Historic Chases · 2026-07-07

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Baseball last night

History movers: Yordan Alvarez (Triple Crown (AL)) down 95 → 80; Bryan Baker (Saves) up 67 → 72; Jacob Misiorowski (Strikeouts) up 72 → 76.

Milestones reached last night: Nick Gonzales reached 100 hits; Xavier Edwards reached 100 hits; Ernie Clement reached 100 hits; Shohei Ohtani reached 20 HR; Pete Crow-Armstrong reached 100 hits.

The .400 chase: Otto Lopez went 1-for-5 last night and saw his average slip 3 points to .343. The gap to .400 is now .057.

The so-what: through 92 team games, Kyle Schwarber sits 10 HR behind Bonds' 73-homer pace (42 at this point). That's the number that decides whether this season becomes a chase or a footnote.

What we were watching

The .400 burndown: Otto Lopez carries a .343 average into today; a .400 finish takes a .476 clip the rest of the way (131-for-275). That is .005 harder than yesterday. A 3-for-4 tonight lowers the requirement to .472; an 0-for-4 raises it to .483.

30/30 watch: Pete Crow-Armstrong sits at 19 HR / 23 SB — 11 homers short and 7 steals short of a 30/30 season, projecting to 34/41.

Historical intelligence

How the night stacked up

Pace through history

Kyle Schwarber versus the great home-run seasons

Kyle Schwarber has 31 home runs through 92 team games, 9 behind Barry Bonds's 2001 pace at the same checkpoint (40). Comparable chases finished with a median of 47; 33.8% reached 50 and 5% reached 60 (n=80).

Retrosheet · verified play-by-play
If the pace holds

A projected top-22 season

If Kyle Schwarber finishes at the current projection of 55, it would rank No. 22 among all seasons since 1901 — only 21 finished higher.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021
Franchise pressure

A franchise record is under pressure

The MIA single-season record is 221 hits, set by Juan Pierre in 2004. Otto Lopez projects to 218 and projects to finish 3 short.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021
Historical season twin

Whose season does Kyle Schwarber resemble?

The completed season closest to Kyle Schwarber's projected shape is Mark Trumbo's 2016 (75% similarity). The match is strongest in average, speed, runs; the largest difference is power. This is a comparison, not a forecast of how the season must finish.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021
Closest to .400
.343AVG
35 consecutive hits needed to reach .400
EXTREME
Home Run Leader
31HR
55 projected HR · 10 behind Bonds's 73 pace
Hits Leader
124H
218 projected H · 25 behind Suzuki's 262 pace
Stolen Base Leader
33SB
57 projected SB · 42 behind Henderson's 130 pace
Doubles Leader
252B
44 projected 2B · 13 behind Webb's 67 pace
Triples Leader
103B
18 projected 3B · 10 behind Wilson's 36 pace
Strikeout Leader
167K
297 projected K · record 383 (Nolan Ryan)
EXTREME
ERA Leader
1.62ERA
111.0 IP · chasing a sub-2.00 finish
ON PACE
Triple Crown Watch (AL)
.313· 29 HR · 67 RBI
2 / 1 / 1 in AVG/HR/RBI league ranks — full board on the Watch page
30/30 Club Pace
19/23HR/SB
34/41 projected HR/SB · team-game pace · 1 other in the hunt
ON PACE
Saves Leader
Cade SmithCLE
26SV
46 projected SV · record 62
EXTREME
Wins Leader (Team)
DodgersLAD
60W
105 projected wins · record 116
LONG SHOT
Run Differential Leader
DodgersLAD
+163
+284 projected run differential