Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (August 1-7).
JULIOOO: Julio Rodríguez hit his 20th home run of the season on Sunday, becoming the first player with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in each of his first four seasons in MLB history. Meanwhile, teammate Randy Arozarena has already reached the 20-20 mark this year. It is the fifth time a pair of teammates each had 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases through the team’s first 113 games, joining Shawn Green and Jose Canseco in 1998 (Blue Jays), Dante Bichette and Ellis Burks in 1996 (Rockies) and Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson in 1987 and 1988 (Mets).
High heat: At 102.5 mph, Jhoan Duran’s game-ending strikeout on Sunday Night Baseball was the fastest by a Phillies pitcher under pitch tracking (since 2008). His 103.3 mph and 102.7 mph pitches earlier in the at-bat were the two fastest pitches by a Phillie in that span. The 102.5 mph fastball, which he threw twice, is tied for third on that list with José Alvarado.
Age is just a number: Justin Verlander dialed it up with a 98.3 mph pitch on Monday. It was his fastest pitch since Game 1 of the 2022 ALCS when he had a 98.5 mph heater. The 98.3 mph mark is the second-fastest pitch by a pitcher at age 42 or older under pitch tracking, behind only Fernando Rodney at 98.8 mph on July 4, 2019.
Stantonian: Giancarlo Stanton hit a classic home run on Monday, at 115 mph and a 17-degree launch angle. The laser home run is what he is known for. It was his 24th home run at a launch angle of 17 degrees or lower under Statcast (2015, including playoffs), 11 more than anyone else.
Spinning a Web(b): Logan Webb had another outing with at least 10 strikeouts and no walks on Tuesday, the sixth of his career. The only other Giants pitcher with at least six such outings in the last 125 seasons is Madison Bumgarner (12). Webb now has four outings with 10 strikeouts and no walks this season, the most by a Giants pitcher in the last 125 seasons, breaking a tie with 2022 Carlos Rodón, 2021 Kevin Gausman and 2016/2012 Bumgarner.
What a day: Shea Langeliers hit three home runs in his first career game out of the leadoff spot on Tuesday. He is the first player since at least 1900 to have three homers in his first career game starting at leadoff, per the Elias Sports Bureau. He is the second catcher with a three-homer game out of the leadoff spot, joining Travis d’Arnaud on July 15, 2019. Langeliers racked up 15 total bases, tied for the most by a catcher in a game since at least 1900, with Wes Westrum (June 24, 1950) and Walker Cooper (July 6, 1949).
Shotime: Shohei Ohtani homered for his 1,000th career hit on Wednesday. It was his 39th homer of the season, passing Duke Snider (1955) for the most through the Dodgers’ first 115 games in franchise history. Of Ohtani’s 39 homers, 35 have been out of the leadoff spot, four more than any other player in MLB history in his team’s first 115 games.
King Vaughn: Andrew Vaughn has had an outstanding start to his tenure in Milwaukee. He has notched 28 RBIs in his first 22 games with the Brewers. That is tied for the fifth-most in a player’s first 22 games with a franchise since RBIs became an official stat in 1920, per Elias. Mandy Brooks had 31 RBIs in 1925 for the Cubs, Reb Russell had 30 RBIs in 1922 for the Pirates, Mark Teixeira had 29 RBIs in 2007 for the Braves and Moises Alou had 29 RBIs in 1997 for the Marlins.
Current Ironman: Matt Olson has played 734 consecutive games entering Friday, dating to May 2, 2021. There have been only seven other streaks of at least 600 in the Divisional Era (1969), per Elias. They belong to Cal Ripken Jr. (2,632 consecutive games from 1982-98), Steve Garvey (1,207 from 1975-83), Miguel Tejada (1,152 from 2000-07), Pete Rose (745 from 1978-83 and 678 from 1973-78), Dale Murphy (740 from 1981-86) and Sandy Alomar Sr. (661 from 1969-73).
