Game Notes – 09/09/2025

In 1978, J.R. Richard became just the fourth different right-handed hurler since 1893 to rocket to 300 strikeouts:  a 303-K campaign that placed him alongside Walter Johnson (1910, 1912), Bob Feller (1946) and Nolan Ryan (1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977).  It was an explosive outcome for the 28-year-old who, before the eruption, had peaked with 214 punchouts in both the 1976 and 1977 campaigns.  On the other hand, it was, in a way, the realization of the imagined heights that Richard had produced from the literal outset of his big league career; as a 21-year-old in early September of 1971, he took the ball for the very first time in a Major League game, faced down Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds and the rest of the San Francisco Giants, and came away with an astonishing 15 strikeouts.    

Making his Major League debut, Connelly Early fanned 11 batters over five scoreless innings to highlight a 6-0 Red Sox victory.  

~The 23-year-old is the second pitcher in Red Sox history to climb to 11 strikeouts in a debut, after Don Aase on July 26, 1977.  

~Early and Aase are two of 17 pitchers in the Modern Era to have at least 11 K’s in a debut, a limb that begins in 1907 with Nick Maddox (11 strikeouts for the Pirates) and had, before Early’s dramatic entrance, concluded with the Brewers’ Freddy Peralta (13 K’s in 2018).  Brooklyn’s Karl Spooner (1954) and Houston’s J.R. Richard (1971) share the mark for the most punchouts among the 17, with 15 K’s apiece.  

~Early, Peralta, Maddox and Spooner are four of nine within this 17 to accompany their big strikeout number with the smallest possible runs-allowed figure:

1901-2025:  Pitchers With 11+ K’s and No Runs Allowed in a Debut, by Most K’s

15    Karl Spooner (1954)

13    Freddy Peralta (2018)

12    Elmer Myers (1915), Juan Marichal (1960), Steve Woodard (1997)

11    Nick Maddox (1907), Luis Tiant (1964), Matt Harvey (2012), Connelly Early (2025) 

Kyle Schwarber joined the 50-homer club, the 52nd player ever to reach the milestone.  Schwarber is the second Phillies batter in the collection, after Ryan Howard (58 HR in 2006).

~With Schwarber joining Cal Raleigh in the club, 2025 marks the second straight campaign to see multiple players get to the milestone (it was Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani doing it last year).  Before 2024, the multiple player thing hadn’t been a thing since 2017 (Judge and Giancarlo Stanton).  

~In Schwarber (batting .240) and Raleigh (batting .240), the 50-homer club – at least right now – has its two lowest batting averages, with the low standard entering 2025 coming in at .260 (José Bautista in 2010, Pete Alonso in 2019).

Ranger Suárez struck out 12 over six scoreless innings and recorded a win for the Phillies.  The southpaw authored the 31st line for Philadelphia in the Modern Era to feature at least 12 punchouts and no runs, a line that stretches back to 1910, when Earl Moore assembled two such outings.  This game marked Suárez’s introduction to the group, whereas Steve Carlton shows up seven times among the 31 (the most).  

Juan Soto joined the 30-homer, 30-steal club with his 30th theft of the year.  Soto is the 73rd player to hit the two bars in a season, a statistical coupling first generated by Ken Williams (39 HR, 37 SB) in 1922.  A couple of more items about Soto’s season in relation to the others.  

~Soto is the 10th player among the 73 to hit triple digits in the walks column – Barry Bonds is responsible for four of the other nine, Bobby Abreu and Jeff Bagwell each show up twice, and José Ramírez takes up the other spot.

~With Soto added to the roster, Mets players take up seven of the 73 spots:  Howard Johnson with three; Darryl Strawberry, David Wright and Francisco Lindor with one apiece.  

Aaron Judge hit his 44th home run of the year in a 1-for-3 night that left him with an MLB-leading .321 average.  There haven’t been too many batting champs to get to 44 or more longballs, few enough that all can be listed below.  

Most HR for an AL/NL Batting Champ 

52    Mickey Mantle (hit .353 as part of his Triple Crown season in 1956)

50    Jimmie Foxx (hit .349 in 1938)

49    Lou Gehrig (hit .363 as part of his Triple Crown season in 1934)

49    Frank Robinson (hit .316 as part of his Triple Crown season in 1966)

48    Jimmie Foxx (hit .356 as part of his Triple Crown season in 1933)

46    Babe Ruth (hit .378 in 1924)

46    Barry Bonds (hit .370 in 2002)

46    Derrek Lee (hit .335 in 2005)

45    Barry Bonds (hit .362 in 2004)

44    Carl Yastrzemski (hit .326 as part of his Triple Crown season in 1967)

44    Miguel Cabrera (hit .330 as part of his Triple Crown season in 2012)

44    Miguel Cabrera (hit .348 in 2013)

44    Christian Yelich (hit .329 in 2019)

23-year-old Jacob Wilson singled twice and added a double to raise his batting average to .319, just behind Aaron Judge in the AL batting race.  Whereas Judge is looking to post an uncommon home run tally for a batting crown winner, Wilson is seeking to present a different “don’t see this too often:” a player so young emerging on top.  

AL/NL Batting Champs Since 1901 in Age-23 or Younger Seasons

20    Ty Cobb (.350 in 1907), Al Kaline (.340 in 1955), Álex Rodríguez (.358 in 1996)

21    Ty Cobb (.324 in 1908), Juan Soto (.351 in 2020)

22    Ty Cobb (.377 in 1909), Ted Williams (.406 in 1941), Pete Reiser (.343 in 1941), Stan Musial (.357 in                1943), Henry Aaron (.328 in 1956)

23    Ty Cobb (.382 in 1910), Arky Vaughan (.385 in 1935), Ted Williams (.356 in 1942), Willie Mays (.345 in              1954), Tommy Davis (.346 in 1962), Carl Yastrzemski (.321 in 1963), Rod Carew (.332 in 1969), George          Brett (.333 in 1976), Don Mattingly (.343 in 1984), Gary Sheffield (.330 in 1992), Albert Pujols (.359 in              2003), Joe Mauer (.347 in 2006)

Cade Horton (6.1 IP, 1 R) picked up his 10th win of the year as the Cubs downed the Braves.  The Modern Era accounts for more than 250 pitchers whose debut season consisted of at least 20 starts and double-digit victories; when all are arranged from highest to lowest ERA+, Horton (141) comes in at the low end of the best 25 marks.  Here’s the grouping around him, as things stand today.

142   Juan Guzmán (1991), Orlando Hernández (1998), Tim Hudson (1999)

141   Herb Score (1955), Cade Horton (2025)

140   Kodai Senga (2023)

139   Wayne Simpson (1970), Dave Rozema (1977), Michael Fulmer (2016)

Pete Crow-Armstrong stole his 33rd and 34th bases of the year.  The 23-year-old also has 35 doubles, four triples and 28 home runs, or, 67 extra-base hits.  Let’s look at his combination of power and speed from two perspectives.  

~There are just two Cubs who reached 30 steals and had more extra-base hits than Crow-Armstrong:  Kiki Cuyler had 37 and 80 in 1930 and Ryne Sandberg posted 32 and 74 in 1984.  

~Crow-Armstrong is one of 14 players in the Modern Era to be in an age-23 or younger season and combine at least 30 steals with so many extra-base hits.  The full complement is arranged by position, below: 

2B    Juan Samuel (1984)

SS    Álex Rodríguez (1998), Hanley Ramírez (2006, 2007), Bobby Witt, Jr. (2023), Elly De la Cruz (2024)

LF    Barry Bonds (1987)

CF    Vada Pinson (1960), César Cedeño (1972), Mike Trout (2013), Julio Rodríguez (2023), Pete Crow-                   Armstrong (2025)

RF    Joe Jackson (1911), José Canseco (1988)

Playing in his 100th career game, Rays center fielder Jake Mangum went 1-for-4 as he continues to flirt with a .300 average in his debut season (he’s at .295).  Casting the line all the way back to 1893, a trolling picks up 102 batters whose initial campaign ended with at least 100 games played and an average starting with a three.  If Mangum can join this association, the 29-year-old will be among the older members – a subgroup that all did their work a long time ago. 

1893-2024:  Players in age-29 or Older Seasons, Debut Year With .300 BA & 100+ Games

1894    Bill Hassamaer hits .322 in his age-29 season

1901    Irv Waldon hits .311 in his age-29 season

1925    Ernest Vache hits .313 in his age-35 season

1925    Dick Cox hits .329 in his age-29 season

1927    Joe Boley hits .311 in his age-30 season

1930    George Watkins hits .373 in his age-30 season

1931    Buzz Arlett hits .313 in his age-32 season

Josh Naylor contributed a solo home run to Seattle’s cause in a 5-3 win, his fourth straight game with at least one extra-base hit and at least one RBI.  22 Mariners have struck a streak longer than Naylor’s four, with Ken Griffey, Jr.’s eight-game run in 1993 the longest (this is the streak in which Griffey homered in eight straight to tie the Major League record; he didn’t have any doubles or triples during this run).  

Hunter Goodman joined the 30-homer club, the first catcher in Rockies history to reach the milestone.  There are now 56 individual lines on record of a player having at least half of his games behind the plate and reaching 30 longballs.  Goodman is part of a group of 20 who have a single season to their credit among the collection of 56.  Here’s a glance at all 20, organized by the decade in which they enjoy their peak power.

1930s    Gabby Hartnett (1930)

1940s    Walker Cooper (1947)

1950s    Stan Lopata (1956), Gus Triandos (1958)

1960s    Joe Torre (1966)

1970s    Earl Williams (1971)

1980s    Carlton Fisk (1985), Matt Nokes (1987)

1990s    Rick Wilkins (1993), Terry Steinbach (1996), Benito Santiago (1996), Iván Rodríguez (1999), Mike                    Lieberthal (1999)

2000s    Charles Johnson (2000), Jorge Posada (2003)

2010s    Mike Napoli (2011), Mitch Garver (2019)

2020s    Mike Zunino (2021), Salvador Perez (2021), Hunter Goodman (2025)

Josh Bell connected on his 20th home run of the season and drove in four runs as the Nationals topped the Marlins.

~Bell has five seasons with at least 20 home runs – tied with Ken Singleton, Howard Johnson, Tony Clark, José Cruz, Jr., Yasmani Grandal, Ian Happ and Eduardo Escobar for the 22nd most in history among switch-hitters.  

~Bell’s impactful night followed a game with two homers and six RBI, which followed a game with a homer and three RBI.  He joins Ryan Zimmerman (2017) as the only Expos/Nationals players to generate a three-game streak featuring at least one home run and at least three RBI.

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