2023 MLB season in review: Key stats, numbers

A wild 2023 MLB regular season came to a close Sunday. Records were shattered, streaks were broken, and some teams set new standards while others put an end to long playoff droughts.

Here are some of the key numbers to know when looking back at an unforgettable 2023 campaign:

.450: Mookie Betts delivered one of the most iconic months in MLB history this August. Betts posted a .455 average with 51 hits and 11 home runs, becoming just the third player since 1900 to have a .450 average with 50 hits and 10 homers in a single month.

.501: The Braves became the first team in MLB history with a slugging percentage of .500 or better. For reference, José Ramírez and Kyle Tucker have career slugging percentages of .500 and .505, respectively.

.717: The Marlins' playoff hopes were kept alive through the tightest of margins … literally. Miami’s .717 win percentage in one-run games was the best by an NL team since the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates.

.988: Ezequiel Tovar flashed the leather this season, posting a .988 fielding percentage for the year, breaking the MLB record by former Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki for the best fielding percentage by a rookie shortstop in MLB history. He also graded out exceptionally well by advanced metrics, with his 15 Outs Above Average ranking in the 98th percentile.

1: After a slow start to the season, the 2023 Chicago Cubs became the first team in franchise history to go from 10 games under .500 to 10 games over .500 in the same season. 

1+1: Blake Snell’s dominant 2023 season is in rare air. Snell became the first pitcher since ERA became an official stat in 1913 to lead the majors in both ERA and walks. 

2: The Mets, Yankees and Padres finished the year as the top three teams in payroll, and each missed the playoffs. That marks the second time in the Wild Card Era (since 1995) that the top-three teams in payroll missed the playoffs.

3: Three teams that had playoff droughts of five or more years ended those streaks, with the Orioles (six seasons), Rangers (six seasons) and Diamondbacks (five seasons) all heading to the postseason this year.

4: Minnesota Twins rookie Royce Lewis set the franchise record for most grand slams in a single season with four. The four grand slams also tie an MLB record for most in a rookie season, tying him with Alexei Ramirez, who had four with the White Sox in 2008.

5: Adley Rutschman became the first catcher to have five or more hits on Opening Day since at least 1900.

6: In June, Shohei Ohtani struck out 10 batters and hit two home runs against the Chicago White Sox, making him just the sixth player in MLB history to have 10 strikeouts and two home runs in one game.

8: In April, Dodgers outfielder Trayce Thompson became the first player to drive in eight or more runs in a season debut since the RBI became an official statistic in 1920.

9: Blue Jays rookie Davis Schneider got off to an incredible start, becoming the first rookie in MLB history to begin his career with nine or more hits and two or more homers in his first three games. 

10: On July 18, 12 teams scored 10 or more runs on the same day — setting a Modern Era record (since 1900) for the most teams to score double-digit runs on the same day.

11: On September 10, the Yankees became just the fourth team in MLB history to break up a no-hitter in the 11th inning or later of a game. It was the first time it had happened since 1965. And like the previous three before them, the Yankees won the game. 

12: Logan Webb built off a very successful 2022 season, opening it with 12 strikeouts on Opening Day for the Giants. That set a new Opening Day franchise record for the team, passing the previous record of 11 by Madison Bumgarner in 2017.

14: It seems like forever ago, but the Rays began the season with 14 consecutive home wins, a modern-era MLB record. That helped propel them to a 21-3 start, the third-best start since 1901. It was the best since the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers started 21-2.

15: Sal Frelick had a hot start to his rookie season, racking up 15 RBI in his first 16 career MLB games. That is the fastest any Brewer has accumulated 15 RBI, surpassing the previous record set by Hall of Famer Paul Molitor, who did so in 19 games.

17: August was kind to Julio Rodriguez, as he delivered a stretch for the ages. Rodriguez posted 17 hits in just four games from August 16-19, setting a record for a four-game stretch, and breaking the record that was set in 1925 by Milt Stock.

20: The Tigers delivered a fantastic performance on July 8, throwing a combined no-hitter against the Blue Jays. The combined no-hitter was the first for the historic franchise, the first in the era of the AL Central (since 1994) and just the 20th in baseball history.

21: After earning the victory against the Reds in May, Justin Verlander became the 21st pitcher in MLB history to defeat all 30 teams.

22: Giancarlo Stanton continued to show off his power, crushing his 400th career home run this season and becoming just the 22nd player in history to reach 400 home runs by his age-33 season.

23: The Orioles made single-game history against the Boston Red Sox on September 10th, becoming the first team since 1930 to win a nine-inning game when allowing 23 hits or more in the game.

24: Domingo German pulled off the improbable when he completed the 24th perfect game in MLB history against the Athletics in Oakland on June 28th. It was the fourth perfect game in Yankees franchise history, making them the only team to have more than three.

25: Julio Rodriguez became the first player in MLB history to register 25 homers and 25 steals in each of his first two major-league seasons.

26: Shohei Ohtani became part of the wrong side of history when he became the first pitcher to have 10 or more strikeouts, but still lose on Opening Day. Teams that had a pitcher compile 10 or more strikeouts on Opening Day had previously been 25-0.

27: A fun one: when Christian Encarnacion-Strand was promoted to the majors by the Reds in July, he became the player with the most characters in their name in MLB history.

29: The Orioles took advantage of the new schedule setup as they officially became the first team to beat all 29 other teams in the same season.

30/30: The Royals have a long history, but Bobby Witt Jr. this season became the first player in their history to put together a 30/30 season, racking up 30 home runs and 49 stolen bases.

31: The Yankees’ season may not have been what fans or the team had hoped for, but by winning 82 games, New York extended its streak of winning seasons to 31. That extends the second-longest streak in MLB history and the third-longest in the four major men’s North American sports.

35: The Braves became the first team in MLB history to have at least four players tally 35 or more homers in a season.

37: Luis Robert Jr.'s 38 home runs this season are the most in franchise history for a White Sox center fielder, blowing away the previous record held by both Aaron Rowand (2004) and Larry Doby (1956), who each had 24.

40/70: Ronald Acuna Jr. delivered a season for the ages, connecting for 41 homers and 73 steals, the first 40/70 campaign in MLB history. He also is the first National League player in the 40/40 club to have his team make the playoffs. His 73 steals are a modern record for the Braves.

42: On September 19th the Orioles won their 94th game of the season against the Houston Astros, an incredible 42 wins more than they had in all of 2021. That 42-win improvement is the greatest over a two-year span in MLB history. They wound up with 101; 49 more than the 2021 mark.

50: With Corbin Carroll’s 50th stolen base on September 20th, he became the first player in MLB history to record 25 home runs and 50 steals in their rookie season. It was also just the 13th time anyone has ever accomplished that dual milestone.

50/20: Freddie Freeman ended up with 59 doubles and 23 steals, becoming the first first basemen to post 50 doubles and 20 steals in MLB history.

54: Matt Olson delivered a historic season for the Braves, connecting on 54 home runs to set a new single-season Braves franchise record, surpassing Andruw Jones, who had 51 in 2005.

59: Freddie Freeman made history as the first player in Dodgers history to have 53 or more doubles, finishing with 59 on the season.

84: On September 5, the Orioles set an American League record by avoiding a sweep in their 84th consecutive series of three games or longer.

100: The Orioles continued their run and reached the 100-win plateau for the first time since 1980. That success also gave them their first AL East title since 2014.

200: On September 18, Adam Wainwright picked up the 200th win of his career becoming the fifth active pitcher to do so and the third Cardinals pitcher. 

250: Justin Verlander collected his 250th win this season while pitching for the Mets, becoming the 50th pitcher to achieve that milestone.

300: The Braves became the first team in MLB history to hit 300 home runs as a team while also stealing 100 bases in the same season. Ultimately, the Braves finished with 307 home runs as a team, tied for the most by a team in a single season with the 2019 Minnesota Twins.

400: Two of the all-time great closers joined an exclusive club as Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel both notched their 400th career saves in 2023, becoming the seventh and eighth players to reach 400 career saves.

502: On May 10, 2023, Shohei Ohtani struck out his 502nd career batter, surpassing Babe Ruth for the most strikeouts by a player with 100 career home runs in MLB history.

810: On September 1, Aaron Judge delivered a memorable 250th home run, setting a new MLB record for the fastest to 250 homers, doing so in just 810 games. The previous record was held by Ryan Howard, who took 855 games to reach that milestone.

1,000: Zack Greinke’s illustrious career added another chapter this season when he struck out his 1,000th different batter, becoming just the fifth pitcher to do so. The only others are Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens.

1895: On June 13, the A's became the first team since 1895 to win seven consecutive games when entering the winning streak with a sub-.200 winning percentage. They had entered the win streak with a 12-50 (.194) mark. 

1900: On September 20 against the Cubs, Pirates righty Mitch Keller picked up his 200th strikeout of the season and with that, became just the sixth Pirate to do so since 1900, joining Bob Veale, Oliver Perez, A.J. Burnett, Francisco Liriano and Gerrit Cole.

1901: The Red Sox flexed their offensive muscle when they put up nine or more runs in each of their first three games to start the season, just the third team to do so since 1901 and first since the 1978 Brewers.

1955: The Dodgers' offensive strength was propelled by Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Max Muncy, each of whom finished with 100 or more RBIs. That is the first time since 1955 when one team had three players tally 100 or more RBIs.

1961: On May 12, 13 and 14, Josh Naylor became the first player since at least 1961 to hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning or later in three consecutive games, doing so against the Angels.

1998: Mariners superstar Julio Rodriguez was able to make Mariners’ history becoming the first Mariner since 1998 (Alex Rodriguez) and just the second in the franchise’s history to compile 30 homers and 30 steals in a season.

2005: Lane Thomas has been a bright spot for the Nationals, becoming just the fourth player since the franchise's relocation to Washington to total 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in the same season, joining Bryce Harper, (the last to do it in 2016) Alfonso Soriano and Ian Desmond.

11,000: The Atlanta Braves earned their 11,000th win in their franchise history back in August, joining the Giants, Dodgers, Cubs and Cardinals as just the fifth team in MLB history to accumulate that many wins.

15,000: The Cubs delivered their 15,000th home run in the franchise’s long history. They are the third team in MLB history to reach that number, along with the Yankees and Giants.