Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (June 26-July 2).
Miz dials up the mph: Jacob Misiorowski did it again on Friday, this time throwing a 105.5 mph pitch. That tied 9/3/24 Ben Joyce for the third-fastest pitch under tracking (2008), behind only 9/24/10 Aroldis Chapman (105.8 mph) and 7/18/16 Aroldis Chapman (105.7 mph). Misiorowski’s 105.5 mph pitch is the fastest by a starter under pitch tracking. He has each of the top 41, including his start on Thursday afternoon.
Schwarbs: Kyle Schwarber hit his MLB-leading 30th home run of the season on Sunday. Schwarber reached 30 home runs in the Phillies’ 84th game, the fewest team games to 30 homers in franchise history. That’s also his 217th since joining the Phillies. He has the third-most home runs by a player in his first five seasons with a team, behind only Babe Ruth (NYY: 235) and Mark McGwire (STL: 220). And there’s plenty of season left.
One of ones: Bryce Harper hit his 20th home run of the season on Monday, marking the 12th 20-homer season of his career. That gives him the fourth-most seasons with at least 20 home runs among players drafted No. 1 overall in the June/July primary draft. He trails only Alex Rodriguez (16 seasons), Ken Griffey Jr. (15) and Chipper Jones (14).
Mize masterpiece: Casey Mize went seven scoreless innings on Monday, allowing just one hit and striking out 10 batters without issuing a walk. He became the third pitcher with at least 10 strikeouts, no walks and one or no hits allowed against the Yankees in a game. He joined Chris Sale on May 22, 2014, and Pedro Martínez on Sept. 10, 1999 (17 strikeouts). Mize and Martínez did it at Yankee Stadium.
Maximum Muncy: It finally happened. On Monday, the Dodgers’ Max Muncy and the Athletics’ Max Muncy faced each other in an MLB game. The two share a birthdate -- Aug. 25 -- and were both drafted by the A’s. In Monday’s game, they both started at third base and hit seventh. They became the third duo of players with the same name to start at the same position and same spot in batting order in a game since 1900, per Elias. They joined Alex Gonzalez of the Blue Jays and Marlins on June 2 and 4 in 2000 and Bobby Jones of the Mets and Rockies on May 11, 1999. Incredibly, that means this has happened four times, and Mark Kotsay has been there for three of them, managing the A’s now and playing for the Marlins in 2000.
Flying Fish: The Marlins had a dominant June. They went 20-6 (.769), the best record in MLB. They had a 3.01 ERA, also the best in MLB, and their plus-53 run differential was tied for the highest with the Brewers. All of that helped the Marlins become the first team to enter a calendar month eight or more games under .500 and leave said month at least six games over .500, per Elias.
Keeping it 100: Jacob deGrom had his velocity on display on Tuesday. He topped out at 100.5 mph, twice -- his fastest pitches since April 23, 2023 (101.0 mph). He had a 100.0 mph strikeout, which was his fastest strikeout pitch since the aforementioned 101.0 mph. In total, deGrom threw five pitches at 100.0 mph or faster, his most in a game since April 11, 2023 (nine).
That’s a lot of wins: Dave Roberts reached 1,000 career managerial wins on Tuesday, the day after A.J. Hinch did the same. Roberts got there in his 1,606th game, making him the fastest in MLB history to 1,000 career managerial victories, surpassing Cap Anson (1,641 decisions). It took Hinch 1,917 games.
What a streak: Junior Caminero homered in six straight games through Wednesday. That’s the longest home run streak at age 22 or younger since at least 1900. Caminero had nine homers in his last eight games before finally being held in the park on Thursday. That’s the most home runs in an eight-game span at age 22 or younger since at least 1900.
Current Ironman: Matt Olson has played 867 consecutive games entering Friday, dating to May 2, 2021. His streak is the ninth-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).