Jeremy Pena of the Astros moved into the top five of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings with a three for five in a 4-2 win over the Guardians. Pena, at peak seasonal age of 27, saw his offense explode this season with a .324/.382/.494 slash line compared to a career average of .269/.317/.411. The main difference I see at FanGraphs comes from swinging less, both at pitches out of the strike zone and pitches inside the strike zone. In other words, he appears to be able to recognize pitches he can hit and is waiting for those pitches.

In the same game, Jose Ramirez of the Guardians posted a one for four and remained in third place.

Aaron Judge of the Yankees posted a three for five with a double in a 9-6 win over the Red Sox. That raised Judge’s batting average to .397 with a .495 OBP. Of the three probability calculations of him hitting .400 for the season, the most generous puts him at 1 in 1000 of accomplishing the feat. The Bayesian version puts him at about 1 in 38,000.

Cal Raleigh of the Mariners remained about three points behind Judge after a one for three with a walk in a 5-4 Angels win. The Mariners drop to 2 1/2 games behind the Astros. Kyle Tucker of the Cubs moves up to fourth place after a two for four with a double in a 3-1 Tigers win.

Three hitters posted game scores of 71, the highest of the day. Agustin Ramirez of the Marlins made his second appearance in a couple of weeks in the top slot with a three four, including a home run, in a 4-3 Rays win. Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Yankees posted a three for five with a home run and four RBI. Chisholm owns a low batting average this season, but his OBP and slugging percentages are fine. Royce Lewis of the Twins went three for three with a double and a walk for his 71 in a 6-4 Blue Jays win. He needed a big night as his slash line stands at .171/.253/.256. That’s the line of a good hitting pitcher.