First-half numbers to know
In honor of Bartolo Colon, the oldest All- Star this season at 43, here are 43 stats that fantasy and real general managers are paying attention to as we prepare for the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline.
1. No team has a winning record when scoring three runs or fewer, but the Minnesota Twins are 1-34 in that scenario this season.
2. The Boston Red Sox have played in a major league-leading 52 games in which they have had at least 10 hits, and they’ve gone 38-14 in those games. Boston is 11-24 when it doesn’t get 10 hits.
3. The fact that the Milwaukee Brewers have struck out 10-plus times in 42 games, the most in the majors, is less interesting than the fact that the Los Angeles Angels have struck out 10 or more times in seven games, the fewest in the majors.
4. The Baltimore Orioles have played 87 games and not had a triple in 84 of them. The Orioles also haven’t stolen a base in 75 of their games. Both figures lead the majors.
5. No one on the Orioles, New York Mets or St. Louis Cardinals has stolen as many as five bases.
6. A.J. Hinch, manager of the Houston Astros, has been successful on 20% of his challenges (6-for-20). Don Mattingly of the Marlins (20-for-31, 64.5%) and Paul Molitor of the Twins (9for-14, 64.3%) have the highest challenge rates.
7. The Seattle Mariners and Cardinals each have seven batters with 10-plus homers, while the Atlanta Braves have only Freddie Freeman.
8. The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers have allowed an unearned run in 14 games apiece, the fewest in the majors.
9. Singular sensation: Xander Bogaerts leads the big leagues with 85 singles; the Miami Marlins lead all teams with 593 singles.
10. Daniel Descalso leads the majors with a .462 batting average (12-for-26) with runners in scoring position.
11. Runner on third with fewer than two outs? You could do real well with Matt Kemp at the plate. Kemp is hitting .647 (11-for-17) with 25 RBI. Or, go with Brandon Crawford hitting .556 with 30 RBI. 12. Chris Archer has struck out 10 batters with a runner on third and fewer than two outs, the most in the majors. But, in 27 plate appearances, batters are hitting .286 (6-for-21) against Archer in those settings.
13. However, it should be noted that no pitcher in baseball has allowed as many runs in the first inning as Archer, who has permitted 21. Felix Hernandez has made only 10 starts this season, but he has yet to give up a run in the first inning. Masahiro Tanaka has allowed two runs in the first inning in his 18 starts.
14. Do you like watching a pitcher walk back to the dugout after a two-out strikeout? Keep your eyes on Jose Fernandez, who has done it 53 times, Max Scherzer (52) and David Price (51). 15. In case you have forgotten, Jake Arrieta has the only no-hitter of the season and Madison Bumgarner, Julio Teheran and Jaime Garcia have the only onehitters.
16. Mookie Betts has led off a game with a hit 29 times, the most in baseball. Curtis Granderson and Jose Altuve each have hit six homers as the first batter in a game.
17. Here’s another Betts stat: He has 72 hits at Fenway Park, the most hits for any batter playing at home. Betts is followed by his teammate, Bogaerts, who has 65. Chris Carter is new this season to Milwaukee but he has pro- vided Brewers fans with 16 homers, the most of any batter at home.
18. Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Nelson Cruz and Mark Trumbo have each hit 14 homers away from home, the most in the majors.
19. Batters have fouled off 422 of Jake Odorizzi’s pitches, while Odubel Hererra has fouled off 327 pitches he’s seen.
20. Here’s a double play combo: Dustin Pedroia leads the majors having hit into 16 double plays, while Martin Perez leads the majors having induced 22 ground-ball double plays.
21. Two pitchers have thrown over 2,000 pitches: Bumgarner (2,027) and Scherzer (2,013). Price leads the AL with 1,973 pitches.
22. Carlos Martinez has made 17 starts and hasn’t allowed a home run to a right-handed hitter. Clayton Kershaw has made 16 starts and Adam Conley 18, with neither giving up a homer to a left-handed hitter.
23. Trumbo leads the majors with 14 homers with runners on base (good for 54 RBI). Todd Frazier leads the majors with 17 bases-empty homers. But Frazier also leads the majors with 38 pop-outs.
24. There have been 41 extrainning homers, and Melvin Upton Jr., Robinson Cano and Javier Baez each have two, the most in the big leagues.
25. Mike Napoli has struck out six times in extra innings, while Michael Feliz leads all pitchers with 12 extra-inning whiffs.
26. Chris Davis leads the majors with 122 strikeouts, and he also leads in taking 44 called third strikes. Giancarlo Stanton leads the majors with 91 swing-andmiss strike threes. Scherzer leads the majors with 164 strikeouts and leads the majors in getting 137 with swing-and-misses. Price leads the majors in getting 51 called strike threes.
27. Three batters have had five-strikeout games: Colby Rasmus, Michael Saunders and Michael Taylor. Taylor and Rasmus did it in five plate appearances.
28. On the other hand, Saunders drove home eight fellow Toronto Blue Jays on June 17 against the Orioles, the most in any game this season.
29. Three players have had sixhit games: Chase Utley, C.J. Cron and Wilmer Flores. All three games occurred between July 2 and July 6.
30. Bryce Harper has had six games in which he walked at least three times. In those games he totaled 22 walks in 30 plate appearances.
31. Josh Donaldson has played 89 games and drawn a walk in 47 of them, the most in the majors. Meanwhile, his teammate, Kevin Pillar, has played 89 games and not drawn a walk in 79 of them, the most in the majors.
32. Ageless David Ortiz has 72 RBI and has driven home a run in 43 of the 81 games he’s appeared in, the most in the majors.
33. Powered primarily by Big Papi, the Red Sox’s designated hitters lead the majors with 24 homers, which is a good thing, be- cause the Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cardinals have each gotten only two homers from their catchers, the fewest in the majors.
34. Jose Abreu has chased 306 pitches out of the strike zone, the most of any batter. Batters have chased 342 of Zack Greinke’s pitches out of the strike zone, the most of any pitcher.
35. Kershaw leads all pitchers with nine double-figure strikeout games, and he has done it in 16 starts.
36. Dellin Betances leads all relievers with strikeouts in 40 different appearances; he has appeared in 43 games.
37. Kyle Barraclough leads all relievers with walks in 22 different appearances; he has appeared in 40 games (and has issued only one intentional walk).
38. Carlos Villanueva has faced 216 batters, the most of any reliever, while his San Diego Padres teammate, Brad Hand, has thrown 831 pitches, the most for a reliever.
39. Villanueva (35 appearances), Erasmo Ramirez (36 appearances) and Jeremy Jeffress (40 appearances) have each allowed hits in 29 different games.
40. Marc Rzepczynski has appeared in 41 games and has no wins, no losses, no saves and no blown saves.
41. Seung-hwan Oh leads all pitchers in having not allowed a run in 38 different appearances; he has been in 45 games.
42. Here’s an exciting stat from Oakland Athletics reliever Ryan Dull: Batters have hit .041 (2-for-49) against Dull with runners in scoring position, the lowest such average in the majors.
43. There have been four triple plays this season, one by the Brewers and three by the Chicago White Sox.