Here¡¯s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (April 4-10).
Free Willy: Willy Adames notched a walk-off hit in the Giants¡¯ home opener on Friday. It was also his first career game at Oracle Park as a Giant. He became the fourth Giants player with a walk-off hit in his first home game with the team since 1900, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He joined Rey Sanchez (April 7, 1998), Fran Healy (April 15, 1971) and Moe Solomon (Sept. 30, 1923).
All Rise: Aaron Judge played his 1,000th career game on Friday. Through that game, he had 321 home runs, by far the most of any player in his first 1,000 career games. All 1,000 games have come with the Yankees, tying Babe Ruth (also with the Yankees) for the most home runs in a player¡¯s first 1,000 games with the same franchise in MLB history.
Great Scott!: Tanner Scott had a particularly efficient save on Saturday, facing three batters and throwing three pitches. Scott became the fifth pitcher with a three-pitch save while facing three batters since pitch counts have been tracked (1988), joining Mariano Rivera (June 15, 2003), Steve Reed (May 8, 1994), Duane Ward (June 15, 1993) and Barry Jones (Oct. 2, 1992).
California dreaming: The NL West continues to have a very strong start. With the Dodgers, Padres and Giants, this is the first time at least three teams in the same division started 7-1 or better through eight games (since divisions were established in 1969). It¡¯s the second time in MLB history that three teams in the same league started 7-1 or better through eight games, joining the 2003 American League (NYY, KC, OAK). With the Giants and Dodgers, this is the first time two teams in the same division have started 8-1 or better through nine games since 1969.
Spinning a Web(b): Logan Webb went seven scoreless innings on Monday with 10 strikeouts and no walks. It was his third career outing with at least 10 strikeouts and zero walks. The only Giants pitchers with more in at least the last 125 seasons are Madison Bumgarner (12), Tim Lincecum (five) and Juan Marichal (four).
High velocity: Hunter Greene pitched into the ninth inning on Monday, and was still bringing the heat even late in the game. His fastest pitch of the night was 100.7 mph in the ninth inning. The only other pitchers to throw a pitch at least that hard in the ninth inning of a game they started under pitch tracking (2008) are Justin Verlander (one in 2009, four in 2012) and Sandy Alcantara (one in 2021, one in 2022).
Leadoff Lindor: Francisco Lindor had a leadoff hit in five straight games through Tuesday. It was the longest streak by a Mets player since Jose Reyes in 2011. Reyes is the only Mets player with a longer streak, at seven straight in both 2011 and 2006.
Schwarbs: Kyle Schwarber crushed a 462-foot, 116.7 mph home run on Tuesday. That¡¯s the Phillies¡¯ third-hardest-hit home run under Statcast (since 2015, including playoffs). Schwarber also hit the top two, at 119.7 mph in 2022 NLCS Game 1 and at 117.1 mph in 2023 NLCS Game 1.
Laying lumber: James Wood had his second career multi-homer game on Tuesday. He¡¯s just 22 years old. Wood is the third National/Expos player with multiple multi-homer games before turning 23, along with Juan Soto (11) and Bryce Harper (10). Wood¡¯s birthday is September 17, so he has plenty of time to add on.
Current Iron Man: Matt Olson has played 632 consecutive games entering Friday, dating back to May 2, 2021. There have been only seven other streaks of at least 600 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).