Hits and misses from the fifth month of the season

August had promised to be a blockbuster month for v30 Club inductions and other milestones. The month started out scorching hot, but the dog days of summer caught up with several players leading to a uneventful back-half of the month. That cooling trend will continue through the remainder of the season with very few opportunities on the schedule.

v30 Club Member Adds

Jeimer Candelario and Matt Chapman joined in the first week of August. Corey Seager and Juan Soto followed with inductions on back-to-back days. Shohei Ohtani rounded out the month.

Maxed out Players

Two players joined an exclusive Club of players who have hit a home run against every team except their career-spanning franchise. Rafael Devers and Pete Alonso both maxed out their ledgers this month while playing for a single team. They join Austin Riley as the only three player to pull of this feat.

Induction Opportunity Calendar

Likelihood Scores for Possible Inductees

Only two players remain eligible for v30 induction.

• 28.2 – Nolan Arenado vs Guardians

• 12.5 – Gary Sánchez vs Cardinals

Salvador Perez holds a 42.4 likelihood score to max out his ledgers, while the recently activated Max Muncy sits at 21.8.

Notable v30 Club and Milestone Misses

Several marquee players failed to capitalize on opportunities to join or stay alive in August; most notable was Bryce Harper not collecting on the Astros. Other misses included Paul Goldschmidt against the Twins and Adam Duvall against the Angels. Javier Baez and Rowdy Tellez also dropped out of contention.

There were also big names that failed to max out their ledgers. Aaron Judge against the Cardinals led that crew and was joined by Jose Altuve against the Phillies, Teoscar Hernandez against the Brewers, and Matt Carpenter against the Twins.

Pete Alonso Number (a.k.a. Polar Bear Chase)

The Polar Bear will live to hunt another season. August was rough for players trying to hit 18 or more ledgers. Whereas there were seventeen players still in the running to beat or tie Pete Alonso’s single season record at the end of July, that number is down to three, all of whom can only tie the mark.

Colton Cowser, Jackson Chourio, and Jackson Merrill are the only players still standing. Cowser and Chourio have 14 ledgers apiece while Merrill has 13. The likelihood scores max out at 2.5%.