Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (May 9-15).
Marte Party: Ketel Marte hit a home run from each side of the plate on Friday, one of which was 113.1 mph and the other was 113.0 mph. Marte is the second player with a homer of at least 110 mph from both sides of the plate in a game under Statcast (2015), joining Cal Raleigh on July 11, 2024, per MLB’s Jason Bernard. Raleigh’s were both 113-plus as well.
Shotime: Speaking of 113-mph home runs, Shohei Ohtani added another to his career with his dramatic go-ahead homer in the ninth inning on Friday. That was Ohtani’s 47th home run of at least 113 mph since the start of the 2021 season, including playoffs. Giancarlo Stanton has the next most during that span with 39.
deGrominant: Jacob deGrom had 10 strikeouts through four innings on Saturday. It was the fourth time in his career he had at least 10 strikeouts through four innings, tying Nolan Ryan for the second-most such games by any pitcher in the expansion era (1961), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Only Randy Johnson has done it more, with five.
Zeroes: The Padres won 21-0 at Coors Field on Saturday behind a shutout from Stephen Kolek. That is the largest win in a pitcher’s individual nine-inning shutout since Silver King for the St. Louis Browns on May 7, 1889, per Elias. His Browns also won, 21-0.
113 again: 113 mph home runs were all the rage this week. On Tuesday, Daulton Varsho hit a 113.9 mph home run and then followed it up with a 113.6 mph homer later in the game. Those are the two hardest-hit balls of his career. He’s also the first Blue Jays player with multiple homers of at least 113 mph in a game under Statcast.
Schwarbs: Kyle Schwarber had a 47-game on-base streak that ended on Wednesday. That was the fourth-longest on-base streak by a Phillies player since walks became an official stat for batters in the National League in 1910. He trailed only Mike Schmidt (56 in 1981-82), Chuck Klein (49 in 1930) and Bobby Abreu (48 in 2000-01).
Javy called game: Javier Báez had two home runs on Tuesday, including the walk-off. He became the sixth Tigers player with multiple home runs in a game, including a walk-off homer, over the last 30 seasons including playoffs. He joined Matt Vierling (5/26/24), Justin Upton (6/20/16), Magglio Ordonez (2006 ALCS Game 4), Carlos Guillén (9/12/06) and Damion Easley (9/17/98).
Frying hitters: Max Fried continued his stellar start on Tuesday. He has a 1.11 ERA. That is the lowest ERA by a Yankee in his first nine starts of a season since earned runs became official in 1913, surpassing Lefty Gomez's longstanding mark (1.27 ERA in 1937).
All rise: Aaron Judge hit a 117.7 mph home run on Wednesday for his 15th of the year. Judge has 11 career home runs of at least 117 mph. The only player with more under Statcast, including playoffs, is Stanton with 22. Judge enters the weekend hitting .412, the third-highest average by a player with at least 15 home runs in his team’s first 43 games. Only Mickey Mantle’s .419 in 1956 and Jimmie Foxx’s .415 in 1932 were higher.
Current Ironman: Matt Olson played 664 consecutive games through Thursday, dating to May 2, 2021. There have been only seven other streaks of at least 600 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), 1981-86 Dale Murphy (740), 1973-78 Rose (678) and 1969-73 Sandy Alomar Sr. (661).