Between Innings is the editorial home of forty4 Baseball, covering the stories, analysis, history and ideas that go beyond the daily box score. Explore Major League Baseball (MLB) and college baseball through original features, statistical analysis, baseball history, player trends and deeper looks at what is happening across the game.
Yordan Alvarez sits top five in batting average, home runs and RBIs, the only hitter in baseball doing all three at once, while carrying Houston from a losing record into first place in the AL West. forty4 Baseball breaks down why that breadth makes his MVP case stronger than a single leaderboard ever could.
Reds rookie Sal Stewart set the franchise's rookie RBI record with his 101st RBI and leads all of Major League Baseball outright in the category, something only Ted Williams and Walt Dropo have done as rookies before him. forty4 Baseball breaks down how rare this is and what's still in reach before the season ends.
David Fry has gone 15 straight games without a hit, and the timing matters for Cleveland. Recalled after Rhys Hoskins landed on the injured list, Fry is hitting .181 with a .635 OPS this season. His versatility helps, but the Guardians need more offense.
Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy has a rotation-caliber 3.54 ERA, yet his win percentage sits at just .3571 — a split that points away from his own pitching. forty4 Baseball breaks down why run support and bullpen outcomes are the more likely explanation, and what to track to see if his record starts to catch up.
Chandler Simpson has hit safely in 15 straight games for Tampa Bay without hitting a home run all season. His .310 average, low 8.6% strikeout rate and 35 stolen bases show how contact and speed are driving his production. The streak is now three games from matching his career best.
Mike Trout is batting .239 for the Angels, yet his .382 OBP tells a different story. The gap comes from his ability to reach base without a hit, making his overall offensive value look very different from his batting average. Here’s what the numbers reveal about Trout’s 2026 season so far and why it matters.
Kevin Kelly has thrown 15 straight scoreless appearances for Tampa Bay, giving the Rays a reliable bullpen weapon. His 1.96 ERA and 0.82 WHIP show the streak is part of a larger season of strong relief work, not a short burst of good fortune, and his workload makes it matter over the final weeks of August.
Philadelphia has won six straight and sits at 70-58, making this the club's longest winning streak of the season. The run matters less as a streak statistic than as evidence that the Phillies are stacking wins at the right time. The next test is whether that momentum holds against stronger competition.
Cal Raleigh has 13 home runs this season, yet his slugging percentage sits at just .296 — a number that belongs to a slap hitter, not a power bat. forty4 Baseball breaks down how those two numbers coexist, what it says about everything besides his homers, and what needs to change for his overall line to catch up.
Shane Baz hasn't finished an outing without allowing a run in 25 straight appearances, the longest active streak of its kind in baseball. forty4 Baseball breaks down how the skid compares to the rest of MLB's struggling arms, why it likely isn't just bad luck at this length, and what has to change for it to end.
Between Innings is forty4 Baseball's editorial section for long-form baseball coverage — analysis, history, and player stories that go beyond the box score, spanning both Major League Baseball and college baseball.
Does Between Innings cover college baseball as well as MLB?
Yes. Between Innings publishes both MLB and college baseball coverage side by side.
What kind of Major League Baseball content does forty4 Baseball publish?
This section of Between Innings is dedicated to Major League Baseball coverage — part of forty4 Baseball's broader editorial reporting on MLB and college baseball.
