It’s almost Opening Day, with the excitement and promise of a new season radiating throughout the sport and beyond. It’s time to consume baseball in every form possible, including, of course, talking baseball. Whether it’s water-cooler chats, Slacks from the home office, family dinners or group chats, you’re going to need some baseball topics ready. Everyone has a World Series pick, but not everyone is prepared with an A-plus Juan Soto nugget.
That’s where we come in. We don’t just want you talking baseball, we want to equip you to wow and amaze whoever you’re with. Here’s one fact per team to make you sound smart.
Jump to: AL East | AL Central | AL West | NL East | NL Central | NL West
AL EAST
Blue Jays: Playoff Vlad and Playoff Ernie
This duo really brought the offense in October. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit .397 and slugged .795 for the AL pennant-winning Blue Jays last postseason. He hit eight home runs, tied for the second-most in a single postseason behind Randy Arozarena’s 10 in 2020. Guerrero’s eight career postseason home runs, all last year, are already two more than any other Blue Jays player in a career. His 29 hits tied Arozarena for second-most in a postseason run. Teammate Ernie Clement set the record with 30 hits during Toronto’s run. His 10 multihit games also set a record, with Guerrero again tying for second-most, with nine.
Orioles: O’Pening Day O’Neill
We hope Mr. Splash is ready for Thursday. Tyler O’Neill has homered in a whopping six straight Opening Day games, the most consecutive seasons with at least one Opening Day home run, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Why whopping? Because no other player has ever had a streak longer than four straight Opening Days, done by 1994-97 Todd Hundley, 1977-80 Gary Carter and 1955-58 Yogi Berra. The only players to homer on more than six Opening Days in a career, regardless of the consecutive factor, are Frank Robinson (eight) and Ken Griffey Jr. (seven). Will O’Neill join them and extend his streak? We’ll find out very soon.
Rays: Powerful Junior
Junior Caminero picked up in the World Baseball Classic right where he left off in 2025, crushing homers. Caminero’s three home runs were tied for the most of any player in this year’s WBC. The total was also tied for the most in a single World Baseball Classic before turning 23, with 2017 Carlos Correa. As a reminder, Caminero finished the 2025 season with 45 homers, becoming the second-youngest player with a 45-homer season in MLB history, based on age on the final day of the season, according to Elias. Caminero was 22 years and 85 days old on the last day. Only 1953 Eddie Mathews (21 years, 349 days) was younger, when he hit 47 home runs.
Red Sox: Crochet-ing
Garrett Crochet will be starting on Opening Day again in his second year with the Red Sox. This will be the third career Opening Day start for Crochet in his third season as a starter. The last pitcher to make an Opening Day start in each of his first three or more seasons in which he had at least one start was 1886-1890 Matt Kilroy, in his first five, per Elias. Before Crochet, the last pitcher to make an Opening Day start in even each of his first two seasons making at least 1 start was 1910-11 Hippo Vaughn. Talk about a rare feat.
Yankees: All Rise
Aaron Judge’s home run production has been prolific. Last season was the fourth time in his career that he hit at least 50 home runs. That tied Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth for the most 50-homer seasons. Will Judge have a record-breaking fifth season with 50 homers this year? Of course, it wasn’t all about the long ball. Judge also won the AL batting title, leading the Majors at .331. His 53 homers were the most that season by a player who won a batting title. The only other players to win a batting title in a 50-homer season are 1956 Mickey Mantle (52 HR) and 1938 Jimmie Foxx (50).
AL CENTRAL
Guardians: Classic José Ramírez
Another season, another outstanding performance from José Ramírez in 2025. It was his second season with at least 30 home runs and 40 stolen bases. The only other players in MLB history with multiple such seasons are Bobby Bonds (four), Barry Bonds and Alfonso Soriano. Only Bobby Bonds and Ramírez did so in consecutive seasons. Can he do it again? Even a third straight 30-30 would be notable. The only player to record at least three consecutive 30-30 seasons is Barry Bonds (1995-97).
Royals: Bobby baseball
Bobby Witt Jr. continues to show off his power-speed combination. He has 105 homers and 148 stolen bases in his career, which is just four years old. He’s the only player in MLB history with at least 100 home runs and 140 stolen bases in the first four years of his career. The only other players with at least 100 of each in their first four seasons are Julio Rodríguez, Darryl Strawberry and Bobby Bonds.
Tigers: The Skubal era continues
Tarik Skubal followed up his 2024 Cy Young season with another strong campaign and another Cy Young in 2025. He had seven starts with at least 10 strikeouts and no walks, tying 2019 Gerrit Cole for the most in a season in at least the last 125 years. Can Skubal make it three Cy Young Awards in a row? The only pitchers to win at least three straight are Randy Johnson (1999-2002) and Greg Maddux (1992-95), each with four straight.
Twins: Win streak times two
The Twins put together a 13-game winning streak in 2025, after authoring a 12-game winning streak in 2024. Since 1900, there have now been 12 instances of a team winning 12 or more in a row in consecutive seasons. The Twins were the first to do so since Cleveland won 14 straight in 2016 and had their AL-record 22-game win streak in 2017. No team since 1900 has done this in three straight seasons, but if we expand to all of MLB history, there’s one instance, per Elias. The 1885-87 St. Louis Browns. Will the Twins join them?
White Sox: Fast start
Colson Montgomery hit 21 home runs in a 71-game rookie campaign, getting off to a fast start. He hit his 10th career home run on Aug. 11, in his 32nd career game. That was the third-fewest career games to 10 home runs in White Sox history, trailing only 1934 Zeke Bonura (25 games) and 2014 Jose Abreu (26 games). The 23-year-old Montgomery also became the youngest player in White Sox history with at least 10 home runs in an 18-game span. What will he have in store for a full season this year?
AL WEST
Angels: Trout for 400
Mike Trout entered last year with 378 career home runs, on the verge of becoming the 59th player in MLB history with at least 400 home runs. He hit No. 400 on Sept. 20, becoming the 15th player with at least 400 home runs and 200 stolen bases. If we take it one step further, the 34-year-old Trout was just the seventh player with at least 400 home runs and 200 stolen bases before turning 35, joining Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Barry Bonds and Reggie Jackson. Good company indeed.
Astros: What can Brown do for you?
Hunter Brown made his first All-Star team in 2025 and went on to finish third in AL Cy Young voting. A big reason why he was so effective was limiting hard contact. Brown allowed just a 32.2% hard-hit rate, the second-lowest among the 151 pitchers to allow at least 250 batted balls this season, behind only Ranger Suarez (31.1%). Brown finished the season with a 2.43 ERA. No pitcher in Astros franchise history has multiple qualified seasons with a sub-2.50 ERA. At least, not yet.
A’s: Churn it up
Unanimous AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz hit 36 homers, tied for the eighth-most by a rookie in a season. The most notable was a 493-foot home run, the longest of the 2025 regular season. It was the longest home run in the Majors since Shohei Ohtani on June 30, 2023 (493 feet). It was the A’s longest home run under Statcast (2015) as well as the longest grand slam by anyone in that span. The only rookie with a longer home run than Kurtz under Statcast was Aaron Judge, twice in 2017. His most notable game was July 25, when Kurtz became the first rookie in MLB history with a four-homer game.
Mariners: Big Dumper
Cal Raleigh had a season for the ages last year, hitting 60 home runs to establish single-season records for both switch-hitters and primary catchers (min. 50% of games at catcher). Raleigh became the seventh individual in MLB history with at least 60 home runs in a season. He joined Aaron Judge, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Roger Maris and Babe Ruth. Raleigh had 11 multi-homer games, tying the MLB single-season record, also held by 2022 Judge, 1998 Sammy Sosa and 1938 Hank Greenberg. What will he do for an encore?
Rangers: deReturn
We got to watch a full season of Jacob deGrom in 2025, when he made 30 starts for the first time since 2019 and was a qualified pitcher (at least one inning pitched per team game) for the first time since 2020. From April 18 through July 1, deGrom allowed six hits or fewer and two runs or fewer in 14 straight starts. That marked the longest such streak by a traditional starter since at least 1900.
NL EAST
Braves: Everyday Olson
Matt Olson brings a hefty streak into 2026, playing 782 consecutive games dating to May 2, 2021. His streak is the 12th-longest in MLB history. The only other streaks of at least 700 consecutive games to begin in the divisional era (1969) are, of course, 1982-98 Cal Ripken Jr. (2,632 games), as well as 1975-83 Steve Garvey (1,207), 2000-07 Miguel Tejada (1,152), 1978-83 Pete Rose (745) and 1981-86 Dale Murphy (740).
Phillies: Schwarbs
Kyle Schwarber has 187 home runs with the Phillies, third-most by a player in his first four seasons with a team behind McGwire’s 191 with the Cardinals and Ruth’s 189 with the Yankees. And with his re-signing in Philly this past offseason, that’s a list we can continue to track: 40 home runs this season, as he’s projected for, would give him 227 in five years with the Phillies. The only player with that many home runs in his first five years with a team is Ruth, with 235 with the Yankees.
Marlins: Sandy’s day
Sandy Alcantara will take the mound on Opening Day. It will be his sixth career Opening Day start, three more than anyone else in the Marlins franchise history. The only other Dominican-born pitchers to make more than five career Opening Day starts are Juan Marichal (10), Pedro Martinez (eight), Bartolo Colon (seven) and Mario Soto (six).
Mets: Soto homer, Soto walk
Juan Soto has played eight career seasons, each with at least a .395 on-base percentage. The only AL/NL players to have at least a .395 OBP in each of their first nine or more seasons are Ted Williams (first 17 seasons), Stan Musial (14) and Ferris Fain. As it stands, Soto’s streak of eight straight such seasons to start his career is tied for fourth, with Frank Thomas, Wade Boggs and Charlie Keller. But it’s not just the on-base ability. He combines that with power. His five seasons with at least 25 homers and 115 walks are tied with Jim Thome and Lou Gehrig for fourth-most in a career, behind only Barry Bonds (13 seasons), Babe Ruth (10) and Williams (nine). Soto’s active streak of five consecutive seasons played with those totals is tied for second-longest, with Bonds from 2000-04, behind Williams’ six from 1941-42 and 1946-49 (military service 1943-45).
Nationals: What a month
Daylen Lile had a September to remember in 2025, hitting .391 and slugging .772 in 25 games and giving Nationals fans plenty to look forward to this season. He hit six home runs and seven triples in the month. He became the sixth player with at least seven triples and six home runs in a calendar month in the last 120 seasons, joining Willie Mays in June 1957, Babe Herman in July 1929, Ty Cobb in May 1921, Ed Lennox in May 1914 and Frank Schulte in July 1911.
NL CENTRAL
Brewers: Action Jackson
Jackson Chourio’s second season featured more power and speed, as he became the first player in MLB history with at least 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in a season multiple times before turning 22. He put together a 20-game hit streak in July, becoming the first player with a streak that long at age 21 or younger since Freddie Freeman in 2011.
Cardinals: Just keep hitting
Can the Cardinals’ offense get off to another quick start this year? In 2025, they hit .304 as a team in the first nine games of the season, racking up 101 hits. They reached at least 10 hits in each of those first nine games, the second-longest such streak to start a season since the mound was moved to its current distance (1893), behind only 1999 Cleveland (10), per Elias.
Cubs: The 2015 Draft
With new signing Alex Bregman joining the Cubs and Dansby Swanson, the team now has both of the top two picks from the 2015 MLB Draft, where Swanson went No. 1 and Bregman No. 2. They will be the fifth pair of players taken 1-2 in the same draft to be MLB teammates, per Elias. They will join Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton (2022-25 MIN, 2012 Draft), Tim Beckham and Pedro Alvarez (2017-18 BAL, 2008), Paul Wilson and Ben Grieve (2001-02 TB, 1994) and B.J. Surhoff and Will Clark (1999-2000 BAL, 1985).
Pirates: Skenes Day
Following up on a great first season in 2024, Paul Skenes finished his second year in the Majors with a microscopic 1.97 ERA en route to a unanimous NL Cy Young Award. He became the first qualified pitcher with a sub-2.00 ERA in his age-23 season or younger since Dwight Gooden in 1985 (1.53). He was also the first qualified Pirates pitcher with a sub-2.00 ERA in the live-ball era (1920). At 23 years and 122 days, Skenes became the fourth-youngest pitcher to lead MLB qualifiers in ERA (earned runs official since 1913) by age at end of season, older than only 1985 Dwight Gooden (20y, 324d), 1976 Mark Fidrych (22y, 50d) and 1914 Dutch Leonard (22y, 177d), per Elias. What’s next?
Reds: Electric Elly
Elly De La Cruz was electric yet again in 2025. On March 31, he hit two home runs and a double, and notched a stolen base. It was the third time in his career he had three extra-base hits and at least one stolen base in a game. That broke a tie with Joe Morgan and Orlando Cepeda for the most such games before turning 24 years old since at least 1900. Three such games are tied for the fourth-most overall in that span regardless of age, behind only Honus Wagner (six), Morgan (five) and Barry Bonds (four).
NL WEST
Dodgers: Shotime
Unanimous NL MVP Shohei Ohtani had another unprecedented season, establishing yet another 50-50 club. This time, it was at least 50 home runs as a hitter and 50 strikeouts as a pitcher. The only other player with any strikeouts as a pitcher in a 50-homer season is Babe Ruth, with three strikeouts in 1921. Ohtani’s 55 home runs set a Dodgers franchise record for a single season, breaking his mark from 2024. Of his 55 home runs, 51 were out of the leadoff spot. That’s 10 more than any other player out of the leadoff spot in a season in MLB history. He’s now won MVP unanimously four times. No other player has multiple unanimous MVP Awards in the history of the honor, which dates to 1931.
D-backs: Corbin Barrels
Corbin Carroll became the first player in D-backs history with at least 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season last year. But that’s not all. Add in his triples and he was just the third player in MLB history with at least 30 homers, 15 triples and 30 stolen bases in a season. He joined Jimmy Rollins in 2007 and Willie Mays in 1957. If we lower the minimums we get another fun list. He has two seasons with at least 10 triples, 25 home runs and 30 stolen bases, tied with Witt and Mays for the most.
Giants: Logan’s Web(b)
Franchise stalwart Logan Webb will make his fifth consecutive Opening Day start when the Giants take the field on Wednesday. Webb will be the second Giants pitcher to make at least five straight Opening Day starts, per Elias. He will join 1964-69 Juan Marichal, who made six straight. The only other Giants to make five or more in a career, regardless of consecutive, are Marichal (10), Carl Hubbell (six), Larry Jansen, Madison Bumgarner, Mickey Welch and Amos Rusie.
Padres: Power and speed
Fernando Tatis Jr. reached 100 career stolen bases on May 3 last year, to go along with his 135 home runs at the time. He reached at least 100 career stolen bases and 130 career home runs in 547 games, the fewest games to reach those marks in MLB history.
Rockies: Wheeeee!
On Aug. 1 last season, the Rockies allowed nine runs in the first inning to the Pirates but still went on to win, 17-16. They became the sixth team to win after allowing at least nine runs in the first inning in MLB history, per Elias. They joined Cleveland on Aug. 23, 2006, the Phillies on June 8, 1989, the Phillies on Sept. 30, 1913, the Reds on May 17, 1896 and the Cleveland Blues on June 21, 1884. You truly never know what you’ll see at the ballpark.