Game Notes – 05/28/2025

Since 1893, there are 32 examples of a National or American Leaguer operating in his age-23 or younger season, qualifying for the batting title, and finishing the year with a .350 or better average.  There’s some mighty famed campaigns to have climbed this peak.  There’s Joe Jackson’s record rookie season in 1911, when the preternatural batter swung to the tune of a .408 average.  There’s Ted Williams’ .406 campaign in 1941 and his .356 as part of a Triple Crown season in 1942.  There’s a run of five Baltimore Orioles in 1894-1895 – Willie Keeler (twice), Joe Kelley (twice) and John McGraw.  There’s a Stan Musial (1943) and three Ty Cobbs (1907, 1909, 1910), an Albert Pujols (2003), a limited edition Juan Soto (from 2020, when the season was 60 games long) and perhaps the greatest super-young player season ever, Alex Rodriguez’s 1996 when he batted .358.   There’s a couple of famed Athletics (Jimmie Foxx and Al Simmons), a few immortal Giants (George Davis appears twice, along with Ross Youngs and Freddie Lindstrom) and a bunch of long ago Pirates (Ginger Beaumont, Jimmy Williams, Lloyd Waner twice and Arky Vaughan).

Up and down, across decades, springing from franchise to franchise, 32 representations of youth NOT being wasted on the young.  

Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson was 2-for-3 with a homer and a double and is now batting .353 for the year (second in the AL).  

~The 23-year-old is the first player this young to be at .350 or better (with at least 170 plate appearances) through 56 team games since Juan Soto in 2020.  He’s the first Athletic to do this since 21-year-old Jimmie Foxx was hitting .401 at this stage in 1929.  

~Wilson’s 2025 profile includes 73 hits, 13 walks and 12 strikeouts.  This is an unusual look for a player so young.

1901-2025:  70+ Hits, 13 or Fewer Walks & Strikeouts Through 56 Games, Younger Than 24

2025     Jacob Wilson

1937     Joe DiMaggio

1934     Bill Knickerbocker

1929     Lloyd Waner 

1928     Freddie Lindstrom

1901     Erve Beck

Miguel Vargas was 1-for-3 with a double and two walks, extending his streak of games with a two-base hit to five.  The run ties the 25-year-old with 10 others for the second longest streak in White Sox history.  The others to get to exactly five:  Joe Jackson (1916), Johnny Mostil (1925), Bill Hunnefield (1926), Luke Appling (1936), Jackie Hayes (1938), Ralph Hodgin (1944), Wally Moses (1945), Harold Baines (1997), Magglio Ordóñez (2002) and Adam Dunn (2011).  

In contrast, White Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi fell a double shy of completing the cycle – the fourth time in his career* he’s ended a contest with that exact shortcoming.  Those four tie Benintendi with Bobby Witt, Jr., Shohei Ohtani, Bryan Reynolds and Kris Bryant for the second most among active players, behind Mike Trout’s five.  Benintendi has never hit for a cycle.  

*VERY oddly, two of his four have happened on a May 28, this one and one in 2018.  There’s also one on a May 26 (in 2018 as well) and the other happened on a May 13 (in 2022).

Rafael Devers drove in two runs (to get to an AL-best 50 RBI) and drew two walks (to get to an AL-best 45).  Devers is the 10th player in Red Sox history to get to those two tallies (or surpass them) through 58 team games.  Jimmie Foxx did this in 1936, 1938 and 1941; Ted Williams did it in 1942, 1946 and 1948-1951.  That’s it, before Devers.

Drew Rasmussen allowed one hit over six scoreless frames to emerge as the star in Tampa Bay’s 5-0 win over Minnesota.  The right-hander is seventh in the AL with a 2.33 ERA. 

~Rasmussen has strung together three straight outings in which he’s completed his effort with six scoreless innings.  For the Rays’ franchise, there have been three others to assemble three consecutive appearances featuring six-plus innings and no runs:  Alex Cobb (2014), Jake Odorizzi (2016) and Taj Bradley (2024).    

~Rasmussen’s 2.33 ERA is the seventh lowest for any (Devil*) Ray through 55 team games (min. 55.0 innings):

1.97     Shane McClanahan (2023)

2.01     Chris Archer (2015)

2.10     Shane McClanahan (2022)

2.15     James Shields (2011)

2.18     Matt Moore (2013)

2.29     David Price (2010)

2.33     Drew Rasmussen (2025)

*Actually, no Devil Ray – the team’s moniker from 1998 through 2007 – shows up until James Shields and his 3.08 ERA in 2007, tied for the 19th lowest.  

Astros right-hander Lance McCullers, Jr. fanned 12 to tie a career high and make him one of 22 pitchers for the franchise to have multiple games with at least a dozen K’s (he now has two).  J.R. Richard leads with 20, followed by Don Wilson and Gerrit Cole (14 apiece).  

Making his 35th career start, Paul Skenes worked 6.2 innings of scoreless and walk-less ball, fanned seven and allowed four hits.  

~Skenes now carries a 2.03 career ERA.  This figure is lower than any other pitcher’s in the liveball era through 35 games (min. 175.0 IP).  The eight lowest:

2.03    Paul Skenes (2024-2025)

2.09    José Fernández (2013-2014)

2.20    Jim Hardin (1967-1968)

2.22    Stan Bahnsen (1966-1968)

2.25    Al Brazle (1943-1946)

2.27    Fernando Valenzuela (1980-1981)

2.29    Mark Fidrych (1976-1977)

2.30    Jerry Koosman (1967-1968)

~Skenes still has the rest of the 2025 campaign to alter his career stats, but his standing in some of the rate stats currently looks like this:

1893-2025:  For all pitchers through their first two seasons (min. 35 starts)

2.03 ERA         Tied with Nick Maddox for ninth lowest

206 ERA+        Best (ahead of Ed Reulbach’s 186 and Dwight Gooden’s 176)

0.936 WHIP     Best (ahead of George McQuillan’s 0.963 and José Fernández’s 0.972)

6.3 Hits/9         Sixth lowest (Andy Messersmith’s 5.8 is the lowest)

4.94 K:BB        Sixth best (George Kirby’s 7.44 is the best)

30.61 K%         Second best (behind Hunter Greene’s 30.71)

Agustín Ramírez was 4-for-5 with a homer and four RBI to help steer the Marlins to a 10-8 win.  The 23-year-old has 18 extra-base hits, tied for the 23rd most for any player since 1901 through his first  31 games.  Joe DiMaggio is the leader, with 25.  Ramírez is one of 19 players since 1901 to, through their first 31 contests, couple at least 18 extra-base hits with at least 10 walks.  

Making his fourth career start, Noah Cameron allowed a run in six-and-a-third innings and came away a winner as Kansas City eased by Cincinnati, 3-2.  The southpaw is one of three pitchers in the modern era to begin his career with four straight appearances featuring six-plus innings and no more than one run allowed.  Cleveland’s Cody Anderson did this in 2015 and the Dodgers’ Kenta Maeda made it happen in 2016.

Bobby Witt, Jr. posted his 21st double of the year – the best mark in the Majors.  His 21 through 57 Royals games are the second most for the franchise, after Mike Sweeney’s 28 in 2001.

TJ Friedl was 2-for-5 to extend his multi-hit game streak to six.  The outfielder is more than halfway to the Reds’ longest such run in the modern era:  Tony Pérez’s 11-game streak in 1973.

Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki each contributed an RBI to the cause in the Cubs’ 2-1 win.  Suzuki leads the NL with 51 RBI, while his aforementioned teammate is second with 50.  Between 1901 and 2024, the Cubs had never had two players reach the 50-mark through 56 team games in the same season.  There are now six pairs of teammates in the 21st century to do this:

2000-2025:  Teammates With 50+ RBI Through 56 Team Games 

2000 Royals        Mike Sweeney & Jermaine Dye

2000 Mariners     Edgar Martínez Álex Rodríguez

2001 Rockies      Todd Helton & Larry Walker

2003 Blue Jays    Carlos Delgado & Vernon Wells

2020 Braves        Freddie Freeman & Marcell Ozuna

2025 Cubs           Seiya Suzuki & Pete Crow-Armstrong

Bo Bichette drove a pinch-hit, two-run homer to break a 0-0 tie in the ninth and deliver a 2-0 win to the Blue Jays.  Bichette’s feat marks the 11th time in franchise history a pinch-hitter has produced a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning or later, and the second time it’s happened to break the seal on a 0-0 game.  On September 4, 2014, Colby Rasmus’ solo shot broke the tie in the 10th.

Five Blue Jays pitchers combined on a one-hit shutout – the 22nd time the club has produced a shutout on one or no hits but the first of the 22 to see them use so many arms.  

Anthony Volpe’s sac fly in the first inning was the only scoring in a Yankees’ 1-0 win over the Angels – the 11th time in the expansion era New York has won a 1-0 game by virtue of a sac fly.  This was the first of the 11 to see the run come in the first inning.

The Yankees’ staff owns a 2.67 ERA in May – currently standing as the seventh lowest for the club since 1920 for any May.  

2.32 in 1972

2.44 in 2024

2.58 in 1942

2.59 in 1946

2.60 in 1966

2.63 in 1920

2.67 in 2025

José Ramírez was 3-for-5 (including 1-for-1 with RISP) to extend his hitting streak to 21 games.  

~The streak is tied for the 27th longest in a season for Cleveland and is the longest since Michael Brantley hit safely in 22 in a row in 2012.  Among switch-hitters since 1901, Ramírez’s 21-gamer is tied for the 31st longest.  If he checks off a 22nd straight, he’ll be halfway to Pete Rose’s top mark for switch-hitters, accomplished in 1978.

~In his career, Ramírez owns a .906 career OPS with RISP.  In the divisional era, he is one of 856 players with at least 1,000 plate appearances for the split, with his .906 tying for the 60th best mark (he is matched with Moisés Alou).  Freddie Freeman, who went 1-for-2 with RISP in this same contest, owns a .999 OPS in the split, ninth best among this same collection of 856.  The only active players with a better mark than Freeman’s:  Mike Trout (1.044 – fourth best overall) and Aaron Judge (1.042 – fifth).

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