Game Notes – 09/28/2025

On the season’s final day in 1980, the Royals skipped to a 4-0 win, able to generate the offense even without that season’s AL MVP – George Brett – in the lineup.  Taking the day off, Brett finished the year short in his pursuit of being the first batter since Ted Williams in 1941 to conquer the mountain of a .400 average.  In another respect, Brett did connect to Williams, leading all qualifiers in the AL and NL in not just batting but all three components of the slash line.  Before Brett, Williams managed the feat an extraordinary three times, in 1941, 1942 and, as a 38/39-year-old, 1957.  Williams, Brett and since 1980, less than a handful of others have spread and flourished their domination in such a manner.    

Aaron Judge closed out his season with a 1-for-4 day that settled his line at .331/.457/.688 – with all numbers the best in the Majors.   

~Judge is the fifth player since Ted Williams in 1957 to own the Majors’ best marks in all three slash categories.  The full list since 1957, with the slash lines offered up for applause and bows.  

1957   Ted Williams        .388/.526/.731

1980   George Brett       .390/.454/.664

1999   Larry Walker       .379/.458/.710

2002   Barry Bonds        .370/.582/.799

2013   Miguel Cabrera   .348/.442/.636

2025   Aaron Judge        .331/.457/.688

~Judge posted his second straight season with an OPS+ of at least 200 and his third overall.  Here’s the entire list of players to have – in the NL/AL – at three seasons of an OPS+ starting with a two.  

Lefty-Hitting Batters With 3+ Seasons of a 200 OPS+ (or Better)

11    Babe Ruth

6      Ted Williams

6      Barry Bonds

3      Ty Cobb

3      Lou Gehrig

Righty-Hitting Batters With 3+ Seasons of a 200 OPS+ (or Better)

4     Rogers Hornsby

3     Aaron Judge

Switch-Hitters With 3+ Seasons of a 200 OPS+ (or Better)

3    Mickey Mantle

~Judge’s 2025 season is one of 54 to showcase at least 50 home runs (his 53 tie for the 34th most ever).  His .331 average is the eighth highest among all the 50-homer fellas and the highest since Mickey Mantle batted .353 in 1956.  These top eight:

.378   Babe Ruth in 1921 (59 HR)

.376   Babe Ruth in 1920 (54 HR)

.364   Jimmie Foxx in 1932 (58 HR)

.356   Babe Ruth in 1927 (60 HR)

.356   Hack Wilson in 1930 (56 HR)

.353   Mickey Mantle in 1956 (52 HR)*

.349   Jimmie Foxx in 1938 (50 HR)*

.331   Aaron Judge in 2025*

*won batting title

Clayton Kershaw put a cap on his career numbers, adding five-and-a-third scoreless innings, seven strikeouts and a win to his sterling record.  The left-hander finishes with career numbers showing a 223-96 record, a 2.53 ERA, a 154 ERA+, 3,052 strikeouts and a 1.018 WHIP.  

~Kershaw is the first pitcher to have begun his career after the pitching distance was extended to 60 feet, six inches in 1893 and ended his work with 200+ wins and fewer than 100 losses.  

~Among all pitchers since 1893 with at least 300 starts, Kershaw’s 1.018 WHIP is second to only Ed Walsh’s 1.000.  The next four pitchers after that 1-2:  Chris Sale (1.046), Pedro Martínez (1.054), Christy Mathewson (1.058) and Walter Johnson (1.061).  

~ Kershaw’s 2.53 ERA is the lowest for any pitcher (min. 300 starts) since Walter Johnson finished out with a 2.17, throwing his final pitch in 1927.

~Kershaw’s 3,052 K’s rank 20th all-time.  

~Kershaw finished his career with a 2.26 ERA at home and, with this last effort in the books, a 2.83 on the road.  In the Liveball Era, among pitchers with at least 150 starts in each of the splits, his home ERA is the lowest (bettering Don Drysdale’s 2.53) and his 2.83 on the road comes in a tie for second, lagging behind Bob Gibson’s 2.76 and matched with Tom Seaver’s 2.83.

Shohei Ohtani hit his 55th home run, doubled and singled, and scored two runs to close out his case for a third straight MVP.  In addition to submitting a new number for the most home runs in a season for the Dodgers (passing his own high mark from a year ago), the 31-year-old finished the year with 146 runs scored, tied with Darby O’Brien (1889) for the second most in franchise history.  

~Ohtani’s 55 home runs are the 24th most in history; his 146 runs are tied for the third most for any player in the Expansion Era, matched with Rickey Henderson in 1985, Craig Biggio in 1997 and Sammy Sosa in 2001.  Jeff Bagwell had 152 in 2000 and Ronald Acuña, Jr. amassed 149 in 2023.

~Ohtani’s big day put him at an MLB-best 380 total bases for the year – a bit off his 2024 tally when he had 411, but impressive nevertheless.  There are 77 individual player lines featuring at least 380 in a season, with Ohtani now one of 17 batters to hit the bar in multiple years.  The group with exactly two, joining Ohtani:  Al Simmons, Stan Musial, Willie Mays, Jim Rice, Ken Griffey, Jr., Todd Helton, Albert Pujols and Aaron Judge.  

In a no-decision, Cristopher Sánchez worked five-and-two-thirds scoreless and walk-less innings while allowing two hits with eight strikeouts.  The southpaw finished his year with a 2.50 ERA, a 1.064 WHIP and a 4.82 K:BB ratio (all top-five marks in the NL this season).   Held up against all southpaws in Phillies history who threw at least 200.0 innings in a campaign (there are 72 of them), the numbers show this standing:

~The 2.50 ERA comes in as the 11th best, between Cole Hamels’ 2.46 in 2014 and Doc White’s 2.53 in 1902.

~The 1.064 WHIP comes in as the sixth lowest, between Cliff Lee’s 1.027 in 2011 and Hamels’ 1.082 in 2008.

~The 4.82 K:BB ratio comes in as the fourth best, behind three seasons from Lee:  7.39 in 2012, 6.94 in 2013 and 5.67 in 2011.

In a 4-0 win, Logan Webb (5.1 IP, 8 K’s) and Willy Adames (1-for-3, HR) used the season’s final game to stamp an imprint on the Giants franchise.

~For Webb, the right-hander finished the year with the NL’s highest tallies in innings (207.0) and strikeouts (224).  

→Webb has led the NL in innings in each of the past three seasons, a feat never before accomplished by a member of the Giants franchise and last accomplished by the Expos’/Nationals’ Liván Hernández from 2003-2005.  

→Giants to lead the NL in both innings and strikeouts in the same season, working backward:  Logan Webb in 2025, Bill Voiselle in 1944, Christy Mathewson in 1908 and Amos Rusie in 1893.

~As for Adames, he joined Rich Aurilia (37 home runs in 2001) as Giants shortstops to hit at least 30 round-trippers in a season.  

Bobby Witt, Jr. went 1-for-5 with a double to take home the AL belts in hits (184*) and doubles (47).   

~Witt – who had an AL-best 211 knocks a year ago – joined George Brett (1975-1976) and Whit Merrifield (2018-2019) as Royals to lead the AL in hits in successive seasons.  

*The 184 hits were the fewest to represent an AL-leading tally in a 162-game season since 1968, when Bert Campaneris had 177.

~Shortstops to lead the AL in hits and doubles in the same campaign:  Witt, Jr. in 2025; Cal Ripken, Jr. in 1983; Robin Yount in 1982.

~The 25-year-old Witt concluded his fourth big league season with 290 career extra-base hits and 148 stolen bases.  

Modern Era (1901-2025):  290+ XBH & 148+ SB Through Age-25 Season, By Debut Year

1904    Sherry Magee (329 XBH & 287 SB)

1905    Ty Cobb (382 XBH & 402 SB)

1970    César Cedeño (375 XBH & 313 SB)

1986    Barry Bonds (299 XBH & 169 SB)
1994    Álex Rodríguez (483 XBH & 151 SB)

2005    Hanley Ramírez (295 XBH & 164 SB)

2011    Mike Trout (441 XBH & 165 SB)

2018    Ronald Acuña, Jr. (309 XBH & 180 SB)

2022    Bobby Witt, Jr. (290 XBH & 148 SB)

Nick Kurtz slammed his 36th home run of the year – tied with José Abreu (2014) for the sixth most ever for a player in a debut season.  

~Kurtz – who completed the year with a .619 slugging mark – is one of 825 players on record to amass at least 100 games in a debut season.  Only two stand above him when it comes to slugging percentage.  In 2007, Ryan Braun slugged .634 and in 1930, George Watkins slugged .621.  Expressed another way – using age as the determiner – Kurtz wows in a different way.

All-Time, Highest Slugging % in an Age-22 or Younger Season (min. 100 Games)

.735    Ted Williams in 1941

.673    Joe DiMaggio in 1937

.649    Bryce Harper in 2015

.637    Jimmie Foxx in 1930

.635    Mel Ott in 1929

.631    Álex Rodríguez in 1996

.627    Eddie Mathews in 1953

.625    Jimmie Foxx in 1929

.619    Nick Kurtz in 2025

Geraldo Perdomo drove in his 100th run of the year to become the first Diamondbacks shortstop to reach the century mark.  The 25-year-old fell shy of becoming the third shortstop ever to post a line featuring 100+ runs (he had 98), 100+ RBI and 100+ walks (he had 94), but by virtue of his numbers, he’s the  10th to have at least 90 of each …

100+ Runs/100+ RBI/100+ Walks – Shortstops

1949    Vern Stephens (113 R, 159 RBI, 101 BB)

2000    Álex Rodríguez (134 R, 132 RBI, 100 BB)

90+ Runs/90+ RBI/90+ Walks – Shortstops (aside from Stephens and Rodríguez)

1923   Joe Sewell 

1934   Arky Vaughan 

1935   Arky Vaughan

1938   Joe Cronin

1948   Lou Boudreau

1969   Rico Petrocelli

1999   Derek Jeter

2025   Geraldo Perdomo

Ceddanne Rafaela stole his 20th base to join Red Sox teammates Trevor Story (31), Jarren Duran (24) and David Hamilton (22) in the 20-steal club and push his Boston team to join a quartet of Red Sox clubs from the Deadball Era as the only ones in franchise history to have so many reach the milestone.  The teams from 1909 through 1912 all had four and featured a rotating cast in which the only constant presence was Tris Speaker.

Powering his Blue Jays to the club’s first AL East title since 2015, catcher Alejandro Kirk doubled, homered twice and drove in six runs.  Kirk became the 19th Blue Jay to produce a line featuring at least three extra-base hits and at least six RBI and the first catcher to grace this list.  Kirk’s big day gave him 19 contests this year in which he spent at least some time behind the dish and came away offensively with at least two RBI.  Toronto’s past rosters offer three players who had more such contributions:  Darrin Fletcher (24) in 1999; Russell Martin (22) in 2015; J.P. Arencibia (20) in 2011.

Aiding his club in an AL-Central clinching victory, José Ramírez went 2-for-5 with three steals.  The third baseman finished his year with 44 thefts, the most for a third baseman since Chris Sabo had 46 in 1988.  With 41 a year ago, Ramírez is one of seven 20th/21st century third basemen to have multiple years with at least 40.  

4   Hans Lobert (1908, 1910, 1911, 1913)

3   Paul Molitor (1982, 1983, 1988)

2   Sammy Strang (1901, 1903), Art Devlin (1905, 1906), Fritz Maisel (1914, 1915), Chone Figgins (2007,             2009), José Ramírez (2024, 2025)

~Modern Era Third Basemen With 40+ Steals and .500 SLG in a Season

1912    Home Run Baker (40 SB & .541 SLG)

1989    Howard Johnson (41 & .559)

2024    José Ramírez (41 & .537)

2025    José Ramírez (44 & .503)

Jackson Chourio stole his 21st base of the year to finish his sophomore campaign with a second straight 20-homer, 20-steal season.  The 21-year-old Brewers’ outfielder is one of three players to open a career with two straight 20-20 lines, joining Bobby Witt, Jr. and Julio Rodríguez.

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