Category Archives: Sluggers

September 22, 2024

Power Dodgers

The Dodgers to into the bottom of the ninth inning trailing the Rockies 5-4 with the top of the order due up. Shohei Ohtani leads off with his 53rd home run to tie the game, the Mookie Betts follows with his 19th home run to win the game. It’s a huge game, as the Padres won earlier. The two teams start a three-game series on Tuesday, and now the best the Padres can do is tie the Dodgers with a sweep.

Los Angeles hit four homers in the game to bring their NL leading total to 225. That’s 19 more than the Braves at 206.

Good homer power can be important in the post season, especially when both team employ good pitching. Since home runs don’t require long offensive sequences to score, they can make the difference in low scoring games.

September 19, 2024

Mr. 50-50

The Dodgers lead the Marlins 14-3 in the top of the eighth inning, and Shohei Ohtani already played a monster of a game. Early on he knocked out two doubles and stole a base, his 50th. He would add another steal before coming to bat in the sixth and seventh inning, homering in both for his 49th and 50th of the season. That puts him all alone in the 50-50 club.

Ohtani came into this game in a bit of an on base slump. Since the start of August he owned a .235 BA with a .298 OBP. Twenty three of his 42 went for extra bases, including sixteen home runs. If this game marks the return of Ohtani as a complete hitter, the Dodgers are looking much better going into the playoffs.

Update: The Dodgers win 20-4 as Ohtani hits a third home run in the game! He’s six for six with 17 total bases. He’s only the seventh player to record at least seventeen total bases in a game.

September 17, 2024

48-48 Club

Shohei Ohtani hit his 48th home run of the season to match his 48 steals. That gives him a power/speed number of 48, second all-time to Ronald Acuna Jr.in 2023. In looking at the top PS numbers, none of the top scores came with the same number of home runs and steals. Ohtani seems to have been even a number of times this season. Canseco in 1988 and Bonds in 1996 were both 42 home runs and 40 steals. Soriano in 2002 was 39 HR and 41 SB. Vladimir Guerrero in 2002 and Matt Kemp in 2011 were both 39 home runs and 40 steals. You need to go down to Shawn Green in 1998, who was 35-35. Maybe it’s a Dodgers thing.

Also, with the top two PS number coming in the era of bigger bases and limited pick offs, some people might see Alex Rodriguez‘s 1998 season of 42 homer and 46 steals, a 43.9 PS, as the best power-speed season of all time. On the other hand, most of the other high PS numbers came in the steroid era, so maybe this is a good ranking after all.

September 14, 2024

The Other Slugger

Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals gained on Aaron Judge of the Yankees in extra-base hits and total bases as Judge collect a double in the 7-1 Red Sox win, and Witt hit a double and a home run in a 5-1 win over the Pirates. Entering today, Judge led led Witt in extra-base hits by three and total bases by eight. Those leads are down to two and four.

Witt currently owns a .333/.385/.599 slash line to Judge’s .321/.453/.687 line. Witt is more likely to get a hit, but Judge swamps Witt in walks. Since they have about the same number of plate appearances (Witt leads by one), Judge’s AB denominator for slugging percentage is smaller, driving up the average with about the same number of total bases.

Judge as the offensive side won, but that’s a lot of power from a shortstop. We’ll see if the voters are sway by the position difference if the EXBH number stay this close.

September 13, 2024

Slump Breaker

Aaron Judge of the Yankees hits a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh to put New York up 5-4 on the Red Sox. This was Judge’s 17th came since his last home run. He got on base great, but he didn’t hit much.

September 2, 2024

Adames Attacks

Willy Adames of the Brewers homered in his fifth straight game Monday afternoon, helping the Brewers to a 9-3 win over the Cardinals. His barrage goes back further than that, however, as he he homered in consecutive games on August 25th and 27th. That makes him 12 for 38 in his last nine games, a .316 BA, with seven of those twelve hits home runs. That’s good for an .868 slugging percentage.

August 26, 2024

Royals Sweep

The Royals took game two of their doubleheader from the Guardians 9-4 to close Cleveland’s lead to one game. While young legend Bobby Witt Jr. proved the hero of game one, veteran legend Salvador Perez hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in six runs in game two. The Royals have plenty of opportunities to catch and pass Cleveland as they play two more games in this series and three games in Kansas City next week.

August 25, 2024

Three on A Match

Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton hit three solo home runs in a row in the bottom of the seventh inning to give New York a 7-3 lead over the Rockies. Stanton looks like he’s getting his swing back. If he stays healthy the rest of the season, that heart of the order is even scarier than it is with with Soto and Judge.

August 23, 2024

Judge Record Watch

Aaron Judge of the Yankees homered for the fourth straight game, pushing his total for the season to 49. That raises his probability of breaking his own AL record of 62 to 0.162, or about 1 in 6. He is on a pace for 62 homers, and his expected total is 60. He would be the first America League player to hit 60 homers twice.

In 2022, Judge hit 50 home runs through 129 games. His probability of 62 homers was just 0.108, however, because his Marcel home run probability per PA was just 0.057. This season it’s at 0.072.

The Yankees beat the Rockies 3-0.

August 22, 2024

Another Record

Aaron Judge of the Yankees hit another home run Thursday afternoon to bring his season total to 48. The three home runs in two days suddenly makes the possibility of setting a new American League HR record a possibility. You can follow the probability on this spreadsheet. In the last two days it went from 0.038 to 0.124. That’s one in eight which is not that long. Note that his intrinsic probability of a home run is based on his Musings Marcels.

The Yankees beat the Guardians 6-0, Gerrit Cole tossing six shutout innings, allowing one hit but five walks.

August 21, 2024

Two More for Dynamic Duo

The Yankees lead the Guardians 7-0 in the seventh inning as Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, the two-three hitters each go deep again. That gives Judge 46 homers and Soto 36. It makes the 2024 Yankees the 80 team with their top two teammates combining for 80 home runs. Their current pace puts them at a combined 105 for the season. That would be fourth all-time for a pair of teammates, behind the 1961 Yankees with Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle (115), the 2001 Giants with Barry Bonds and Rich Aurilia (110), and the 1927 Yankees with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig (107). The 1998 Cardinals and the 2002 Rangers are the only other teams to have a pair of players reach 100 HR.

Update: Judge hit a second home run in the game, bringing the total for the pair to 83. They are the 68th pair of teammates to reach that level. They now project to 106 home runs.

August 15, 2024

Power Surge

William Contreras of the Brewers continued his August heat with a two for four with a home run in a 6-4 against the Dodgers. After a weak July in which he slugged .395 on seven doubles and two home runs, he’s slugging .765, with 12 of his 15 hits going for extra bases; six doubles, a triple, and five home runs. That helped the Brewers to an 8-5 record in the month.

August 9, 2024

Power at the Top

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Colton Cowser hit a lead off home run for the Orioles Friday night against the Rays. That’s a home run by the first batter for a team in a game. It’s the 112th lead-off home run of the season in the majors, That ranks 12th since 1974, with about 45 games left to play.

If you sort by season, you can see when the shift to power hitters at the top of the order happened:

Season	Leadoff Home Runs
2024	111
2023	166
2022	151
2021	185
2020	68
2019	193
2018	150
2017	159
2016	156
2015	111
2014	88
2013	92
2012	114
2011	97
2010	69
2009	98
2008	103
2007	116
2006	119
2005	93
2004	116
2003	88
2002	94
2001	86
2000	93
1999	100
1998	76
1997	65
1996	89
1995	76
1994	52
1993	65
1992	59
1991	58
1990	57
1989	55
1988	61
1987	99
1986	85
1985	57
1984	44
1983	54
1982	48
1981	22
1980	42
1979	57
1978	48
1977	37
1976	39
1975	44
1974	34

Home runs, First Inning, First Batter, Thru Aug. 8, 2024

There were fits and starts from 2004 through 2015, but the homers starting games leaped to the next level in 2016 and stayed there. The top five in leadoff home runs since the start of the 2016 season are George Springer, Mookie Betts, Kyle Schwarber, Jose Altuve, and Ronald Acuna. I suspect only Altuve would have batted leadoff before 2000.

Update: Ian Happ leads off for the Cubs against the White Sox with a HR, number 113 on the season.

Update: George Springer also went deep in the first inning, bringing the total to 114. That ties 2012.

July 30, 2024

All That Jazz

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Jazz Chisholm Jr.of the Yankees just hit his second home run of the game to put New York up 5-4 on Philadelphia. That’s two games in a row with two home runs, and according to the broadcast, he is the first Yankees player to hit four home runs in his first three games.

July 25, 2024

Passing Judgement

Shohei Ohtani knocked out a double and a home run Thursday afternoon to help beat the Giants 6-4. That breaks the tie with Aaron Judge of the Yankees, giving Ohtani 62 EXBH to Judge’s 60. It looked like Judge was on his way to an historic EXBH season earlier in the year, but he slowed lately, and now it will be a race for both sluggers to see if either can reach 100 extras for the season.

Clayton Kershaw pitched four innings in his return, giving up six hit while walking two and striking out six. The Giants managed to score two runs against him.

July 14, 2024

Pieces of Eight

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The Oakland Athletics hit eight home runs to beat the Phillies 18-3. It was the most home runs in a game for the team this century:

The last team to hit at least eight home runs in a game were the Cincinnati Reds in September of 1999, when they hit nine against the Phillies. The MLB record is 10 home runs, set by the Blue Jays in 1987.
ESPN.com

Three Oakland batters produced multi-home run games. Seth Brown and Brent Rooker hit two each, while leadoff man Lawrence Butler hit three. Butler in his second season, owns .211 BAs in both years, but up his slugging percentage this year from .341 to .406. He’s the seventh player with a three-home run game this season. There were 15 in total in 2023.

Oakland is now 37-61 on the season, ten wins better than at 98 games in 2023. They could still win 100 games. 🙂

July 13, 2024

200 for Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani just hit his 200th career home run. The solo shot in the top of the fifth down the rightfield line gives the Dodgers a 3-2 lead over the Tigers. He’s the first Japanese born player to reach that milestone. With nearly 800 games played, that a home run once every four games.

June 30, 2024

How to Slam

With the Brewers hitting five grand slams in an eight game stretch, manager Pat Murphy tried to elaborate on the sudden success with the bases loaded. His first stab was in jest:

“We made a huge adjustment with the bases loaded,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy quipped after the game. “It’s a secret plan — how to hit home runs with the base loaded. It’s been working. We bought it. It was a recipe online, and we got it.”
ESPN.com

He then got serious:

After joking initially about Milwaukee’s reversal of fortune, Murphy noted that the Brewers are doing a better job of waiting for the right pitches in those situations.

“Most homers are thrown,” Murphy said. “I think if you look at all those grand slams that we’ve hit, I think you see where the pitches are, and you’ve got to be ready when you get that opportunity. Sometimes you don’t get the opportunity because you swing at a different pitch to get yourself out. If you get that pitch, you’ve got an opportunity to do something special.”

The Brewers now lead the majors with six grand slams.

June 12, 2024

S&M Padres

Donovan Solano and Jackson Merrill of the Padres hit two home runs each for the Padres in a 5-4, come from behind win over the Athletics. Solano’s second shot, a two run homer, tied the game at four. Jackson’s second shot broke the tie in the bottom of the ninth, the second walk-off homer for San Diego in as many days.

The pair drove in all five San Diego runs.

June 3, 2024

Triple Tear

Daulton Varsho of the Blue Jays drove in the team’s first run of the evening with his third triple of the season. That matches his career single season high, reached in both 2022 and 2023. He also hit all three in his last ten games. He only collected nine hits so far, but six of them went for extra bases.

The Orioles lead the game 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning.

May 25, 2024

You Can’t Even Hope to Contain Him

Aaron Judge homers in the top of the first inning of the Yankees game at the Padres. His two-run shot puts New York up 2-0. It is his 22nd extra-base hit of May, and he’s now homered in three straight games. He did not get an EXBH in his first three games of May, so those 22 have come in his last 20 games. He came into today with a .945 slugging percentage in the month.

Update: Judge doubles in the fourth inning for his 23rd EXBH of the month. He’s the 17th batter since 1920 to have 23 extra-base hits in May.

May 23, 2024

Seven Games in May

Aaron Judge of the Yankees homered and doubled in the 5-0 win over the Mariners, the Yankees earning a series split. Judge now owns 20 extra-base hits in May 2024. He’s the 94th player since from 1920 on to collect at least 20 extra-base hits in May. It’s not unusual in terms of it happening in a season, but it is unusual given the number of total players who have competed in June over the seasons.

The most EXBH in May in that time frame belongs to Ty Cobb who collected 26 in May 1921. The Yankees have seven games left in May, so Judge would need to average an extra-base hit per game to pass Cobb.

May 11, 2024

Letting Jeffers Hit

Ryan Jeffers of the Twins leads the AL in slugging percentage at .609. In his first few seasons in the majors, Jeffers shared catching duties, but was seldom the main starter. Last season, his age 26 year, he greatly increased his OBP and BA, and that raised his slugging percentage to a respectable .491. This season, the Twins decided to keep Jeffers bat in the lineup by having him DH when he’s not catching, and playing nearly everyday improved everything, especially is power. He is among the AL leaders in doubles and extra-base hits, and owns eight home runs as well. It’s good Minnesota finally let this fine hitter play to his potential.

May 8, 2024

Extra Witt

Bobby Witt Jr. doubled and homered Wednesday afternoon to help the Royals beat the Brewers 6-4. That gives Witt five games with multiple extra base hits this season. That’s second only to Shohei Ohtani, with six.

April 21, 2024

Ohtani Record

Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers hit the 176th home run of his MLB career. That’s the new record for a player born in Japan, passing Hideki Matsui. I’ll note that Matsui came to the majors in his age 29 season, at the end of his prime. Ohtani arrived at seasonal age 23, so he got to spend his entire prime in the major leagues.

The Dodgers beat the Mets 10-0.

April 8, 2024

Crickets

There is nothing new about the Shohei Ohtani gambling investigation, but Ohtani did reveal he is using a cricket type bat to train. He came into Monday night’s game eight for 17 with five extra-base hits and a walk in his last four games. So far tonight he is 3 for 4 against the Twins with two doubles and a home run. The Dodgers lead 4-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Update: Ohtani goes 3 for 5 in the game, the Dodgers winning 4-2.

October 28, 2023

Moreno Homers

Gabriel Moreno of Diamondbacks gets the first run across the plate in Game 2 as he homers in the top of the forth inning. Arizona leads Texas 1-0.

Update: Tommy Pham doubles and Lourdes Gurriel Jr singles him in, and the Diamondbacks extend their lead to 2-0.

October 24, 2023

Post Correction

When I posted that Adolis Garcia set a record with a four game home run streak I was in error. I was running code that was only looking at current streaks. The record is held by Daniel Murphy who homered in six straight games in 2015. My apologies.

October 21, 2023

Realmuto Answers

JT Realmuto answers the Diamondbacks home run with a two-run shot of his own in the top of the eighth inning, down the line in leftfield. He now has a home run in each round and is slugging over .500 for the post-season.

The Phillies lead the Diamondbacks 6-1.

October 21, 2023

Schwarber Breaks the Extra Slump

Kyle Schwarber leads off the top of the sixth inning with the longest home run of the post-season, and his fifth of this NLCS. That breaks the drought of extra base hits in this game; each team came into the inning with just three singles. The Phillies lead the Diamondbacks 3-0.

Update: Two batters later Bryce Harper hits another massive home run to increase the lead to 4-0. Harper’s home run was 17 feet short of Schwarber’s.