Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (May 23-29).
Welcome back: Ronald Acuña Jr. announced his return in a big way on Friday, crushing a leadoff home run on the first pitch he saw. It went 467 ft, Acuña’s 13th career homer of at least 460 ft, including playoffs. That tied Aaron Judge for most in MLB since the start of 2018. With a 115.5 mph exit velocity, it was the second-longest and third-hardest hit first-pitch leadoff home run under Statcast (2015 including playoffs).
Frying the competition: Through his Saturday start, Max Fried’s ERA sits at 1.29. That’s the lowest ERA by a Yankee in his first 11 starts of a season since earned runs became official (1913). It’s the fourth-lowest ERA in a pitcher’s first 11 starts with a team in the last last 30 seasons (excluding openers). He trails only 2017-18 Justin Verlander with the Astros (1.22), 2021 Lance Lynn with the White Sox (1.23) and 1998 Randy Johnson with the Astros (1.28) on that list.
Absolutely crushed: Oneil Cruz hit a 122.9 mph home run on Sunday. That’s the hardest-hit batted ball tracked by Statcast, breaking his own prior record of 122.4 mph. Cruz now has six career batted balls of at least 120 mph. The only other player with multiple under Statcast is Giancarlo Stanton (16).
Spectacular Skubal: Tarik Skubal had himself a day on Sunday, throwing a 94-pitch shutout with 13 strikeouts. That’s the most strikeouts in a Maddux (shutout on fewer than 100 pitches) since pitch counts have been tracked (1988). Skubal got a strikeout on a 102.6 mph pitch to end the game. That’s the fastest strikeout pitch by a starting pitcher under pitch tracking (2008). It was also the fastest pitch in the ninth inning (or later) by a starter in that span, surpassing Justin Verlander 101.3 mph on 7/24/09.
Shotime: Shohei Ohtani hit his 20th home run of the season on Wednesday in the Dodgers’ 55th game. The only other players in franchise history with at least 20 homers in the team’s first 55 games of a season are Cody Bellinger in 2019 and Gil Hodges in 1951 (21). Ohtani has 13 homers so far in May, tied for the third-most home runs in a calendar month in Dodgers history. With two games to go this month, he trails only 1985 Pedro Guerrero in June and 1953 Duke Snider in August, each with 15.
Electric Elly: Elly De La Cruz hit two home runs on Tuesday, with exit velocities of 111.1 mph and 112.5 mph. De La Cruz became the first Reds player with multiple homers of at least 110 mph under Statcast. The homers went 436 ft and 451 ft, making him the first Reds player with two home runs of at least 435 ft in a game under Statcast as well.
Big Dumper: Cal Raleigh hit his 18th and 19th home runs of the season on Tuesday in the Mariners’ 53rd game. His 19th broke a tie with 1955 Roy Campanella for the most by a primary-position catcher in his team’s first 53 games of a season.
Birthdays are important: Paul Skenes’ 23rd birthday was Thursday. Birthdays are important. He has a 2.03 career ERA. That’s the second-lowest career ERA before turning 23 since earned runs became official, minimum 200 innings. He trails only 1913-14 Dutch Leonard (1.80).
PCA!: Pete Crow-Armstrong hit his 15th homer of the season on Wednesday. He already had 16 stolen bases entering the game. Crow-Armstrong became the fifth player with at least 15 home runs and 15 stolen bases in his team’s first 56 games of a season, joining 2003 Alfonso Soriano, 1987 Eric Davis, 1975 Bobby Bonds and 1922 Ken Williams.
Current Ironman: Matt Olson has played 675 consecutive games entering play Friday, dating to May 2, 2021. There have been only seven other streaks of at least 600 to begin in the divisional era (1969), per Elias. They belong to 1982-98 Cal Ripken Jr (2,632 consecutive games), 1975-83 Steve Garvey (1,207), 2000-07 Miguel Tejada (1,152), 1978-83 Pete Rose (745), 1981-86 Dale Murphy (740), 1973-78 Rose (678) and 1969-73 Sandy Alomar Sr. (661).