-24).

Phillies: nine straight wins (Aug. 13-23).

Rays: nine straight wins (June 24-July 3).

Most sweeps

Rays: 16 sweeps.

Dodgers: 12 sweeps.

Red Sox: 11 sweeps.

Careers, checked against each player's total before the season

Milestones reached

  1. July 5Jacob deGrom reached 100 career wins
  2. By Aug. 31Mookie Betts reached 300 career home runs
  3. By Aug. 31Jeff McNeil reached 1,000 career hits
  4. By Aug. 31Merrill Kelly reached 1,000 career strikeouts
  5. Sept. 5Jacob deGrom reached 2,000 career strikeouts
  6. By Sept. 9Jose Altuve reached 2,500 career hits
  7. By Sept. 11Xander Bogaerts reached 1,000 career runs
  8. By Sept. 11Robbie Ray reached 100 career wins
  9. Sept. 15Pete Alonso reached 300 career home runs
  10. By Sept. 22Zack Wheeler reached 2,000 career strikeouts
  11. By Sept. 22Christian Walker reached 200 career home runs

Ranked the way the nightly page ranked them

The top stories

  1. Sept. 24Pete Crow-Armstrong stole his 40th base to complete a 40/40 season (45 home runs, 40 stolen bases)
  2. Sept. 25Colson Montgomery reached 224 strikeouts, passing Mark Reynolds' single-season record of 223 (2009)
  3. June 15Pete Crow-Armstrong hit for the cycle (4-for-4, HR, 3B, 2B, 1B)
  4. June 20Bryce Harper hit for the cycle (4-for-5, HR, 3B, 2B, 1B)
  5. July 10Tristan Peters hit for the cycle (4-for-4, HR, 3B, 2B, 1B)
  6. Aug. 22JJ Bleday hit for the cycle (4-for-6, HR, 3B, 2B, 1B)
  7. Sept. 18CJ Abrams stole his 30th base to complete a 30/30 season
  8. Sept. 25Elly De La Cruz stole his 30th base to complete a 30/30 season
  9. May 25The Astros threw a no-hitter against the Rangers
  10. Aug. 18The Brewers beat the Mariners 22-0
  11. Sept. 11The Brewers beat the Reds 20-0

The arc

Month by month

March

March 28: Dominic Smith hit a walk-off grand slam

March 29: Yandy Díaz went 5-for-6

March 30: Michael Soroka threw an immaculate inning in the fifth

April

April 9: Xander Bogaerts hit a walk-off grand slam

April 10: Max Muncy hit three home runs

April 24: Paul Skenes took a perfect game into the seventh — broken up by a single

May

May 13: Daulton Varsho hit a walk-off grand slam

May 24: Heriberto Hernández hit a walk-off grand slam

May 25: The Astros threw a no-hitter against the Rangers

June

June 10: Bryce Eldridge hit a walk-off grand slam

June 15: Pete Crow-Armstrong hit for the cycle (4-for-4, HR, 3B, 2B, 1B)

June 20: Bryce Harper hit for the cycle (4-for-5, HR, 3B, 2B, 1B)

July

July 10: Tristan Peters hit for the cycle (4-for-4, HR, 3B, 2B, 1B)

July 21: A triple play was turned with Jose Altuve at bat

July 23: Gavin Williams threw an immaculate inning in the fourth

August

Aug. 18: The Brewers beat the Mariners 22-0

Aug. 22: JJ Bleday hit for the cycle (4-for-6, HR, 3B, 2B, 1B)

September

Sept. 24: Pete Crow-Armstrong stole his 40th base to complete a 40/40 season (45 home runs, 40 stolen bases)

Sept. 25: Colson Montgomery reached 224 strikeouts, passing Mark Reynolds' single-season record of 223 (2009)