Game Notes – 06/17/2025

Scooping up all the seasons from 1893 through 2024 and then sifting through to keep only the most productive offensive campaigns from catchers, one would be left with just 68 lines that were styled in the form of at least 100 games behind the plate and an OPS of at least .900.  There are a lot of instances in which multiple catchers appear in the same year – that first happened in 1930, when future Hall of Famers Mickey Cochrane and Gabby Hartnett made the cut (and cuts).  This century has kept that theme going; in 2000, it was Charles Johnson, Jorge Posada and Mike Piazza who did the work; 2003 saw Posada paired with Javy López; 2006 introduced Joe Mauer and Brian McCann as a pairing; and then 2012 incorporated Buster Posey and Carlos Ruiz.  Since that season, no catcher – let alone multiple backstops – has cracked the .900 in at least 100 formula.  Right now, as 2025’s midway point comes into focus, there are two in the running.

Cal Raleigh hit his second grand slam of the year and 27th overall four-bagger to lead the Mariners to an 8-0 win (he also doubled in two runs).  Both his 27 home runs and 60 RBI are the best in the AL.  

~In league history, there’s one AL catcher (at least half of his games in a season behind the dish) to finish a campaign leading the league in homers and RBI:  Salvador Perez (48 and 121) in 2021.

~With Raleigh’s second slam of the year, the Mariners have hit six this season (second in the Majors, after the Diamondbacks’ eight).  The 1996 and 2000 Seattle teams share the franchise high mark for slams in one year, with 11.

~Raleigh’s OPS sits just shy of 1.000, currently at .998.  Since 1893, a player has finished a season with at least 100 games* at catcher and a raw OPS of at least 1.000 on nine occasions:

1.070    Mike Piazza in 1997

1.065    Javy López in 2003

1.045    Bill Dickey in 1936

1.034    Gabby Hartnett in 1930

1.031    Joe Mauer in 2009

1.012    Mike Piazza in 2000

1.006    Roy Campanella in 1953

1.006    Mike Piazza in 1995

1.001    Chris Hoiles in 1993

*Currently, Raleigh has 56 games at catcher

Will Smith singled, doubled and homered in the Dodgers’ win over the Padres, lifting his slash line to .330/.426/.521 in 235 plate appearances.  Before Smith in 2025, 13 Dodgers since 1901 closed out the club’s 74th game of the year with equal or better numbers in all three categories (and had a minimum of 229 plate appearances).  Positionally, the collection arranges itself like this:

OF:  Zack Wheat (1924), Babe Herman (1929, 1930), Pete Reiser (1941), Duke Snider (1954), Jackie                      Robinson (1954) Gary Sheffield (2000), Cody Bellinger (2019)

1B:  Jack Fournier (1925), Nomar Garciaparra (2006)

2B:  Jackie Robinson (1950, 1951)

C:    Mike Piazza (1997), Will Smith (2025)

Cam Smith singled, doubled, homered twice and posted three runs and three RBI – the main feature in Houston’s 13-3 win.

~Smith has played in 59 big league ballgames and has produced a pair of multi-homer efforts.  There is one Astro who can boast of something more impressive – Yordan Alvarez, who had three multi-homer lines by the time he had 59 games on his career ledger.  

~Smith was 22 years and 115 days old for this star turn. There are a couple of Astros who can one-up him when it comes to being really young and authoring a line featuring at least 11 total bases, at least three RBI and at least three runs scored.  

Joe Morgan          21 years and 292 days old on July 8, 1965 (13 TB, 4 R, 3 RBI)

Yordan Alvarez     22 years and 44 days old on August 10, 2019 (12 TB, 4 R, 7 RBI)

Cam Smith           22 years and 115 days old on June 17, 2025 (11 TB, 3 R, 3 RBI)

Bryan Woo allowed one hit over seven scoreless innings and got the win in Seattle’s victory on Tuesday.  Earlier this season, Woo allowed one hit in six-and-a-third scoreless innings.  Since the start of the 2010 campaign, there are 21 pitchers who’ve enjoyed a season in which they had at least three outings featuring at least six innings, no runs and no more than one hit allowed.*  Dylan Cease – with five such appearances in 2024 and four in 2022 – is the only pitcher among this 21 with more than three.  As for those with exactly three in a year, there is one Mariners representative:  Luis Castillo in 2023.

*In 2025, Woo is tied with Max Fried, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Merrill Kelly for the most such appearances, each with two.

Michael Toglia (2 HR) and five of his teammates went yard to power the Rockies past the Nationals and tie the franchise record for longballs in a game.  Before this barrage, that franchise high of seven had been reached twice:  

*Against the Nationals’ former identity, the Expos, on April 5, 1997 (like this game in 2025, that one saw the Rockies on the road)

*While hosting the Reds on May 31, 2016

~The six players going deep in this contest in 2025 are the most ever for the franchise.  

Kyle Hendricks (6 IP, 4 H) and three relievers combined on a four-hitter as the Angels blanked the Yankees, 4-0.

~The effort came a game after the Angels beat the Yankees, 1-0.  This two-game run marks the fourth time in the Halos’ history the club has posted back-to-back team shutouts against New York, following sets in 1984, 1996 and 1999.  

~Over the last 30 seasons, the Angels are 115-122 (.485) against the Yankees – the best winning percentage for any AL team against New York and the second best overall, after the Dodgers’ .520 (in 25 games).  

In New York’s loss, Will Warren allowed three runs while striking out 11 with no walks.  The right-hander is the 48th Yankee to post a no-walk line with at least 11 K’s and one of six to do so while shouldering a loss.  His companions in the small club:  Roger Clemens (2000), Masahiro Tanaka (2017), James Paxton (2019), Gerrit Cole (2022) and Michael King (2023).  

Immediately after Bo Bichette tied the game with a solo homer, Addison Barger walked things off with one of his own – a dramatic reversal of outcome in Toronto’s 5-4 win over Arizona.  Barger was in the spotlight the last time the Blue Jays hit back-to-back home runs to tie and win the game.  On August 23, 2024, Joey Loperfido tied things up before Barger’s solo homer gave the Jays a 5-4 win against the Angels.  

TJ Friedl doubled in two runs to aid in the Reds’ 6-5 win on Tuesday and now owns an .821 OPS as the club’s leadoff hitter this season.  In the modern era, there are nine Reds who’ve posted a better mark (with a minimum of 400 plate appearances) for an entire season, with Pete Rose responsible for six of those (including the high bar, a .941 in 1969).  

In the Braves 5-4 win over the Mets, Juan Soto singled, homered and walked while Ronald Acuña, Jr. singled and drew three walks.  Soto is playing in his age-26 season and owns a career 159 OPS+ in more than 4,400 plate appearances.  His counterpart in this note is playing in his age-27 season and owns a 141 OPS+ in more than 3,300 plate appearances.  Both debuted in 2018.  For the purposes of the upcoming exploration, let’s assume that Acuña, Jr. ends his 2025 with a career OPS+ of at least 140 and that Soto ends his age-27 campaign (in 2026) with a career mark also at 140 or above.

If one does a search for all players in the modern era to have an OPS+ of at least 140 through their age-27 seasons with a minimum of 3,000 plate appearances … and then focuses on those seasons in which multiple qualifying players made their debuts, a fun list emerges.

1908    Home Run Baker and Joe Jackson 

1915    Rogers Hornsby and George Sisler 

1926    Mel Ott and Paul Waner

1932    Joe Medwick and Arky Vaughan

1936    Joe DiMaggio and Johnny Mize

1951    Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays

1954    Henry Aaron and Harmon Killebrew

1986    Barry Bonds and Will Clark

2018    Ronald Acuña, Jr. and Juan Soto (TBD)

Salvador Perez homered twice and added a double to lead the Royals to a 6-1 win.

~Perez’s 18th career multi-homer game means he has more than anyone else in franchise history – he had been tied at 17 with George Brett. 

~Perez has eight homers and 12 walks on the season and for his entire career, owns 281 and 255, respectively.  

200+ HR, Highest HR:BB Ratio

1.102     Salvador Perez

0.965     Tony Armas

0.950     Juan González

0.831     Alfonso Soriano

0.829     Adam Jones

0.806     Matt Williams

0.801     George Bell

Kyle Tucker doubled twice while his Cubs teammates Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong each homered.  Tucker is tied for 10th in the NL with 32 extra-base hits while Crow-Armstrong and Suzuki are tied for fourth, with 38.  The Cubs last saw three of its players with at least 32 at this exact marker in the season (73 games) in 2004, when Derrek Lee had 37 and Aramis Ramírez and Moisés Alou had 35.  

Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.