Mains: The unlikeliest cycle ever
From SABR member Rob Mains at Baseball Prospectus on September 21, 2018:
On Monday night, Christian Yelich hit for the cycle against the Reds, going 4-for-4 and driving in four runs in an 8-0 Brewers win.
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He’s only the third player ever to hit for the cycle twice in a season. But he’s having the type of season we’d expect of someone hitting for the cycle: Lots of hits, with a nice dollop of power.
A total of 242 different batters have hit for the cycle a combined 270 times since 1908. (I’m sure it was done several times prior to 1908 as well. But Retrosheet goes back only to 1908, and the Baseball-Reference Play Index uses Retrosheet, so as far as I’m concerned, time began in 1908.) Bob Meusel (1921, 1922, and 1928), Babe Herman (1933 and twice in 1931), and Adrian Beltré (2008, 2012, and 2015) are the only players who’ve done it three times. Yelich is one of 22 players who’ve done it twice in their career. And 217 guys have done it once.
Read the full article here: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/42777/flu-like-symptoms-the-unlikeliest-cycle-ever/
Originally published: September 24, 2018. Last Updated: September 24, 2018.