The 2023 baseball season witnessed several position players set records,
earn distinctions, and accomplish feats. Below are a few of the
notable achievements realized during 2023.
Luis Arraez Becomes the First Player to Capture the AL and NL Batting Crowns in Consecutive Seasons
After
leading the AL with a .316 batting average in 2022, Minnesota Twins
second baseman Luis Arraez found himself suiting up for a different club
for 2023, as he had been traded across leagues to the Miami Marlins on
January 20 in exchange for pitcher Pablo López and a pair of minor
league prospects. Arraez quickly adapted to his new surroundings and
feasted on opposing pitching, becoming one of the main stories for the
early part of 2023 as he batted .438 in April and carried a .400-plus
mark into parts of May and June. Arraez’s batting average did not
permanently fall under .400 until Miami’s 79th game of the year on June
25. The last player to carry a .400 average that deep into the season
was in 2000 when Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra sported a
.400 figure for Boston’s 92nd game of the year on July 20. Arraez’s
blistering early-season pace included becoming the first player in the
31-year history of the Marlins franchise to hit for the cycle. He
accomplished this feat in just his twelfth game for the club on April
11. Arraez checked into the All-Star break batting .383 and for the
second season in a row earned a trip to the Midsummer Classic. Although
the latter half of the campaign saw his bat cool off by comparison, he
managed to hold off all challengers and claim the NL batting crown with a
.354 average. By securing top batting honors, the 26-year-old joined
Ed Delahanty and DJ LeMahieu as the only players to capture batting
titles in both the AL and NL. However, Arraez became the first to turn
the trick in consecutive seasons. What’s more, excluding the
pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Arraez’s .354 mark represented the
highest MLB batting average since Josh Hamilton’s AL-pacing .359 figure
from 2010.
Arraez’s impressive year helped Miami transform from a 93-loss 2022 club into winners of the second NL wild card. In addition to becoming the first player in team history to hit for the cycle, Arraez also set a new single-season record for the Marlins franchise with his .354 batting average surpassing the previous benchmark of .342 achieved by Hanley Ramírez in 2009 when the club was known as the Florida Marlins. Like Arraez, Ramírez paced the senior loop in average when he established his franchise-leading figure.
During an era of free-swinging sluggers, Arraez’s ability to avoid being the victim of the strikeout stood out among his peers. With a MLB-low strikeout rate of just 5.5%, the Marlins keystoner struck out less than a quarter of the 22.7% MLB average. Arraez not only produced the lowest strikeout rate in MLB but also checked in well ahead of New York Mets infielder Jeff McNeil who registered the next-lowest average of 10.0%. Sacrificing power to focus on hitting for a high average, Arraez’s batting approach conjured up memories of skilled contact-hitters such as Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn, and Ichiro Suzuki who each earned multiple batting titles during their distinguished Hall of Fame careers.
Yandy Díaz Captures the AL Batting Crown
Over
in the junior circuit, Tampa Bay first baseman Yandy Díaz outlasted
Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager to secure the batting title. Going
into the final month of the campaign, it appeared Seager would claim
top batting honors for the AL, standing at the front of the leaderboard
with a .346 average while Díaz trailed behind with a .327 mark.
However, Seager slumped in September, batting .277 for the month as
Díaz posted a .345 figure over the same span. Thus, entering the final
day of the regular season, the two sluggers each boasted .330 averages
with Seager’s .3298 mark just a whisker ahead of Díaz’s .3295 figure.
Towards the end of September, the Rays first baseman was sidelined by
hamstring tightness. With Tampa Bay having already clinched a playoff
berth, the team opted to rest Díaz who only stepped into the batter’s
box four times during the last week of the campaign. On the contrary,
Seager’s Rangers found themselves still very much in the thick of a
three-way battle for the AL West division title with the Houston Astros
and Seattle Mariners. As a result, while the Rays had the luxury of
sitting Díaz on the final day of the regular season to preserve him for
the playoffs, Texas required the full services of their All-Star
shortstop. The Rangers entered Game 162 having already eliminated the
Mariners from postseason contention with a 6-1 triumph over their
division rival during the previous day. The victory secured Texas one
of the AL wild card seeds but the club could only capture the division
crown with an additional win over the Mariners or an Astros’ loss to the
Arizona Diamondbacks on the final day of the regular season. With the
division title at stake, Seager suited up for Texas as Houston
simultaneously faced Arizona. Seattle’s pitching staff managed to keep
Seager in check, holding the slugger hitless in four plate appearances
while shutting down the Rangers offense and prevailing 1-0. In
contrast, the Astros pummeled the Diamondbacks 8-1 to claim the team’s
sixth AL West flag in seven seasons. Seager’s hitless-performance
against the Mariners dropped him to a final mark of .327 as Díaz became
the first player in the 26-year history of the Rays franchise to earn
the AL batting title.
In addition to securing top batting honors, like Arraez in the NL, Díaz shattered his team’s single-season record for average as his .330 figure surpassed the previous benchmark of .320 set by shortstop Jason Bartlett in 2009. Interestingly, when Bartlett etched his name atop Tampa Bay’s all-time leaderboard, his .320 average was only good enough for seventh-best on the 2009 AL rundown and well behind the league-pacing .365 figure of Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer. While Arraez’s ability to avoid the strikeout stood out across baseball, Díaz himself did a respectable job at not being the victim of punch outs and whiffs as his 15.7% strikeout rate checked in comfortably below the 22.7% MLB average.
Eugenio Suárez and Teoscar Hernández Become the First Teammates to Strikeout 200 Times During the Same Season
While
Luis Arraez did an exemplary job of avoiding strikeouts, a pair of
Seattle Mariners sluggers, third baseman Eugenio Suárez and right
fielder Teoscar Hernández, finished the campaign ranked number one and
two in the dubious category for the AL. With Suárez’s 214 and
Hernández’s 211 strikeouts, the Mariners duo became the first pair of
teammates to strikeout 200 times in the same season. Standing atop the
strikeout-leaderboard was not a new experience for Suárez who had
previously paced the senior loop while playing for the Cincinnati Reds
in 2019 and also led the junior circuit during his first year with the
Mariners in 2022.
Oddly, by each striking out 200 times, the free-swinging pair of Suárez and Hernández reached a plateau that has yet to be achieved by two of the team’s pitchers during the same season. Despite having hard-throwing hurlers such as Mark Langston, Randy Johnson, and Félix Hernández anchoring Seattle’s starting rotation at different points in the 47-year history of the franchise, the closest two Mariners pitchers have ever come to simultaneously reaching the plateau was in 1990 when Erik Hanson struck out 211 batters while the aforementioned Johnson narrowly missed the mark with 194. The 2023 edition of the team featured one 200-strikeout pitcher in Luis Castillo, who amassed 219 for the campaign, and another just shy of the plateau as Logan Gilbert finished with 189.
Ronald Acuña Jr. Joins the 40/40 Club and Becomes the Charter Member of the 40/70 Club
The
2023 season witnessed a banner campaign from Atlanta Braves right
fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. Throughout the history of baseball, few
players have combined power and speed in as dominant a form as Acuña.
Finally healthy after missing ample time during each of the previous
two seasons, the 25-year-old slugger was truly at his best in 2023,
hitting for both power and average while showcasing his speed on the
basepaths. A free-swinger in the past, for 2023, Acuña cut his
strikeout rate by more than half from his career norm going into the
campaign. Blistering opposing pitching and dazzling fans with his
electric style of play, Acuña put together a phenomenal effort, leading
the NL in a slew of categories while also joining José Canseco, Barry
Bonds, Álex Rodríguez, and Alfonso Soriano to become just the fifth
player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season.
However, in Acuña’s case, he waged an assault on the basepaths like no
prior member of the 40/40 club before him, easily pacing the senior
circuit by swiping an astounding 73 bags. With his lofty stolen base
total and 41 home runs, the youngster became the first player to author a
40/70 campaign.
Critics of Acuña will point
out that he benefitted from MLB rule changes for 2023 which saw the
introduction of larger bases and limits on throws to first base as ways
to increase base-stealing attempts. Though speedy players such as Acuña
undoubtedly benefitted from these rule changes, barring injury the
Braves slugger’s admission to the 40/40 club was an inevitability as
during his last fully-healthy season in 2019, he launched 41 home runs
while stealing a league-leading 37 bases. Prior to Acuña, the highest
stolen base total for a 40/40 campaign was Álex Rodriguez’s 46 in 1998.
Also, before Acuña, no player had come remotely close to hitting 40
home runs while swiping 70 bags as Rickey Henderson’s 1986 combo of 28
round-trippers and 87 stolen bases represented the loftiest long ball
mark during a 70-stolen base season.
Matt Olson Sets a New Single-Season Home Run Record for the Braves Franchise
In
addition to Acuña, the Braves offense also featured a sterling effort
from first baseman Matt Olson. Acquired from the Oakland Athletics in
exchange for four players on March 14, 2022, Olson faced the tall task
of replacing Atlanta’s popular veteran first baseman Freddie Freeman who
departed the club via free agency to sign with the Los Angeles
Dodgers. Olson put together a respectable 2022, though his performance
was a
step below his best showings in Oakland. However, the 29-year-old’s bat
came alive in 2023 as his prodigious power reached new heights, leading
the NL with 54 home runs while also pacing the circuit with 139 RBI.
The premier long-ball hitter in a dynamic Braves lineup that featured
an impressive collection of sluggers, Olson helped the Braves tie the
MLB team record of 307 home runs set by the 2019 Minnesota Twins.
Atlanta’s round-tripper total established a NL team record, shattering
the previous mark of 279 also achieved in 2019 by the Dodgers. On an
individual level, Olson’s 54 home runs set a new single-season benchmark
for the franchise, topping Andruw Jones’ 51 long balls from 2005.
Additionally, because RBI did not become an official statistic until
1920, MLB recognizes Olson as setting a new RBI record for the club as
well, surpassing the prior mark of 135 attained by Eddie Mathews in
1953. Note: Baseball Reference recognizes unofficial RBI totals from before 1920 and credits Hugh Duffy’s 145 RBI from 1894 as the franchise record.
Freddie Freeman Nearly Reaches the 60 Doubles Plateau While Pacing the NL in the Catgeory for the Fourth Time in His Career
As
Olson was consistently blasting four-baggers, the man he replaced as
Braves first baseman, Freddie Freeman, put together his own sensational
campaign for the Dodgers. At age 33, Freeman showed no signs of slowing
down, establishing personal-bests in multiple categories. Despite
turning in a terrific performance, the veteran only managed to top the
NL in one major traditional category, as he headed the doubles
leaderboard for the fourth time in his career. Freeman stroked doubles
at a maniac pace during 2023, particularly in May and August when he
racked up a respective 17 and 16 two-base hits. Thus, going into the
final month of the campaign, the slugger already sat at 51 doubles—four
more than his previous career-high—with a decent shot at becoming the
first hitter since 1936 to finish the year with 60 two-baggers, as well
as a slim chance to eclipse the single-season MLB record of 67 set by
Boston Red Sox right fielder Earl Webb in 1931. In the history of MLB,
just six players—George Burns, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, Joe
Medwick, Paul Waner, and the aforementioned Webb have reached the
60-doubles plateau. What’s more, each of those 60-double campaigns took
place between 1926 and 1936 during an era which saw unusually high
scoring in MLB. Since that time, the closest anyone had come to
accruing 60 two-base hits was Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton
who finished one shy of the mark with 59 in 2000. While Freeman
managed to hit doubles at a steady pace during September, he was unable
to make a serious run at Webb’s record and, like Helton, checked up just
short of the plateau with 59. Nevertheless, the slugger easily topped
the senior loop, ending the year 19 ahead of teammate Mookie Betts who
slotted runner-up in the category.
Mookie Betts Leads His Respective League in WAR for the Third Time in His Career
While
Braves sluggers Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson were heading the
majority of the traditional statistical leaderboards, Mookie Betts was
quietly crafting a brilliant campaign for the Dodgers. Acquired by Los
Angeles in a stunning trade with the Boston Red Sox prior to the 2020
season, Betts has continued to maintain his reputation as one of
baseball’s finest players. A true five-tool player, he was voted AL MVP
in 2018 and has already claimed a half-dozen Gold Gloves and a handful
of Silver Sluggers during his career. However, in 2023, Betts showcased
his value in a new way by bouncing between his natural position of
right field to split time at second base while also making the
occasional appearance at shortstop when needed. In all, he made 77
starts at right, 62 at second, and 12 at short. In 40 of his 152 games
on defense, he shuttled between multiple positions during the contest.
Most impressively, Betts did not allow the Dodgers’ nomadic use of him
to affect his performance in the field or at the plate as he provided
value on both sides of the diamond to finish the season with a
NL-leading 8.4 WAR. This marked the third time Betts topped his
respective league in the metric as he had previously paced the AL with
10.7 WAR during his MVP-winning 2018 campaign before accruing a senior
circuit-best 3.6 figure over the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Betts’
8.4 WAR edged Acuña’s runner-up figure of 8.1 and was followed by
Olson’s 7.4 and Freeman’s 6.6 marks to give the NL a clear top-four
players for 2023. In addition to fronting the NL WAR leaderboard, this
quartet of sluggers each played significant roles in their team’s
success as the Braves easily claimed the NL East title with a MLB-high
104 victories while the 100-win Dodgers secured the NL West crown by a
comfortable 16-game margin.
Trea Turner Establishes a New Benchmark for Most Stolen Bases in a Season Without Being Caught
As
Freddie Freeman was drawing attention for racking up doubles, few were
noticing that he was recording a personal-best total in stolen bases.
The 33-year-old slugger swiped 23 bags in 2023, 10 more than he had
during any prior season. Most intriguing though is Freeman eclipsed his
personal-best while only being caught stealing a single time. On top
of that, Freeman was caught in his first attempt, meaning he was
successful 23 times in a row from that point forward. However, one
player not only stole bases with greater frequency than Freeman but also
did so while maintaining a perfect success rate. Philadelphia Phillies
shortstop Trea Turner attempted 30 steals during 2023 and was
successful each time. With his 30 thefts, Turner established a new
record for most steals in a season without being caught—coincidentally
surpassing the previous benchmark achieved by a former Phillies player,
second baseman Chase Utley who went 23 for 23 in 2009. Coming to
Philadelphia as a blockbuster free-agent signing during the offseason,
Turner drew comparisons to Utley as he possessed a similar skill set to
the scrappy keystoner by blending power and speed while exhibiting the
defensive capacity to occupy a middle infield position. Turner logged
his 24th steal on September 2 but did not choose to rest on breaking
Utley’s record as he continued swiping bags with the same frequency over
the final weeks of the regular season. Like Utley, who boasted a
superb 87.5% stolen base percentage for his career, Turner has
maintained an excellent success rate of 86.1% through his first nine
seasons in MLB. Both Turner and the Phillies team overcame slow starts
to the campaign and played their best baseball during the second half to
come from behind and claim the top NL wild card seed.
TJ Friedl Achieves the Rare Feat of Finishing the Season Without Grounding into a Double Play
Another
under-the-radar accomplishment that occurred during 2023 was Cincinnati
Reds center fielder TJ Friedl managing to go the entire year without
grounding into a double play. Friedl spent the majority of the campaign
alternating between batting out of the leadoff spot and the two-hole
for Cincinnati. Leadoff hitters often see less opportunities to ground
into double plays as they are guaranteed at least one plate appearance
with no runners on base. Nevertheless, over his 556 plate appearances
for the season, Friedl stepped into the batter’s box on 101 occasions
with a runner on first and less than two outs—giving him a number of
double play chances that was only slightly below the NL average of 112
per 600 plate appearances. During 2023, senior circuit batters grounded
into double plays at a rate of 10.2% when they had the opportunity to
do so. Thus, a NL hitter with Friedl’s 101 opportunities, on average
would have grounded into 10 double plays.
The
ground into double play stat started being tracked by the NL in 1933 and
AL in 1939. Friedl joined an exclusive club in 2023 as he became just
the eighth player to finish the season without grounding into a double
play while accumulating the required number of plate appearances to
qualify for the batting title during a campaign that was completed under
a 154 or 162-game schedule. The first batter to achieve this rare
feat, George Watkins, did so in 1934 when players were only required to
appear in 100 games to qualify for the batting crown. Interestingly,
Rob Deer is the sole AL player to turn the trick since the junior
circuit’s 1973 adoption of the designated hitter. However, Friedl is
the first NL player to do so after the senior loop made the use of
designated hitters universal in 2022. Since breaking into the big
leagues with Cincinnati at the tail end of the 2021 campaign, Friedl has
distinguished himself as one of the toughest batters to turn two on as
he has grounded into a mere three doubles plays over his first 850 plate
appearances. Moreover, with Friedl being only age 28 entering 2024, it
is possible that he could be the first hitter to accomplish the feat of
finishing the season without grounding into a double play multiple
times during his career.
--by John Tuberty
Follow me on Twitter/X @BloggerTubbs
Stat
links to main players mentioned: Luis Arraez, Yandy Díaz, Corey Seager,
Eugenio Suárez, Teoscar Hernández, Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson,
Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, TJ Friedl, Luis Castillo,
Logan Gilbert, Jeff McNeil, Álex Rodríguez, DJ LeMahieu, Ed Delahanty,
Hanley Ramírez, Rickey Henderson, Jason Bartlett, Chase Utley, Rob Deer
Sources:
All statistics are drawn from Baseball Reference and Stathead
Sarah Langs, “Year-by-year look at the latest threat to hit .400 since Ted Williams in 1941,” MLB.com
Anthony Castrovince, “Pitch timer, shift restrictions among announced rule changes for ‘23,” MLB.com
RotoWire Staff, “Rays’ Yandy Diaz: Resting again Sunday,” CBS Sports
Cards:
Luis Arraez 2020 Topps Stickers, Luis Arraez 2023 Topps
Pristine-Refractor, Hanley Ramírez 2009 Upper Deck-Starquest-Emerald
Super Rare, Yandy Díaz 2022 Topps Series 2, Corey Seager 2023 Bowman,
Jason Bartlett 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights, Eugenio Suárez 2023
Topps Heritage, Teoscar Hernández 2023 Topps Heritage, Luis Castillo
2023 Topps Chrome-1988 Topps Baseball, Ronald Acuña Jr. 2023 Topps
Series 1, Matt Olson 2023 Topps Series 2, Freddie Freeman 2023 Topps
Series 1, Mookie Betts 2023 Topps Series 1, Trea Turner 2023 Bowman,
Chase Utley 2008 Topps Heritage, TJ Friedl 2022 Topps Stadium Club
Other Articles by Tubbs Baseball Blog:
Rod Carew’s Seven Batting Titles and the Players He Denied the Honor by Annually Capturing the Crown
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