Game Notes – 04/23/2025

In 1911, when he became the first player with at least 70 steals and 70 extra-base hits in a season, 24-year-old Ty Cobb had 14 of each through his team’s first 26 games of the year.  When, in 1984, Juan Samuel joined Cobb as the only players to complete the march to 70-70, the Phillies’ 23-year-old had 12 extra-base hits to ride shotgun with his 16 steals when Philadelphia had 26 contests in its rearview mirror.  And then, when 25-year-old Ronald Acuña, Jr. made the pair a trio in 2023, the Braves outfielder saw his 26-game tallies stand at 13 and 13.  

In one way, the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong, just a few weeks past his 23rd birthday, is ahead of these trailblazers, with 15 extra-base hits through his club’s 26 games in 2025. On the steals side, he’s a little behind, with just 10.  In this 2025 universe teeming with gaudy starts to the year, Chicago’s center fielder may have a bit of muted presence, but his two-ingredient cocktail of piling up extra bases – whether in creating them with his bat or legs – is worthy of some extended appreciation.  

Pete Crow-Armstong was the offensive load bearer for the Cubs on Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with a homer, four RBI and two stolen bases.

~Hitting all these elements – Crow-Armstrong’s number of hits and steals and RBI with a homer in the mix – has been a rarity for the Cubs in their modern era history, as there’s only one other example out in the ether:  George Grantham, who was 3-for-3 with a home run, two stolen bases and five RBI (along with two walks) on April 23 (yes, the same day in April as Crow-Armstrong), 1924.

~About Crow-Armstrong and his 15 extra-base hits and 10 steals on the year … getting to these numbers by May 1 has happened exactly once before in the modern era:  in 2007, José Reyes nabbed 17 bags and produced 16 extra-base hits.

Starling Marte drove in the game-winning run on a single in the 10th to give the Mets their seventh straight win (two via walk-off hits).  The decisive swing and result gave Marte his 13th career walk-off hit, tied with Freddie Freeman for the most in the Majors among active players.  Expanding the purview a little bit, the 21st century leaderboard finds Albert Pujols and David Ortiz at the top, each with 20; Marte and Freeman are in a tie for the 10th most since 2000.  

Pete Alonso drove in a run – it’s now 26 RBI on the year for the Mets first baseman, as many as any Met ever has had through an April.  In 1994, Jeff Kent produced 26 and in 2019, Alonso matched that tally.

Wilmer Flores drove in two runs to raise his Major League-leading total to 27 RBI.  Cody Bellinger drove in 37 runs by the end of April in 2019, the most in the modern era for this endpoint in any season.  In 1998, Juan González and Mark McGwire each produced 36 RBI by May 1, the second most.  Barry Bonds had 32 in 1996, which is tied for the eighth most overall and the only mark ahead of Flores’ among Giants.  

Kyle Schwarber drew a walk to extend his 2025 on-base streak to 25 games, tied for the second longest since 1901 for any Phillies player to start his season.  Odúbel Herrera posted a 40-game streak in 2018 for the longest, while Schwarber is matched with Kid Gleason (1905), Fred Luderus (1915) and Jayson Werth (2010).

In his first game since going 6-for-7 with six RBI, Reds catcher Austin Wynns singled, doubled and homered while driving in a pair of runs.  He’s the third Reds backstop to have back-to-back games with at least three hits and seven total bases, following Johnny Bench in 1972 and Johnny Bench in 1973.  The back-to-back game details for all three of the successive performances:

Bench, 1972:     6-for-10, 1 double, 3 HR, 7 RBI

Bench, 1973:     6-for-8, 1 double, 4 HR, 11 RBI

Wynns, 2025:    9-for-11, 1 double, 2 HR, 8 RBI

Brady Singer fanned eight and allowed two runs over six innings and improved to 4-0 as the Reds took down the Marlins, 5-2.  Cincinnati hasn’t seen one of its starters enter May with at least four wins and no losses since 2008, when Edinson Vólquez began 4-0.  Vólquez’s entrance into May that year marked the third straight season a Reds starter had that kind of record at the end of April, after Bronson Arroyo opened 4-0 in 2006 and Aaron Harang started 4-0 in ’07.  There are four others prior to these 21st century guys:  Bob Purkey (4-0 in 1962); Gary Nolan (4-0 in 1970); Jack Billingham (4-0 in 1973); Jack Armstrong (4-0 in 1990).  

Aaron Judge tripled, singled and walked in five plate appearances to help push New York to a 5-1 win over Cleveland.  The outfielder lifted all components of his slash line, now at .415/.513/.734 for the season; all three figures are the best in the Majors.  They also would be among the best ever for the Yankees at the end of any April.

Highest BA/OBP/SLG/OPS for NYY Through April (min. 75 PA)

BA:     .448 by Paul O’Neill in 1994 (Judge’s .415 would rank second)

OBP:  .554 by Jason Giambi in 2006 (Judge’s .513 would rank third)

SLG:   .882 by Álex Rodríguez in 2007 (Judge’s .734 would rank ninth)

OPS:   1.407 by Giambi in in 2006 (Judge’s 1.247 would rank fifth)

James Wood opened the Nationals’ 4-3 win with a homer – his second longball leading off the game this year and his eighth round-tripper overall.  Those eight tie for the sixth most in franchise history for any player through an April.  Ryan Zimmerman and his 11 in 2017 hold the title belt.

Andrés Muñoz worked a perfect ninth inning to record his eighth save of the season.  The Mariners’ righty is the sixth pitcher for the franchise to record at least eight saves before May 1 and the first since Edwin Díaz in 2018.  None of the other five on the list also had a 0.00 ERA at the end of April (Muñoz can claim such a distinction at this moment).  

Luke Keaschall doubled, walked and stole a pair of bags in the Twins’ 6-3 win over the White Sox.  He’s played five Major League games and in addition to recording a hit in all five, has reached safely 11 times and stolen five bases.  Keaschall has little company when it comes to 10+ times on base accompanying five-plus steals through a player’s first five games.  In the World Series era, there is but one other:  Vince Coleman, who had five stolen bases and reached safely 11 times for the 1985 Cardinals.

Andrew Heaney delivered six innings of one-hit, nine-strikeout, no-walk ball and the Pirates blanked the Angels, 3-0.  In his previous start, the southpaw put up seven-and-a-third scoreless innings and in five starts this year, owns a 1.72 ERA.

~There have been plenty of Pirates left-handers to post back-to-efforts featuring at least six innings and no runs (before Heaney, Jose Quintana in 2022 had been the last to do it).  Only two in the modern era have pushed the run to three in a row:  Woodie Fryman in 1966 and Jim Rooker in 1977.  

~In the liveball era, no Pirates southpaw has entered May with at least five starts and an ERA as low as the one Heaney currently sports.  There are four hurlers who were below 2.00:

1968    Bob Veale (1.77)

1984    John Candelaria (1.95)

1989    John Smiley (1.96)

1983    Larry McWilliams (1.98)

Oneil Cruz hit his sixth home run and stole his 11th base in Pittsburgh’s win.  

~Cruz is 11-for-11 in steal attempts. In the liveball era, 17 players are on record as having at least 11 stolen bases and a 100% success rate by the time May arrives.  Tim Raines (1981) is the first to do this, while Brice Turang and Jacob Young (2024) are the most recent, pending Cruz’s final week in April.

~Cruz has four games this year with a home run and a steal.  In 1992, Barry Bonds had 11 such lines for the Pirates, the most for the franchise in any modern era season.  

Corbin Carroll continued his outstanding start to the season with a pair of home runs, three RBI and a walk.  The outfielder leads the Majors with 70 total bases and is tied for the top spot with nine homers (part of his tied-for-the-Major League-lead 18 extra-base hits).  Using these top-line marks as the guide, here’s how Carroll’s numbers stack up against all other Diamondbacks through the club’s first 24 games:

9 HR:       tied for second, with Luis Gonzalez having 13 in 2001

70 TB:     the most, with Gonzalez’s 69 in 2001 having been the previous best

18 XBH:   the most, with the previous high of 17 last being reached by Kelly Johnson in 2010

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