A New Game
12: Consecutive years in which strikeouts across Major League Baseball have increased, likely reaching a record this year. White Sox second baseman Yoan Moncada, above, is on pace to strike out 224 times this season.
100: Number of pitchers in 2017 whose fastball averaged 95-plus mph (minimum of 30 innings pitched, per FanGraphs). St. Louis' Jordan Hicks, above, is No. 1 in the league this year with a pitch velocity of 96.7 mph.
11: Number of pitchers in 2007 whose fastball averaged 95-plus mph. Then-Tigers starter Justin Verlander, above, and Marlins reliever Matt Lindstrom were two of the pitchers to clock over 100 mph that season.
.247: League batting average entering Saturday, the lowest since 1972. Washington's Bryce Harper, above, and Kansas City's Salvador Perez were named to this year's All-Star team despite batting well below the league average.
5.5: Average innings pitched per outing by MLB starters, entering Saturday. Jose Berrios, above, leads Twins starters with 6⅓ innings pitched per start. Lance Lynn is near the bottom, averaging just 5.1 innings per start.
6,105: Home runs hit in 2017, topping the previous MLB record of 5,693 set in 2000. Giancarlo Stanton, above, led the league with 59 home runs while playing for Miami. Aaron Judge finished second with 52 last year.
3:00: Average time for nine-inning games this season, entering Saturday. The average is down five minutes from last season's record of 3:05. In 1978, games averaged 2:30; by 1998 that figure was up to 2:52.
17.3: Percentage of defensive shifts (at least three fielders to one side of second base) employed on all plate appearances this season. Baltimore's Chris Davis has seen more defensive shifts than any player in the league.
