As the 2023 Major League Baseball season hits the Easter Sunday milestone, let’s take a look at some of the latest MLB news, including milestones for the St. Louis Cardinals and pitching notes for the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers.
St. Louis Cardinals news: A pair of milestones in Milwaukee
It’s been a rough, drama-filled stretch for the St. Louis Cardinals in recent days, but Saturday’s win in Milwaukee certainly helped erase some of the recent issues.
Along with the win came a pair of milestones for the Cardinals, including rookie outfielder Jordan Walker putting himself among some elite company with another hit.
Jordan Walker extends hitting streak to start his career to eight games. Only one player in #MLB history since 1901 has been as young and started his career with a hitting streak as long as eight games.
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) April 8, 2023
Ted Williams.
Yeah, that Ted Williams had nine straight.#stlcards #HOF
Also, Nolan Arenado continued his path to Cooperstown with a historic home run.
Career home run number 300 for Nolan Arenado! pic.twitter.com/SN53bq3fKa
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 8, 2023
Chicago Cubs news: Justin Steele continues impressive run
With his win on Saturday against the Texas Rangers, Justin Steele continues to be one of the most underrated starting pitchers in MLB today.
By throwing 6.0 innings and allowing one earned run on four hits, Steele dropped his ERA to 0.92 since July 22, 2022. During that stretch, he has allowed five runs in 48.2 innings and has the lowest ERA in that span (minimum nine games started), bettering second-place Julio Urias (1.30).
Steele walked four and struck out three on Saturday, snapping a streak of seven starts where he had struck out five or more. However, he added another quality start, his fifth in his last six outings.
MLB news: Martin Perez sees his homerless streak snapped
The 32-year-old southpaw for the Texas Rangers surrendered a fourth-inning solo home run to Patrick Wisdom of the Cubs on Saturday, marking the first time he had given up a long ball in the last 62.0 innings. That was the longest active run in MLB when it was snapped.
However, there was some good news for Perez on the day. By going 5.0 innings, it was his 32nd straight start where he has lasted at least that long. It’s the longest mark for a Texas left-hander and the fifth-longest in franchise history and only Max Scherzer (33) has a longer current streak of starts with 5.0 innings or more among MLB pitchers.