Game Notes – 07/01/2025

Across 16 seasons, representing seven franchises, while manning first (a lot) and third (a little) and adding about equal time behind the dish and as a DH, Carlos Santana has drawn 1,315 walks in 9,094 plate appearances.  “So what?” you might ask.  

Here’s what.

There are 23 players in baseball history who’ve accumulated at least 9,000 plate appearances and held a walk percentage of at least 14%, Carlos Santana included.  He’s included, along with inner, inner, inner circle talents Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle, Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt, Rickey Henderson and Barry Bonds.  Santana’s included, beside 500 home run club members Jim Thome, Harmon Killebrew, Jimmie Foxx, Eddie Mathews, Mel Ott and Frank Thomas.  Santana’s included, having a seat with fellow switch-hitter Chipper Jones.  He’s also among Eddie Yost and Darrell Evans and Tony Phillips, who combined for 10 bases on balls crowns.  He shares space with first basemen Jeff Bagwell, John Olerud and Todd Helton along with outfielder Bobby Abreu.  

There are careers who skip along to a beat that calls out, a something in the groove that sticks … Carlos Santana’s included.  

Carlos Santana collected his 400th double in a 2-for-4 game.  The 39-year-old is the 198th player to get to 400 in a career and with the milestone hit, became a member of the 400-double, 300-homer, 1,300-walk club, a society involving 31 players.  Santana is the third switch-hitter to get into the door, joining Eddie Murray and Chipper Jones.  The full list, by decade in which the player debuted:

1910s     Babe Ruth

1920s     Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott

1930s     Ted Williams

1940s     Stan Musial

1950s     Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Frank Robinson

1960s     Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Jackson

1970s     Dwight Evans, Mike Schmidt, Eddie Murray

1980s     Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Bonds, Fred McGriff, Gary Sheffield, Ken Griffey, Jr.

1990s     Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, Jim Thome, Manny Ramírez, Chipper Jones, Álex Rodríguez, Jason                     Giambi, Todd Helton, David Ortiz

2000s     Albert Pujols, Joey Votto

2010s     Carlos Santana

George Springer drove in a career-best seven runs to lead the Blue Jays to a 12-5 win over the Yankees (Springer’s second highest single-game mark, six RBI, also came against the Yankees, almost exactly one year ago, on June 27, 2024).  Springer’s tally on this first day of July in 2025 represents the 13th time a Blue Jay has produced at least seven RBI, with the high of nine shared by Roy Howell (1977) and Edwin Encarnación (2015).  Springer is the first of these 13 to have done his damage from the second spot in the order.  

Aaron Judge went 2-for-2 with a double and three walks and for the year, has now reached safely 176 times.  

~That number, 176, had last been attained through 85 team games in 2004, when Barry Bonds reached 194 times.  The last season to see a player with Judge’s times on base and total bases (226) through 85 team games:  1994, when it was Frank Thomas with 199 and 241.  Before Thomas, it’s Stan Musial in 1948 (177 and 237).

~Judge leads the AL with 112 hits and 61 walks.  Carl Yastrzemski (1963) is the last player to pace the Junior Circuit in both categories, collecting 183 hits and 95 walks that season.  

After Paul Skenes delivered five scoreless innings, the Pirates nudged a run across the plate in the eighth and defeated the Cardinals, 1-0.  

~Pittsburgh has back-to-back team shutouts against St. Louis, the first time they’ve done this since 2012.  The longest streak since 1901 holds at three, last accomplished in 1992.  

~In seven no-decisions this season, Skenes owns a 1.32 ERA.   For the liveball era, that figure would be submarined by only one tough luck campaign (by those with a minimum of 10 such starts/NDs):  in 2005, Roger Clemens posted a 0.99 in 11 of them.  

The Marlins defeated the Twins, 2-0, to run their winning streak to eight games.  The streak is now one shy of matching the franchise best, a pinnacle first achieved in May of 1996.  Later nine-game winning streaks arrived in August-September of 2004, June of 2006, August of 2006 and September of 2008.  

Shohei Ohtani reached 30 homers – the third time in his career he’s gotten to the milestone before the All-Star break (he also did it in 2021 and 2023).  He’s the fourth player to have three or more campaigns to make this grade – the entire list:

4    Mark McGwire (1987, 1997, 1998, 2000)

4    Aaron Judge (2017, 2022, 2024, 2025)

3    Ken Griffey, Jr. (1994, 1997, 1998)

3    Shohei Ohtani (2021, 2023, 2025)

Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a run over seven innings to lower his career ERA to 2.75 in 35 games (all starts).  Dodgers in the liveball era who had a lower mark through their first 35 appearances (minimum 175.0 innings):  Fernando Valenzuela (2.27), Joe Hatten (2.62), and Hideo Nomo (2.74).  Bill Singer also owned a 2.75.

José Caballero stole his Major League-leading 30th base in the Rays’ loss to the Athletics.  The 28-year-old is one of 178 players to get to 30 before an All-Star break – not exactly a world-stopping achievement.  But.  Caballero’s .326 on-base percentage does make his feat worth noting.   There, he’s tied with Omar Moreno (1978), Vince Coleman (1986, 1988, 1989), Kenny Lofton (1992), B.J. Upton (2009) and Juan Pierre (2010) for the 39th lowest among this collection of 178.  Billy Hamilton (.269 in 2015), Michael Bourn (.273 in 2008) and Mookie Wilson (.279 in 1983) own the three lowest percentages.  

Matt Olson went 1-for-3 with a walk to extend his on-base streak to 31 games.  This century, the run matches Olson with Freddie Freeman (2014) for the 10th longest by a Brave.  Gary Sheffield’s 52-game streak in 2002 is the longest.  

With six innings of two-run ball, Jacob deGrom improved to 9-2 with a 2.13 ERA. The righty is one of 40 Senators/Rangers pitchers to have at least nine wins through the team’s first 86 games; sorted by ERA, this collection doesn’t roll off many names before getting to deGrom’s.  

Rangers Franchise:  9+ Wins Through 86 Games, Lowest ERA

1.53    Jim Kern in 1979 (10-2 in 0 Starts)

1.85    Rick Honeycutt in 1983 (11-5 in 18 starts)

2.13    Jacob deGrom in 2025 (9-2 in 17 starts)

2.37    Camilo Pascual in 1968 (9-5 in 17 starts)

2.54    Kenny Rogers in 2005 (10-4 in 17 starts)

In the Cubs’ 5-2 win against the Guardians, Seiya Suzuki solo homered – his 23rd longball and NL-leading 70th RBI.  The 30-year-old is the 11th Cub to get to these two numbers through 85 team games, and the first since Sammy Sosa in 2001.  Sosa also reached these bars at this stage in 1998 and 1999.  The others, starting from longest ago:  Hack Wilson (1929 and 1930), Hank Sauer (1952), Ernie Banks (1959 and 1960), Billy Williams (1970) and Andre Dawson (1987).

Hunter Goodman posted his third multi-homer game of the season, the most in any one year for a Rockies catcher – he had been tied with Jeff Reed (1997) and himself (2024).  

Bobby Witt, Jr. became the 72nd player to get to 30 doubles before an All-Star break.   The shortstop joined Mike Sweeney (35 in 2001) and Whit Merrifield (30 in 2018) as Royals to do this.  Edgar Martínez’s 42 in 1996 remains the unmatchable standard.  In this game, Witt also nabbed his 22nd steal of the year.  In this collection of 72 players, six others have also amassed that many or more thefts:

1988    Chris Sabo (32 doubles and 28 steals)

1994    Chuck Knoblauch (37 and 27)

2008    Brian Roberts (33 and 27)

1994    Craig Biggio (35 and 25)

2008    Ian Kinsler (34 and 23)

2002    Alfonso Soriano (32 and 23)

2025    Bobby Witt, Jr. (30 and 22)

Zac Gallen authored his ninth career double-digit strikeout, no-walk effort.  As far as Diamondbacks pitchers to have so many outings like this, it’s the usual (couple of) perpetrators:  Randy Johnson (25) and Curt Schilling (15). 

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