1 incredible 2023 stat for every team

Part of what makes baseball the best are the feats and amazing stats accruing left and right, every single day. We chronicle them throughout the year, but there’s no better time than before the calendar flips to take a look back.

It’s hard to pick just one stat per team, especially after another season that gave us so much to choose from. No team or player can be summed up in one stat alone, but information can entertain and give us insight into the season that was. If you’re looking for more on your favorite teams or players, check out the MLB milestones that were reached in 2023 and be on the lookout for the biggest stories of the ‘23 season, coming up on New Year’s Eve.

To wrap up the year and get everyone ready for 2024, here’s a look at one amazing stat for each of the 30 teams from this past season.

AL EAST

Blue Jays: Kevin Gausman’s second season in Toronto was even better than his first. The Jays’ ace finished third for AL Cy Young and led the AL with 237 strikeouts. It was the fifth time a Blue Jays pitcher led his league in strikeouts. Robbie Ray did so in 2021, as did ‘08 A.J. Burnett and Roger Clemens in 1997-98. Gausman's best moment of the year came pregame, though, when his 4-year-old daughter Sadie threw out a first pitch to him in June.

Orioles: The Orioles built on their 2022 improvement in a big way, winning 101 games and earning the AL East crown. Yet again, Adley Rutschman was a strong contributor to Baltimore’s success, with a 128 OPS+. Rutschman is the first catcher in MLB history with at least a 125 OPS+ in each of the first two seasons of his career (min. 400 plate appearances in each).

He made it clear from Game 1 what was to come in ‘23, reaching base six times, including five hits. Each was a record for a catcher on Opening Day (since at least 1901) -- and he was off to the races.

Rays: Yandy Díaz had a career year, winning the first batting title in Rays history. He hit .330, setting a Rays record for batting average in a qualified season, surpassing Jason Bartlett’s .320 in 2009. How’d he do it? Hitting the ball hard and avoiding strikeouts. He was one of four qualified players in the 85th percentile or better in both strikeout rate and hard-hit rate in 2023, along with Ronald Acuña Jr., Mookie Betts and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Red Sox: Rafael Devers turned 27 years old in October, and he continues to put himself into the Red Sox franchise record books. Boston's star slugger hit 33 homers, his second most in any season of his career and his third 30-homer year overall.

His three 30-homer seasons are tied for the most by any player in Red Sox history through his age-26 campaign, with Jim Rice and Ted Williams. It’s also tied for the third-most such seasons as a third baseman through his age-26 season, behind only Eddie Mathews (six) and Manny Machado (four).

Yankees: Gerrit Cole had a stellar 2023, leading the AL with a 2.63 ERA en route to a unanimous Cy Young Award. He was the first Yankees pitcher to lead his league in ERA since Rudy May in 1980. Cole was the sixth Yankees pitcher to win Cy Young and first since Roger Clemens in 2001. He was the second of those to win unanimously, joining Ron Guidry in 1978. In ‘22, Cole set a Yankees single-season record with 257 strikeouts. On July 16, he set a franchise mark with his 24th game with at least 10 strikeouts since joining the Yankees, surpassing Guidry’s 23. By the end of the season, he’d pushed the record to 26.

AL CENTRAL

Guardians: Transport yourself to July 14. That day, Bo and Josh Naylor became the first pair of brothers to homer in the same game for the same team since Justin and B.J. Upton for the Braves on Sept. 27, 2014. But they didn’t just homer in the same game -- they did so in the same inning.

The Naylors became the sixth pair of brothers to homer in the same inning since 1900, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. They joined the Uptons (April 6, 2013, and April 23, 2013, Braves), Billy and Cal Ripken (Sept. 15, 1990, and May 28, 1996, Orioles), Hank and Tommie Aaron (July 12, 1962, Milwaukee Braves), Lloyd and Paul Waner (Sept. 4, 1927, and Sept. 15, 1938, Pirates) and Rick and Wes Ferrell (July 19, 1933, Rick with Boston and Wes with Cleveland). For the Ferrells, Rick’s homer came against his brother Wes.

Royals: Bobby Witt Jr.’s power and speed continued to distinguish his game in his sophomore season. After tallying 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases in Year 1, he had 30 and 49, respectively, in his second campaign. Witt became the first player in MLB history to have at least 20 home runs and at least 30 stolen bases in each of the first two seasons of his career. He’s one of just six shortstops with a 30-30 season, along with 2023 Francisco Lindor, 2008 Hanley Ramírez, 2007 Jimmy Rollins, 1998 Alex Rodriguez and 1996 Barry Larkin.

Tigers: The Tigers threw a no-hitter on July 8, as Matt Manning (6 2/3 innings), Jason Foley (1 1/3 innings) and Alex Lange (1 inning) combined to hold the Blue Jays hitless. It was the 20th combined no-hitter in MLB history and ninth no-hitter in Tigers history. It was the Tigers’ second no-hitter in the past three seasons, after Spencer Turnbull authored a solo effort on May 18, 2021, against the Mariners. It was their first at home since a 24-year-old Justin Verlander no-hit the Brewers on June 12, 2007, the only other no-hitter to take place at Comerica Park.

Twins: We need to talk about Royce Lewis. Over a stretch from late August to mid-September, Lewis became the first player to hit four grand slams in a span of 18 games or fewer, according to Elias. The prior shortest span in which a player had hit four grand slams was 39 games, by Don Mattingly in 1987. The fourth slam in that stretch marked his 16th career home run, fifth career slam and fourth of the season. He became the first player with five grand slams within his first 16 career home runs.

White Sox: It was a career year for Luis Robert Jr., who was an All-Star for the first time. Among his career-highs were 38 home runs and 20 stolen bases. He became the second player with at least 30 homers and 20 stolen bases in a season in White Sox history, joining 2001 Magglio Ordóñez. He was also the third Cuban-born player with at least one such season, along with José Canseco (1998, ‘91 and ‘88) and Rafael Palmeiro (‘93).

AL WEST

Angels: Though Shohei Ohtani won’t be wearing an Angels uniform next year, we need to acknowledge what he did in that jersey this past season. On July 27 in Detroit, he threw his first career shutout in the opening game of a doubleheader. Then, in the second game, he went yard twice. Ohtani became the first player with a home run in one end of a doubleheader and a shutout in the other, per Elias.

He was the fifth player with two homers and a shutout on the same day, with the other four doing so in a single game each. He joined Sonny Siebert (on Sept 2, 1971), Rick Wise (in his no-hitter on June 23, 1971!), Pedro Ramos (on May 30, 1962) and Milt Pappas (on Aug. 27, 1961).

Astros: Framber Valdez threw the 16th no-hitter in Astros history on Aug. 1 and was quite efficient along the way. The left-hander's 93 pitches were the third fewest in a no-hitter since pitch counts have been tracked (1988), behind only Darryl Kile’s 83 on Sept. 8, 1993, also for the Astros, and David Cone’s 88 in his perfect game on July 18, 1999.

It was the fifth no-no managed by Dusty Baker, tied for fourth most in MLB history with Fielder Jones, Connie Mack, Leo Durocher and Bruce Bochy, according to Elias. Only Walter Alston (seven), A.J. Hinch (six) and John McGraw (six) managed more.

A’s: The speedy Esteury Ruiz made his mark on the 2023 season, swiping 67 bags. That set a record for the most stolen bases by an AL rookie, passing Kenny Lofton’s 66 from 1992. Overall, it was the fifth-most stolen bases by a rookie since 1900. Vince Coleman had 110 in 1985 for the Cardinals, Benny Kauff had 75 in 1914 for the Federal League’s Indianapolis Hoosiers, Juan Samuel had 72 in 1984 for the Phillies and Tim Raines had 71 in 1981 for the Expos.

Mariners: Julio Rodríguez tallied four straight games with at least four hits from Aug. 16-19, tying 1925 Milt Stock for the most consecutive four-hit games since at least 1901. J-Rod had 17 hits in the four games, the most in a four-game span since at least 1901, as well as five stolen bases.

Prior to Rodríguez’s streak, the most hits in a four-game span with at least five stolen bases (since at least 1901) was 13, by 1974 Bake McBride, 1927 Ty Cobb and 1907 Cobb.

Seattle's budding superstar surpassed that, and then some.

Rangers: What a turnaround it was over recent years for the Rangers to become World Series champions in 2023. The Rangers lost 102 games in 2021. Only two other teams have won the World Series two years after losing at least 100 games: the 1969 Mets and 1914 Braves. Each also did so two years after a 101-loss season.

NL EAST

Braves: It was a record-setting season for Ronald Acuña Jr., who established the 40-homer, 70-stolen base club on his way to unanimous NL MVP honors. He became the third Venezuelan-born player to win MVP, joining 2017 Jose Altuve and 2012-13 Miguel Cabrera. We can’t confirm this one definitively, but he has to be either the only or one of a very select few to homer the day he was named MVP.

The night of the announcement, he then played in a game for Tiburones de La Guaira, his Venezuelan Winter League team. And of course he went yard.

Phillies: In his final 48 games, after he first earned a standing ovation from Phillies fans in early August, Trea Turner hit .337 and slugged .668. He hit 16 home runs in that span. Two of those came in the eighth inning on Aug. 19. Turner became just the third Phillies player with two homers in a single frame, joining Von Hayes on June 11, 1985 (in the first inning) and Andy Seminick on June 2, 1949 (in the eighth inning).

Marlins: Luis Arraez did it again, winning a batting title for the second straight season. In taking the 2022 AL batting title with the Twins and the ‘23 NL crown with Miami, Arraez became the second player since 1900 to win a batting title in both leagues, joining DJ LeMahieu. But LeMahieu didn’t do it in consecutive seasons, as Arraez did. Arraez had seven four-hit games, the most in a season in Marlins history, surpassing 2007 Hanley Ramírez’s five.

Mets: Kodai Senga’s debut season in MLB lived up to the hype, as did his oft-discussed signature pitch, the ghost fork. In 163 opposing at-bats ending on the pitch, he allowed just a .110 batting average and .147 slugging percentage. He induced a whopping 59.5% whiff rate on swings against the pitch, the highest for any starter against a single pitch type in a season in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008, min. 200 swings at pitch type).

Nationals: Then-22-year-old CJ Abrams hit a grand slam on April 27 for the Nationals, tying an age-related record for a franchise that’s had its fair share of notable young sluggers. At 22 years and 206 days old, Abrams tied Ryan Zimmerman (on April 22, 2007) as the youngest player in Nationals/Expos franchise history with a grand slam.

NL CENTRAL

Brewers: When the Brewers clinched a playoff spot on Sept. 22 in Miami, they did so in decisive fashion -- winning by 15 runs. That was tied with 2018 Cleveland for the third-largest win by a team on the day they clinched a playoff berth, according to Elias. Only the 2001 Braves and 1996 Yankees had bigger such wins, by 17 runs each. Rowdy Tellez pitched the ninth, becoming the first position player to finish a game on the mound for a team the day they clinched a playoff spot.

Cardinals: Another year, another 25-homer season for Nolan Arenado. With 26 home runs in 2023, Arenado has now tallied at least 25 in eight straight full seasons. His eight career 25-homer seasons when playing primarily third base that year are tied for fifth most, behind only Mike Schmidt (12), Eddie Mathews (12), Aramis Ramírez (10) and Adrián Beltré (nine).

Cubs: The Cubs combined to score 36 runs across two games on Aug. 1-2, with 20 in the first game and 16 in the latter. That was their most runs in a two-game span since 1897. It was the third time since 1900 that the Cubs scored at least 15 runs in consecutive games, also done in 1930 (three straight) and 2003.

Pirates: Defensive standout Ke’Bryan Hayes won the NL Gold Glove Award at third base, becoming the first Pirates player to win a Gold Glove at the hot corner. He had 17 outs above average, four more than any other third baseman in MLB and six more than the next National Leaguer on that list. He also made hard contact, a 95+ mph exit velocity, on 21.6% of his swings. That was the fifth-highest rate of swings producing hard contact (min 350 batted balls), behind only Ronald Acuña Jr. (24.1%), Juan Soto (23.7%), Yandy Díaz (23.3%) and Mookie Betts (22.7%).

Reds: In the second game of a doubleheader on Aug. 13, the dynamic Elly De La Cruz hit his 10th home run of his career. He entered the game with 17 stolen bases, becoming the second-fastest player by games played to reach 10 career home runs and 15 career stolen bases since 1900. De La Cruz needed 58 games to reach those marks, one more than Barry Bonds, who got there in 57.

And we need to mention his arm. De La Cruz’s 99.8 mph relay throw on July 20 was the fastest tracked assist by an infielder tracked by Statcast (since 2015), and he had the second-and-third-fastest, too. He had eight 95.0+ mph assists as an infielder, twice as many as anyone else in a career under Statcast (Fernando Tatis Jr.: four).

NL WEST

Dodgers: The Mookie and Freddie show. Betts was tied for first in WAR, per FanGraphs, among position players this season, while Freeman ranked third. The Dodgers became the sixth team in the last 50 seasons with two players in the top three among position players in WAR in a season.

They joined the 2010 Rays (Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria), 1996 Mariners (Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr.), 1988 Red Sox (Mike Greenwell and Wade Boggs), 1982 Expos (Andre Dawson and Gary Carter) and 1974 Reds (Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench).

D-backs: Corbin Carroll did a lot this year -- from starting the All-Star Game in his hometown of Seattle to helping lead the D-backs to a World Series appearance to winning NL Rookie of the Year unanimously. He was the ninth player to be an All-Star and play in the World Series the year he won Rookie of the Year, joining 2017 Cody Bellinger, 2010 Neftali Feliz, 2008 Evan Longoria, 2003 Dontrelle Willis, 1981 Fernando Valenzuela, 1975 Fred Lynn, 1962 Tom Tresh and 1949 Don Newcombe. Of that crew, only Carroll and Valenzuela started that All-Star Game as a rookie.

Giants: Logan Webb had a strong season, leading the Majors in innings pitched at 216 with a 3.25 ERA as he finished second in the NL Cy Young race. It was the fourth time since the club moved to San Francisco that a Giants pitcher led MLB in innings, along with 1969-70 (Gaylord Perry) and 1963 (Juan Marichal). Many of Webb’s innings were tense, too, as the team scored either zero or one run total in 12 of his starts, tied for the third-most such starts by a Giants pitcher in single season (since 1901), behind only 1968 Ray Sadecki (16) and 1933 Carl Hubbell (13).

Padres: Fernando Tatis Jr. didn’t just switch positions for 2023, he did so in style, winning Gold Glove Award honors for his efforts in right field.

He had played just 24 career games in the outfield entering '23, the fourth fewest entering that season at a Gold Glove-winning position for a non-rookie (excluding pitchers and considering outfield as one position), per Elias. The others: 2022 Ramón Urias at third base (10 prior games), 1999 Pokey Reese at second base (11) and 2023 Gabriel Moreno at catcher (19).

Rockies: Talk about arm strength. On Sept. 11, Nolan Jones fired an outfield assist at 102.7 mph. That was the fifth-fastest-tracked outfield assist in the regular season under Statcast (2015), and the fastest since Jackie Bradley Jr. in 2018.

Jones and Brenton Doyle combined for five of the eight 100+ mph outfield assists in MLB this season -- two more than any other team has had in a season under Statcast.