From the Office of Stats Performs: Items of Note for Series Beginning Monday
GIANTS (24-16) at REDS (19-19)
● These teams rank second and tied for third in the National League in home runs this season: Braves, 59; Reds, 54; Giants, 53; Cardinals, 53.
● The Reds lead the major leagues with nine last at-bat wins, two more than any other team this season.
● At 24-16, the Giants are off to their best 40-game start since 2014 (25-15), and before that, 2003 (26-14).
● Evan Longoria is hitting 217 points higher against left-handed pitchers than against righthanders (.400/.183), the largest split among major-league batting title qualifiers in favor of facing left-handers.
● Nick Castellanos hit .225 last season but he has a .326 batting average this year. That’s the third-largest increase among batting title qualifiers, behind Boston’s J.D. Martinez (.213 to .342) and Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds (.189 to .299).
● Logan Webb is 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA in San Francisco this season, and 0-3 with a 7.58 ERA in road games. Sonny Gray has increased his strikeouts per nine innings rate from 8.5 in 2017 and 2018 to 10.5 in 2019, 11.6 last season, and 12.8 this season.
METS (18-16) at BRAVES (19-21)
● The Braves have scored 53.5 percent of their runs via the home run, the highest rate for any major league team this season. The Mets are fifth from the bottom at 35.3 percent. Only 30.2 percent of the runs that the Mets have allowed have scored on homers, third lowest against any team.
● The Mets have played the fewest games in MLB but they have the most wins when trailing at the end of the sixth inning or later (six).
● The Braves have allowed 10 runs in a game five times this season, including yesterday, the second-highest total in the majors, behind the Tigers (six).
● Dominic Smith has gone a career-high 98 consecutive at-bats without a home run.
● Marcell Ozuna hit .338 last season but he has a .217 batting average this year; Freddie Freeman has fallen from .341 to .222. That’s the second and third largest decreases among batting title qualifiers, behind the Brewers’ Jackie Bradley, Jr. (.283 to .156).
● Taijuan Walker has a 2.20 ERA, the lowest in the first seven starts of a pitcher’s Mets career since Al Leiter had a 1.39 ERA at that point, in 1998. Max Fried lost his first start against the Mets, in 2017, but since then he is 3-0 with a 3.65 ERA in seven starts.
NATIONALS (16-20) at CUBS (19-20)
● The Nationals swept their last series here, in August 2019, for their first sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley Field since 2005.
● The players on the Nationals’ current active roster have a combined total of 1152 career home runs, the highest total for any MLB team. The Cubs stand fifth at 1033.
● The Cubs are one of four major-league teams that have not thrown a shutout this season, along with the Pirates, Angels and Tigers.
● Trea Turner has not attempted a stolen base in 13 straight games despite a .400 on-base percentage over that time. That’s Turner’s longest streak of games without a stolen-base attempt in his MLB career. ● Kris Bryant has the largest increase in home runs this season among players who had at least 100 at-bats in the majors last season (four to 10).
● This is Jon Lester’s second start as a visitor at Wrigley Field; the first was for the Red Sox in 2012. Adbert Alzolay has gotten more than two runs of support (while he was in the game) in only one of his six starts this season.
WHITE SOX (24-15) at TWINS (13-25)
● The White Sox have won six of the last seven games between these teams, including a three-game sweep last week. All seven of those games were played in Chicago.
● The White Sox are 24-15 this season after starting out 25-15 last year. They have been 25-15 or better at the 40-game mark in consecutive seasons three times (1901-02, 1964-65, and 2005-06).
● The Twins have lost five games in which they led at the end of the seventh inning or later, tied with the Dodgers and Phillies for the highest total in the major leagues this season. Minnesota has only three come-from-behind wins, the lowest total in the majors.
● Max Kepler is only 4-for-41 (.098) with one home run and one RBI in his last 11 games against the White Sox.
● Tim Anderson is hitting .328 this season and since 2019 he has the highest batting average among MLB players with 800+ plate appearances (.331).
● Dallas Keuchel has the lowest rate of strikeouts per nine innings among MLB pitchers who have thrown 30+ innings this season (3.7; everyone else is at least 0.5 K per nine higher). J.A. Happ is tied for the fifth-lowest rate (5.4 per nine innings).
YANKEES (22-18) at RANGERS (18-24)
● The Yankees are making their first visit to Globe Life Field. They have won only one of their last eight series in Texas, from 2012 to 2019 (in 2017).
● The Yankees have gone from first to third on a single only seven times this season; every other major league team has done so at least 10 times (MLB average: 18 per team).
● The Rangers have lost six straight games, the longest current streak in the major leagues and tied for the fourth longest this season. A loss tonight would tie the second longest losing streak this season.
● Luke Voit has not hit a home run in 19 at-bats this season after he led the major leagues with 22 homers last season. Voit went 19+ at-bats without a homer only twice last season (droughts of 27 and 23 at-bats).
● Isiah Kiner-Falefa is hitting 178 points higher against right-handed pitchers than against lefthanders (.358/.180), the third-largest split among MLB batting title qualifiers in favor of facing right-handers.
● Gerrit Cole is 12-4 with a 2.22 ERA in 20 regular season games for the Yankees. No other pitcher who debuted for the Yankees in the live-ball era (since 1920) had 12 or more wins with an ERA as low as Cole’s in his first 20 games for the team. Jordan Lyles has a 6.87 ERA over the last two seasons, the highest among pitchers with 75+ IP over that time.
INDIANS (21-17) at ANGELS (17-22)
● The Indians have won eight straight games against the Angels, and 24 of the last 28 games in this series. The Angels have not scored more than three runs in any of their last eight games against Cleveland, the longest current streak by one MLB team against another.
● The Indians and Rays are the only major league teams without a home run by a first baseman this season.
● The Angels are one of four major-league teams that have not thrown a shutout this season, along with the Pirates, Cubs and Tigers.
● Mike Trout hit .425 in April but he’s hitting .182 in May, a 243-point drop that is the largest among MLB batting title qualifiers.
● Franmil Reyes is hitting 188 points higher with a slugging average 375 points higher on the road than at home this season. That’s the third largest difference in the major leagues in each category. (Home: .344 BA, .734 SLG; Road: .156 BA, .359 SLG).
● Sam Hentges has thrown progressively more innings in each game in the major leagues: 1.0, 1.2, 3.0, 3.1, 4.2; with a corresponding rise in pitches thrown: 16, 34, 53, 63, 84. Patrick Sandoval, 1-9, is one of nine active pitchers to lose nine of his first 10 career decisions.
DIAMONDBACKS (18-23) at DODGERS (22-18)
● There are only four major league teams that do not have a walkoff win this season, and all four are from the NL West: these two, as well as the Padres and Giants.
● The Dodgers and Giants are tied for the most losses in the majors when leading at the end of the sixth inning or later this season (seven each).
● The Diamondbacks are 1-6 (.143) in one-run games, the lowest winning percentage in MLB this season, and the Dodgers have the second-lowest percentage (4-11, .267).
● Madison Bumgarner has hit two home runs at Dodger Stadium, tied with Noah Syndergaard for the most among active pitchers (Syndergaard hit both of his in the same game, in 2016).
● Max Muncy has not drawn a walk in his last 15 plate appearances, his second-longest drought of the season (18 PA, April 16-23).
● Madison Bumgarner has improved his strikeouts per nine innings rate from 5.1 in 2020 to 8.6 this season, the fifth-largest increase among pitchers with at least 25 innings each season. Walker Buehler has made 15 regular season starts over the last two seasons, with only two decisions (2-0).
TIGERS (14-26) at MARINERS (21-20)
● The Mariners have won nine of the last 10 games between these teams, and they are 14-1 in home games against Detroit since 2016, the best record by any MLB team with 10+ home games against another over that time.
● The Tigers’ home run leader is Wilson Ramos, who has six (but none since April 13). That’s tied for the second-fewest home runs by a team leader this season. Detroit has hit only two home runs in 314 at-bats against left-handers this year.
● The Mariners and Tigers are among the four MLB teams that have not scored 10 runs in a game this season, along with the Mets and Pirates.
● Miguel Cabrera was hitting .098 through May 5 but since then he is 11-for-30 (.367) with five multi-hit games.
● Ty France hit .289 in April but he’s hitting .059 in May, a 230-point drop that is the second largest among MLB batting title qualifiers (Mike Trout: .425 to .182).
● Casey Mize threw 96 pitches against the Royals last Wednesday, the highest total in any of his 12 major-league starts. Yusei Kikuchi struck out a career-high 11 batters in his last start.
ROCKIES (15-26) at PADRES (24-17)
● These teams rank 1-2 in the major leagues in going first to third on a single this season (Padres, 28; Rockies, 26).
● The Padres and Pirates are the only major-league teams that have not lost a game when leading at the end of the sixth inning or later this season.
● The Rockies are 5-16 (.238) in games decided by two or fewer runs, the lowest winning percentage in MLB this season.
● Jurickson Profar is hitting 226 points higher against right-handed pitchers than against lefthanders (.276/.050), the largest split among batting title qualifiers in favor of facing righthanders.
● Garrett Hampson is hitting 164 points higher against left-handed pitchers than against righthanders (.368/.204), the third-largest split among qualifiers in favor of facing left-handers.
● Jon Gray has improved his strikeouts per nine innings rate from 6.5 in 2020 to 10.1 this season, the fourth-largest increase among pitchers with at least 25 innings each season. Yu Darvish lasted only 4.0 innings against the Rockies on Wednesday, tying his shortest start over the last two seasons.