Game Notes – 08/17/2025

The Rangers franchise has seen Hall of Fame starting pitchers Fergie Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, Bert Blyleven and Nolan Ryan pass through town on their way to Cooperstown.  The franchise has boasted of All-Star hurlers like Kevin Brown, Cliff Lee, Kenny Rogers, Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish.  But none of these moundsmen, who, at times, could be so thoroughly stingy, ever had a stratospheric ERA+ campaign – at least not while representing this franchise.  Instead, the best ERA+ a Senators/Rangers qualifier has generated is a 165, courtesy of southpaw Jon Matlack in 1978 and Rick Honeycutt in that left-hander’s 1983 campaign.  It’s a fine number (it was good enough to be the best in the AL in 1983) – but it’s also nothing that really, truly awes – overall, a 165 ties for 236th among AL/NL pitchers since 1893 who qualified for an ERA title.  Kind of ho-hum.  

Nathan Eovaldi might obliterate all of this.  

Nathan Eovaldi gave up two runs over seven innings to see his ERA inch slightly higher, to 1.76.  The 35-year-old right-hander has done this exceptional work in 123.0 innings, leaving him just a couple of frames shy of qualifying for league leadership.  Still, the work at this point of the season feels worth exploring a bit.  Eovaldi owns a 210 ERA+.  This is a level few AL/NL pitchers in age-35-or-older seasons have ever approached, let alone surmounted.

AL/NL:  Highest ERA+ in an Age-35 (or older) Season, Among Qualifiers

226    Roger Clemens (2005, age-42 season)

218    Justin Verlander (2022, age-39 season)

198    Spud Chandler (1943, age-35 season)

195    Cy Young (1908, age-41 season)

195    Randy Johnson (2002, age-38 season)

190    Dazzy Vance (1928, age-37 season) 

~Eliminating the shortened 2020 campaign, there are 40 individual pitcher seasons in the AL or NL since 1893 to have produced a 200-or-better ERA+.  Just to offer a lens into where Eovaldi currently resides, his ERA+ neighbors would be:

214   Jack Pfiester in 1907, Walter Johnson in 1918

211   Carl Lundgren in 1907, Roger Clemens in 1990, Pedro Martínez in 2003

209   Ed Reulbach in 1905

208   Ron Guidry in 1978

206   Jack Taylor in 1902

205   Zack Greinke in 2009

In the Reds’ 125th game of the year, Andrew Abbott twirled seven scoreless frames, and with the work, dropped his ERA to 2.28 – second lowest in the NL.  The number isn’t quite so near the top when it comes to Reds hurlers in the Liveball Era at this point in a season, but it’s not too far down the ladder either, tying Bucky Walters’ mark from 1939 on the eighth rung (minimum 125.0 IP).  The seven who climbed higher by going lower:

1.89    Johnny Cueto in 2011

1.93    Gary Nolan in 1972

1.96    Dolf Luque in 1923

1.99    Elmer Riddle in 1941

2.06    Johnny Cueto in 2014

2.21    Dolf Luque in 1920

2.24    Rube Benton in 1924

~Abbott’s ERA+ stands at an NL-best 200.  Removing the 2020 season from consideration, only one qualifying pitcher in Reds history has hit a 200:  Dolf Luque (201) in 1923.  With Abbott and Nathan Eovaldi both flirting with the 200-level in 2025, it’s worth noting that there have been three campaigns since 1893 (and again, removing 2020) to have multiple qualifying AL/NL pitchers hit the 200-mark in the same season.  

1905    Christy Mathewson and Ed Reulbach

1907    Carl Lundgren and Jack Pfiester

2015    Jake Arrieta and Zack Greinke

Jazz Chisholm, Jr. stole his 20th and 21st bags of the year to post the 20th 20-homer, 20-steal season in Yankees history.  Breaking down the performers by their main place on the diamond (at least 51% of their games at the position), there’s almost an even split between the infield and outfield.  A full look …

OF (11)

LF    Roy White (1970), Brett Gardner (2017)

CF   Mickey Mantle (1959), Rickey Henderson (1985, 1986), Roberto Kelly (1991), Johnny Damon (2006),              Curtis Granderson (2011)

RF   Bobby Bonds (1975), Paul O’Neill (2001), Bobby Abreu (2008)

IF (9) 

3B   Álex Rodríguez (2004, 2005, 2007)

SS   Derek Jeter (2001, 2004), Anthony Volpe (2023)

2B   Alfonso Soriano (2002, 2003), Jazz Chisholm, Jr. (2025)

Jakob Marsee – who entered the game in the eighth – singled and homered as the Marlins overcame a late deficit to defeat the Red Sox.  The 24-year-old has played 17 Major League games and now holds a 1.241 OPS.  There are eight players in the Modern Era who’ve posted a better OPS through their first 17 contests (min. 50 plate appearances), with Gregg Jefferies’ 1.385 still the standard-bearing figure.   

Nick Kurtz climbed another rung with his 25th home run of the year, making him one of 34 players ever to get to the milestone in a debut campaign.  By age-season, the 22-year-old Athletics first baseman is one of 17 to be so young.

First-Year Players With 25+ HR, Age-20 to Age-22 Seasons

Age-20 Season 

Ted Williams (1939) hits 31

Eddie Mathews (1952) hits 25

Frank Robinson (1956) hits 38

Orlando Cepeda (1958) hits 25

Ronald Acuña, Jr. (2018) hits 26

Age-21 Season

Joe DiMaggio (1936) hits 29

Eddie Murray (1977) hits 27

Darryl Strawberry (1983) hits 26

Albert Pujols (2001) hits 37

Cody Bellinger (2017) hits 39

Julio Rodríguez (2022) hits 28

Age-22 Season

George Scott (1966) hits 27

Pete Incaviglia (1986) hits 30

Evan Longoria (2008) hits 27

Eloy Jiménez (2019) hits 31

Yordan Alvarez (2019) hits 27

Nick Kurtz (2025) hits 25

Ramón Laureano doubled and homered in the Padres’ loss to the Dodgers and is now OPS’ing 1.082 in his 15 games since being acquired by San Diego.  That 1.082 is the fifth best in the Majors since the start of August (minimum 60 plate appearances), behind the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani (1.281), the Marlins’ Jakob Marsee (1.241), the Athletics’ Shea Langeliers (1.150) and the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. (1.118).  

Cal Raleigh hit his 47th home run of the year.  

~This one came with Raleigh behind the plate for the game, the 38th time that’s happened this season.  Those 38 move the Mariners’ backstop to within four of matching Javy López (2003) for the most as a catcher in a season.  

~Raleigh’s 47 are the second most for any player in history who had at least two-thirds of his games as a catcher, behind Salvador Perez’s 48 in 2021.  Raleigh’s 47 are the most for any Mariner not named Ken Griffey, Jr., with the Hall of Fame center fielder having seasons of 56 (1997 and 1998), 49 (1996) and 48 (1999).  Finally, Raleigh’s 47 are the most for any switch-hitter not named Mickey Mantle, with that Hall of Fame center fielder posting seasons of 54 in 1961 and 52 in 1956.

~As for how Raleigh stacks up against all players, regardless of position, affiliation or batting side …

Most HRs Through 125 Team Games

54    Barry Bonds (2001)

52    Sammy Sosa (1999)

50    Babe Ruth (1921), Roger Maris (1961), Mark McGwire (1998, 1999)

48    Aaron Judge (2022)

47    Sammy Sosa (1998), Cal Raleigh (2025)

Juan Soto stole his 20th bag of the year to join his teammate Francisco Lindor in the 20-HR, 20-SB club.  This Mets pair make one of four Mets combos to go 20-20 in a season, and one of 51 teammate alliances overall to do this.  The 1988 Mets had three players – Kevin McReynolds, Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson – reach the numbers, the first club to have a trio (this feat was later matched by the 2009 Phillies).  The 1987 Mets saw Strawberry and Johnson do it, and the 2007 club had David Wright and Carlos Beltrán.

Playing with the quirkier side of stolen base-related numbers …

Juan Soto’s 20th stolen base vaulted him into the 20-homer, 20-steal club for the first time (he’s hit 30 longballs this season) and he’s brought some flair to the running side of things, with only one caught stealing.  There are just under 170 players ever who produced a 30-20 campaign, with Soto’s current SB% almost unmatched.  Only Chase Utley in 2009 (31 HR, 23-for-23 in SB attempts) and Jason Bay in 2005 (32 HR, 21-for-22) had better percentages.

Atlanta’s Matt Olson stole his first base of the year, climbing all the way to nine in his 10-year career.  The first baseman also has five career triples, all of this work coming in 5,028 plate appearances.  For those fascinated by this sort of thing, there are seven players on record who called it a career with at least 5,000 trips to the dish and single-digits in both categories, with Paul Konerko (eight triples, nine steals) owning the most plate appearances (9,505)  among this plodding association.

Byron Buxton hit his 25th homer and stole his 18th base (in 18 attempts).  Coming into this season, there had been 464 players between 1961 and 2024 who posted a 20-homer, 20-steal line; three also get to claim a perfect stolen base percentage:  Kevin McReynolds in 1988, Chase Utley in 2009 and Trea Turner in 2023.  

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