Stats & Info: Corey Hart
So who’s going to be next to hit three home runs in a game?
Hart
On Monday, Corey Hart hit three home runs, the first three of the season for him, in the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3 victory over the Washington Nationals. According to Elias, Hart was the first player since Dmitri Young in 2005 to hit his first three homers of the season in the same game.
Hart’s efforts were the fourth game this season where a player hit three homers in a single game. All four have come in the last 11 days. Jason Giambi (May 19), Jose Bautista (May 15) and Carlos Beltran (May 12) all accomplished the feat before Hart.
According to Baseball Reference, it’s the first time there’s been four instances of a three-HR game by May 24 in a season since 2003. That year, Richie Sexson (April 23), Aaron Boone (May 8), Carlos Pena (May 19) and Geoff Jenkins (May 21) all had three-homer games before May 24.
Hart’s efforts were the first by the Brewers since Jenkins’ exploits in 2003. It also came on the nine-year anniversary of another mega-HR game at Miller Park. On May 23, 2002, Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit four HR against the Brewers to become the 14th player in MLB history with a four-homer game. No National League player has done it since Green.
For Hart, Giambi, Bautista and Beltran, it was their first career three-HR games each. So who might be next to record their first career three-HR effort? According to Elias, the player with the most career home runs without a three-HR game is Vladimir Guerrero with 441 career homers.
But who had a “true” three-homer game, meaning their hit would have gone over the wall in all 30 parks. The website Hit Tracker has the ability to do that type of tracking. Using that model, none would have all three of their respective homers clear the fence in all 30 parks.
Beltran, Bautista and Giambi each had two which would have cleared the wall in all 30 ballparks while Hart had one. The closest to having all three blasts being homers in all 30 parks was Beltran. His first homer off Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies would have been gone in 27 of the 30 parks.
On Monday, Corey Hart hit three home runs, the first three of the season for him, in the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3 victory over the Washington Nationals. According to Elias, Hart was the first player since Dmitri Young in 2005 to hit his first three homers of the season in the same game.
Hart’s efforts were the fourth game this season where a player hit three homers in a single game. All four have come in the last 11 days. Jason Giambi (May 19), Jose Bautista (May 15) and Carlos Beltran (May 12) all accomplished the feat before Hart.
According to Baseball Reference, it’s the first time there’s been four instances of a three-HR game by May 24 in a season since 2003. That year, Richie Sexson (April 23), Aaron Boone (May 8), Carlos Pena (May 19) and Geoff Jenkins (May 21) all had three-homer games before May 24.
Hart’s efforts were the first by the Brewers since Jenkins’ exploits in 2003. It also came on the nine-year anniversary of another mega-HR game at Miller Park. On May 23, 2002, Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit four HR against the Brewers to become the 14th player in MLB history with a four-homer game. No National League player has done it since Green.
For Hart, Giambi, Bautista and Beltran, it was their first career three-HR games each. So who might be next to record their first career three-HR effort? According to Elias, the player with the most career home runs without a three-HR game is Vladimir Guerrero with 441 career homers.
But who had a “true” three-homer game, meaning their hit would have gone over the wall in all 30 parks. The website Hit Tracker has the ability to do that type of tracking. Using that model, none would have all three of their respective homers clear the fence in all 30 parks.
Beltran, Bautista and Giambi each had two which would have cleared the wall in all 30 ballparks while Hart had one. The closest to having all three blasts being homers in all 30 parks was Beltran. His first homer off Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies would have been gone in 27 of the 30 parks.
1st pitch: Crazy ratios after three weeks
April, 26, 2010
4/26/10
2:26
PM ET
By Jeremy Lundblad, ESPN Stats & Info | ESPN.com
Today’s Trivia: On Sunday, Joakim Soria became the all-time saves leader among pitchers born in Mexico? Whose record did Soria break?
Quick Hits: Let’s take a look at some of the more stunning ratios as we hit the three-week point of the young season.
* Brian McCann has 16 walks and only four strikeouts. Rather amazing for a player who has never had more walks than strikeouts, and had only 49 walks compared to 83 strikeouts last season.
* David Eckstein only has fanned once in 63 plate appearances. No qualifying player last decade had a PA per K greater than 30.0. In fact, the last to do so was Tony Gwynn in 1995.
* A ridiculous 79 percent of Kelly Johnson’s hits have been for extra bases. His career high is just 46 percent. Meanwhile, all 16 of Juan Pierre’s hits have been singles.
* According to Baseball-Reference.com, 33 percent of the fly balls hit by Travis Snider have been infield flies.
* With a 4.33 groundout to air out ratio, Derek Jeter is on track to lead the majors in that category for the second straight year.
* Ryan Rowland-Smith has allowed more home runs (six) than he has strikeouts (five), and has the worst strikeout percentage in the majors.
* Of all the fly balls to the outfield against Cole Hamels, 20.6 percent have been home runs, easily the highest percentage in the majors.
* Carlos Silva has a 0.63 WHIP. Last season, he allowed 0.73 extra-base hits per inning pitched.
* Carl Pavano has a 17-to-1 K-BB ratio. Last season, he had three walks in his first recorded inning of work.
* The Astros pitching staff surprisingly leads the majors with a 2.62 K-BB ratio.
* The Giants, Padres, and White Sox have more strikeouts than hits allowed.
* Of the hits allowed by the Pirates, 45 percent have gone for extra bases. Meanwhile, it’s just 25 percent for the Tigers, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
Today’s Leaderboard: The Indians have struck out only 90 batters in 18 games, but have walked 77. That is just 1.17 strikeouts for every walk. Over the last 20 years, the worst K-BB ratio belonged to the 1995 Brewers at 1.16. Last decade, only the 2000 Angels (1.27) had a K-BB ratio below 1.3.
Key Matchups: One way to know if Vernon Wells is really back? If he hits Josh Beckett like it is 2006. That was the last year Wells made an All-Star team, and that honor was largely courtesy of Josh Beckett and the Red Sox. In his first 10 games of 2006 against Boston, Wells hit eight home runs. Four of those came off Beckett. However, Wells is just 3-for-18 off of the right-hander since.
Zach Duke is 0-5 with a 7.38 ERA at Miller Park, as the Pirates have lost 21 straight there. That’s the longest road losing streak against a single opponent in Pirates history. Duke’s head-to-head matchups with Corey Hart are the complete opposite of what you’d expect. Hart is a .444 career hitter in Pittsburgh against Duke, but just .150 at home.
Trivia Answer: Aurelio Lopez had 93 saves over an 11-year career that ended in 1987. Considering there have been 68 Mexico-born pitchers in MLB history, Soria’s total is rather small for a “save king.” Countries that can boast a pitcher born there with more saves: Germany (Craig Lefferts, 101), Vietnam (Danny Graves, 182), and Japan (Kazuhiro Sasaki, 129).
Quick Hits: Let’s take a look at some of the more stunning ratios as we hit the three-week point of the young season.
* Brian McCann has 16 walks and only four strikeouts. Rather amazing for a player who has never had more walks than strikeouts, and had only 49 walks compared to 83 strikeouts last season.
* David Eckstein only has fanned once in 63 plate appearances. No qualifying player last decade had a PA per K greater than 30.0. In fact, the last to do so was Tony Gwynn in 1995.
* A ridiculous 79 percent of Kelly Johnson’s hits have been for extra bases. His career high is just 46 percent. Meanwhile, all 16 of Juan Pierre’s hits have been singles.
* According to Baseball-Reference.com, 33 percent of the fly balls hit by Travis Snider have been infield flies.
* With a 4.33 groundout to air out ratio, Derek Jeter is on track to lead the majors in that category for the second straight year.
* Ryan Rowland-Smith has allowed more home runs (six) than he has strikeouts (five), and has the worst strikeout percentage in the majors.
* Of all the fly balls to the outfield against Cole Hamels, 20.6 percent have been home runs, easily the highest percentage in the majors.
* Carlos Silva has a 0.63 WHIP. Last season, he allowed 0.73 extra-base hits per inning pitched.
* Carl Pavano has a 17-to-1 K-BB ratio. Last season, he had three walks in his first recorded inning of work.
* The Astros pitching staff surprisingly leads the majors with a 2.62 K-BB ratio.
* The Giants, Padres, and White Sox have more strikeouts than hits allowed.
* Of the hits allowed by the Pirates, 45 percent have gone for extra bases. Meanwhile, it’s just 25 percent for the Tigers, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
Today’s Leaderboard: The Indians have struck out only 90 batters in 18 games, but have walked 77. That is just 1.17 strikeouts for every walk. Over the last 20 years, the worst K-BB ratio belonged to the 1995 Brewers at 1.16. Last decade, only the 2000 Angels (1.27) had a K-BB ratio below 1.3.
Key Matchups: One way to know if Vernon Wells is really back? If he hits Josh Beckett like it is 2006. That was the last year Wells made an All-Star team, and that honor was largely courtesy of Josh Beckett and the Red Sox. In his first 10 games of 2006 against Boston, Wells hit eight home runs. Four of those came off Beckett. However, Wells is just 3-for-18 off of the right-hander since.
Zach Duke is 0-5 with a 7.38 ERA at Miller Park, as the Pirates have lost 21 straight there. That’s the longest road losing streak against a single opponent in Pirates history. Duke’s head-to-head matchups with Corey Hart are the complete opposite of what you’d expect. Hart is a .444 career hitter in Pittsburgh against Duke, but just .150 at home.
Trivia Answer: Aurelio Lopez had 93 saves over an 11-year career that ended in 1987. Considering there have been 68 Mexico-born pitchers in MLB history, Soria’s total is rather small for a “save king.” Countries that can boast a pitcher born there with more saves: Germany (Craig Lefferts, 101), Vietnam (Danny Graves, 182), and Japan (Kazuhiro Sasaki, 129).
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