The most mind-blowing stats of the '24 season

Eight weeks after dealing away most of their veteran players at the Trade Deadline, the Tigers might make the playoffs. That’s bonkers!

The Mets were 11 games under .500 on June 2, but they rose to contention thanks in part to signing a 34-year-old infielder … around the same time he released a Latin pop single called “OMG.” And the song is actually good. That’s bonkers!

• 8 unlikely contributors for contending clubs

The Astros were 10 games back in their division on June 18, but they ran away with it anyway. The Royals have a chance to reach the playoffs after losing 106 games last year. The Brewers and Guardians lost generational managers … then ran away with their respective divisions. The White Sox … well, you know what’s gone on there. Bonkers, bonkers, bonkers, bonkers!

This 2024 MLB season -- like every season before it -- has been bonkers. Because baseball is bonkers. And that’s why we love it.

The above just scratches the surface of what made this season special. So here’s our annual rundown of some of the statistics that stood out as -- that’s right -- bonkers!

(Note: All stats are entering Tuesday’s games, and the focus here is on season-long trends, not one-off games. As always, this list would not be possible without Baseball-Reference’s indispensable Stathead search tool and without the input of our even-more-indispensable reporter and editor Sarah Langs.)

95, 254, 242

Total homers (95), walks (254) and RBIs (242) for Yankees sluggers Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. Judge has 55 homers, 129 walks and 138 RBIs, while Soto has 40 homers, 125 walks and 104 RBIs.

MLB has never seen a pair of teammates put up this kind of production. Judge and Soto are the first pair of teammates ever with at least 40 homers and 120 walks and the first pair with at least 100 RBIs and 120 walks. If we just look at the walks alone, then the only other pairs of teammates with at least 120 apiece were Eddie Joost (149) and Ferris Fain (136) of the 1949 Philadelphia A’s and Roy Cullenbine (137) and Eddie Lake (120) of the 1947 Detroit Tigers.

53, 55

Homers and steals for You Know Who: Shohei Ohtani. You don’t need us to tell you the Dodgers’ DH is the first player to post a 50-50 season. Or that he reached 50-50 in a game in which he went 6-for-6 with three homers, five extra-base hits and two steals, which also had never been done before. Or that he homered and stole a base the next day. Or that he homered and stole two bases two days after that …

• Debating where Ohtani’s 50-50 Game ranks in MLB history

OK, sorry, we trailed off there. You get the point. Ohtani is incredible. But here’s one more way to put his season in perspective. He is going to become just the third player to finish in the top two in MLB in both homers (where he trails only Judge) and stolen bases (where he trails only Elly De La Cruz).

The others, whose names you should recognize, were both in the Dead Ball Era:

Honus Wagner, 1908: Second in homers (10), first in steals (53)

Ty Cobb, 1909: First in homers (nine) and in steals (76)

• 50-50 isn’t Ohtani’s only potential power-speed feat

173

OPS+ for Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. That is the highest by a shortstop with at least 120 games played since the Pirates’ Arky Vaughan had a 190 mark way back in 1935. The only other shortstop to meet those conditions? Some guy named Honus Wagner, who did it five times (1904-1905 and 1907-09).

And oh by the way, Witt is the only player ever with 30 homers, 40 doubles, 10 triples and 25 steals in a season.

65, 210

Stolen bases and strikeouts for Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz. He ranks first in MLB in both categories. No player has ever led the Majors in both before.

Despite striking out in more than 30% of his plate appearances, De La Cruz has raised his on-base percentage by more than 40 points (hence all those steals) and his slugging percentage by more than 60 points. He’s only 22 years old, so just imagine what might happen if he gets the K’s more under control.

13

Three-run homers for Brewers shortstop Willy Adames. That ties the single-season record set by none other than Ken Griffey Jr. with the Mariners in 1996. Adames tied Junior on Sept. 2, making his grand slam on Sept. 14 … weirdly anticlimactic!

4

Number of times this season that a no-hit bid was broken up with a home run in the ninth inning. Yes, that’s the most ever.

Mets slugger J.D. Martinez ended the Braves’ combined no-no with two outs in the ninth on May 11; the Rangers’ Corey Seager ended Astros ace Framber Valdez’s no-hitter with two outs in the ninth on Aug. 6; the Angels’ Taylor Ward hit a ninth-inning leadoff homer to end Blue Jays right-hander Bowden Francis’ no-hitter on Aug. 24; and Francis lost another no-hit bid when the Mets’ Francisco Lindor hit a ninth-inning leadoff homer on Sept. 11.

Poor Francis was just the fourth pitcher ever to lose no-hit bids in the ninth inning twice, joining the White Sox’s Ed Walsh in 1906, the Blue Jays’ Dave Stieb in 1988 and the Rangers’ Nolan Ryan in 1989.

70

Players used by the Marlins this season. That breaks the record of 69 set by the 2021 Cubs. The historic roster churn was made possible, in part, by Miami dealing away nine players in a flurry of moves at the Trade Deadline.

5

Number of positions in which the Twins’ super-duper utilityman Willi Castro has played at least 25 games. He is the first player in history with that many games at that many positions. Castro, an All-Star this year, has played 56 games at shortstop, 39 games at second base, 30 in center field, 30 in left field and 26 at third base. And of course, he’s even made two (scoreless!) pitching appearances.

1.99, 167

ERA and strikeouts for Pirates sensation Paul Skenes. That made Skenes the first pitcher in the Modern Era (since 1900) with an ERA under 2.00 and at least 150 strikeouts in his first 22 career starts. The only pitcher with a lower ERA through his first 22 career appearances that were all starts was the Expos’ Steve Rogers (1.95) in 1973-74.

• Skenes’ historic rookie campaign continues as he eyes NL ROY

And of course, the fact that Skenes started the All-Star Game one year after getting drafted was beautifully bonkers.

1

Where the Braves’ Chris Sale and the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal rank in their respective leagues in wins (18 for Sale, 17 for Skubal), ERA (2.38 for Sale, 2.48 for Skubal) and strikeouts (225 for Sale, 221 for Skubal).

Finishing first in wins, ERA and strikeouts is what’s known as the pitching Triple Crown. Since 1913, when ERA became official, there have only been three previous instances in which the AL and NL both had pitching Triple Crown winners in the same year. The Tigers’ Justin Verlander and Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw did it in 2011. Before that, you have to go all the way back to 1924 (Washington Senators’ Walter Johnson and Brooklyn Robins’ Dazzy Vance) and then 1918 (Johnson and Cubs’ Hippo Vaughn).

37, 40

Homers and steals for Guardians superstar José Ramírez. If he can reach 40-40, then he and Ohtani will combine to give us the first season in MLB history with multiple 40-40 guys. The only other season in which MLB had two players with at least 37 homers and 40 steals was 2002, when the Expos’ Vladimir Guerrero and the Yankees’ Alfonso Soriano did it.

0.63, 0.63

ERA and WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) marks for Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase. As long as he doesn’t blow up this week, Clase will become just the second pitcher ever with at least 30 appearances to have both an ERA and WHIP mark below 0.70, joining Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley (0.61 ERA, 0.62 WHIP for the 1990 A’s).

.155

OK, again, you already know the White Sox entered Tuesday night tied with the 1962 Mets for most losses (120) in the Modern Era. Mercifully, though, the season will expire before these Sox have a shot at the 1899 Cleveland Spiders’ all-time record of 134 losses.

What’s truly bonkers, though, is how the Sox have sprinted toward this record in a second half in which they have a 9-49 record. That’s a .155 winning percentage that blows away the record for worst after an All-Star break. The previous mark was .197 (15-61) by the 1943 Philadelphia A’s.

43

Home runs for Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander. Amid all the noise about the youngsters in Baltimore’s lineup, Santander has produced the most home runs by a switch-hitter since Lance Berkman (45) in 2006. The top of the list:

1. Mickey Mantle, 1961 Yankees, 54
2. Mantle, 1956 Yankees, 52
3. Lance Berkman, 2006 Astros, 45
4. Chipper Jones, 1999 Braves, 45
5. Anthony Santander, 2024 Orioles, 43
6. Mark Teixeira, 2005 Rangers, 43

50

Total homers for the Padres’ Jackson Merrill (24), the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio (21) and the Orioles’ Jackson Holliday (5). In MLB history, there had previously been just one homer by a player named Jackson -- by Rockies catcher Jackson Williams in 2014.

It’s a new era, folks!

(Don’t expect any homers from him, but the Tigers’ Jackson Jobe, MLB’s top-ranked pitching prospect, was just called up, too.)