From Mookie's torrid start to an unlikely no-no, wild stats this week

April 4th, 2024

Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (March 29-April 4).

Leadoff Mookie: Mookie Betts’ leadoff homer on Friday was the 49th of his career. That’s the fifth-most in MLB history, behind only Rickey Henderson (81), George Springer (57), Alfonso Soriano (54) and Craig Biggio (53). Betts now has 29 leadoff homers with the Dodgers, breaking a tie at 28 with Davey Lopes for the most in franchise history.

Hey Shota, what do you say: After quoting the Cubs’ iconic song in his introductory news conference, Shota Imanaga further endeared himself to fans with a stellar debut Monday. His 5 2/3-inning bid tied for the longest no-hit bid by a Cubs pitcher in his MLB debut in at least the live-ball era (1920), joining 5/16/96 Amaury Telemaco, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He induced 20 swings and misses, tied for the third most by a pitcher in his MLB debut in the pitch-tracking era (2008), per research by MLB’s Jason Bernard.

Doing Mike Trout things: Mike Trout hit two homers on Monday, the second of which went 473 feet – the longest in MLB so far this season. It was his seventh home run of at least 470 feet under Statcast (2015). If that sounds like a lot, it’s because it is. Only Giancarlo Stanton has more such homers in that span, with 10, and nobody else has more than four.

Ronel blanked ‘em: Ronel Blanco threw the first no-hitter of 2024 on Monday, marking the 17th no-no in Astros history. That’s four more than any other team since Houston entered the league in 1962. The Astros have thrown seven no-hitters since they were last no-hit in Matt Cain’s 2012 perfect game. That’s the longest team streak of no-hitters, including playoffs, without being no-hit, per Elias. They broke a tie at six with … themselves, with six thrown between being no-hit by Jim Maloney on 4/30/69 and Carlos Zambrano on 9/14/08.

Bryce thrice: Bryce Harper notched the first three-homer game of the 2024 season on Tuesday, the second such performance of his career. It was the 25th three-plus-homer game in Phillies franchise history. It’s just the third of those to include a grand slam, joining Jayson Werth (5/16/2008) and Dick Allen (9/29/1968).

Action Jackson: It’s been an exciting start to his MLB career for baseball’s No. 2 overall prospect, the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio. At 20 years and 18 days old on Friday, Chourio became the youngest player in MLB history with at least one stolen base and RBI in his debut (since RBIs became official in 1920). Then he hit his first homer on Wednesday. At 20 years and 23 days old, Chourio was the youngest MLB player with a home run since Juan Soto in 2018 and the youngest Brewers player with a home run since Gary Sheffield in 1988.

Nolan keeps rollin’: After being drafted 11th overall in 2023, the Angels’ Nolan Schanuel made his big league debut on Aug. 18 last season. All he’s done since? Reached base in all 35 games of his career, entering the weekend. That’s the third-most consecutive games reaching base safely to start a career since 1900, according to Elias. He trails only 1984 Alvin Davis (47 games) and 1918 Truck Hannah (38).

Yordan power: Yordan Alvarez crushed the ball on Wednesday for the Astros, with five batted balls at 105+ mph, tied for the most by a player in a game under Statcast, with Nolan Arenado (5/12/23), Aaron Judge (9/18/22), Juan Soto (7/16/21) and Nelson Cruz (6/29/19). Two of those were homers, marking his 16th career multi-homer effort in his 489th game. That’s tied for the second-most multi-home run games in a player’s first 500 career games with Todd Helton and Bob Horner, behind only Ralph Kiner’s 17.

Five times nine: The Dodgers have scored at least five runs in each of their first nine games of the season for the first time since joining the NL in 1890. It’s the sixth-longest such streak to open a season since 1900, behind only the 1932 Yankees (first 13 games), 2002 Cleveland (10), 1999 Cleveland (10), 1936 Reds (10) and 1903 Pirates (10).

And still unswept: Teams enter each series trying to win it, but even just avoiding being swept is worth noting. To that end, the Orioles have now gone 93 straight series without being swept, entering the weekend. That’s the third-most consecutive series of multiple games without being swept, per Elias. They trail only the 1942-44 Cardinals (125) and 1903-05 Giants (106).