Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (Sept. 12-18).
All Rise: Aaron Judge’s home run on Friday was the 362nd of his career, breaking a tie with Joe DiMaggio for fourth most in Yankees history. It came in the first inning, Judge’s 19th first-inning homer of the season. Judge’s 19 first-inning home runs this season are the most in a single inning in a season in MLB history.
Patty Barrels: Patrick Bailey ended the game in dramatic fashion on Friday, crushing a walk-off grand slam. He had a walk-off inside-the-park homer earlier this season. He became the first player in MLB history with a walk-off inside-the-park home run and a walk-off grand slam on separate plays in a season. It is worth noting that Roberto Clemente had both on one play on July 25, 1956.
Soto homer: Juan Soto hit his 40th home run of the season on Saturday. Soto became the first player with a 40-homer season for both the Yankees and Mets. He’s also the third player with at least 40 home runs, 30 stolen bases and 115 walks in at least one season in MLB history. It was also done by 1999 and ‘97 Jeff Bagwell and 1996-97 Barry Bonds.
Stay fair!: Nick Kurtz hit a 493-foot home run on Saturday. That was the longest home run in the Majors since Shohei Ohtani on June 30, 2023 (also 493 feet). It was the A’s longest home run under Statcast (2015) as well as the longest grand slam by anyone in that span. The only rookie with a longer home run than Kurtz under Statcast was Aaron Judge, twice in 2017.
Crochet-ing: After his start on Sunday Night Baseball, Garrett Crochet has 240 strikeouts and has allowed 59 runs. He is the fourth pitcher with at least 230 strikeouts and fewer than 60 runs allowed in his first 30 outings with a team, joining Chris Sale (2024-25 Braves), Justin Verlander (2017-18 Astros) and Roger Clemens (1997 Blue Jays).
Schwarbs: Kyle Schwarber hit his 53rd home run of the season on Monday, and it came off a lefty. It was his 22nd home run off a left-handed pitcher this season, tying 2021 Matt Olson and 1949 Stan Musial for the most homers by a lefty batter against lefty pitchers in a season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Corbin Barrels: Corbin Carroll reached 30 doubles on Monday, giving him at least 30 doubles, 15 triples and 30 home runs this season. He is the 10th player to reach those marks in a season in MLB history, joining Jimmy Rollins (2007), Stan Musial (1948), Joe DiMaggio (1937), Hank Greenberg (1935), Chuck Klein (1932), Lou Gehrig (1927, 1930, 1931), Al Simmons (1930), Jim Bottomley (1928) and Babe Ruth (1921).
Double Dumper: Cal Raleigh hit his 55th and 56th home runs of the season on Tuesday, passing 1961 Mickey Mantle (54) for the most by a switch-hitter in a season. Raleigh has 10 multi-homer games this season, one shy of tying the MLB single-season record of 11, held by Aaron Judge (2022), Sammy Sosa (1998) and Hank Greenberg (1938).
50-50: Shohei Ohtani established another 50-50 club on Tuesday, this one for 50 home runs hit and 50 strikeouts as a pitcher. The only other 50-homer hitter with any strikeouts as a pitcher that season is 1921 Babe Ruth, with three strikeouts. Ohtani is the first player with 50 home runs in consecutive seasons since Alex Rodriguez in 2001-02. The only other players to do that are Sammy Sosa (1998-2001), Ken Griffey Jr. (1997-98), Mark McGwire (1996-99) and Ruth (1920-21, 1927-28). Judge is on the verge of joining that list as well.
Current Iron Man: Matt Olson has played 773 consecutive games entering Friday, dating to May 2, 2021. There have been only five other streaks of at least 700 to begin in the divisional era (1969), per Elias. They belong to 1982-98 Cal Ripken Jr (2,632 consecutive games), 1975-83 Steve Garvey (1,207), 2000-07 Miguel Tejada (1,152), 1978-83 Pete Rose (745) and 1981-86 Dale Murphy (740).
