As the 2023 season nears its end, each team’s focus will shift based on the standings. Some will be fighting for a playoff spot, but others will be using the final days to continue getting looks at young talent. Ultimately, whether a team is a playoff contender or not, all 30 clubs will still be playing for something.
Here’s one milestone to watch for each team during the final stretch of the regular season.
All stats entering Thursday unless otherwise noted.
Blue Jays: Bo Bichette’s quest to three-peat as AL hits leader
Even after missing three weeks with a knee injury, Bichette has a chance to lead the American League in hits for the third straight season. He’s also in the race to lead his league in average at .314, currently trailing only Yandy Díaz of the Rays (.327). As a hit machine who almost never misses a game outside of serious injuries, Bichette is a good bet to be near the top of this every season, and there could be some bigger milestones down the road in this category if his career continues in this direction. — Keegan Matheson
Orioles: A 100-win season for the first time in 43 years
Not only could the O’s reach the postseason for the first time since 2016 — and possibly win their first AL East title since ‘14 — but they could achieve both feats while also recording their first 100-win season since 1980, when they went 100-62. Baltimore needs to go at least 17-12 over its final 29 games to reach the century mark, meaning the milestone is well within reach. Also, the Rays likely aren’t going anywhere in the division race, so the Orioles will need to stay aggressive in their pursuit of victories down the stretch. — Jake Rill
Rays: Yandy Díaz in pursuit of an AL batting title, on-base crown
Díaz leads the AL with a .327 average, a 13-point lead over the Blue Jays’ Bichette. The muscular leadoff hitter, Tampa Bay’s most valuable player and most consistent hitter this season, is vying to become the first player in franchise history to win an AL batting title. He’s also second in the AL with a .403 on-base percentage, trailing only Shohei Ohtani (.410), so he could also be the first Rays player to lead the league in OBP. — Adam Berry
Red Sox: Devers five homers away from surpassing a Hall of Famer
Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers has 168 career homers. Why is that number significant? If he hits five more this season, he would pass Hall of Famer Jim Rice for the most in club history prior to turning 27 years old. Devers needs just three more homers to pass Jackie Jensen for 13th place on the team’s all-time list. Barring a power tear for the ages in September, Devers will have to wait until next season to pass Nomar Garciaparra, who ripped 178 homers in a Boston uniform. — Ian Browne
Yankees: Gerrit Cole’s Cy Young chase
Cole has been one of the bright spots in an underwhelming Yankees season, putting the finishing touches on a compelling case for the AL’s Cy Young Award by pacing the circuit with 174 innings pitched and ranking second (behind Sonny Gray) with a 2.95 ERA. The Yanks have not had a Cy Young winner since Roger Clemens in 2001, and Cole has twice finished as a runner-up, in 2019 and ’21. He’s also had three other top-five finishes. Cole said “it would be unbelievable” to be recognized with the league’s top pitching honor. — Bryan Hoch
Guardians: Can Cleveland reach the 80-win plateau?
Last year, the Guardians won 92 games and reached the postseason on the back of a record-setting rookie class. Things haven’t gone as planned this year, as the Guardians are 64-70 and five games back of the Twins in the AL Central. With the division race seemingly done, the Guardians will have to do everything in their power to avoid becoming the first Cleveland team to finish under 80 wins since 2012 (68-94). — Henry Palattella
Royals: Bobby Witt Jr. seeks the first 30-30 season in Royals history
No Royals player has hit 30 home runs and stolen 30 bases; the closest call was when Carlos Beltrán actually achieved the feat in 2004 – the year the Royals traded him to the Astros. Entering Thursday, Witt has 38 stolen bases and 27 home runs. The 23-year-old has been playing much better since June, and especially well since the All-Star break. Witt is slashing .314/.351/.623 since July 14, and 13 of his homers have come in that span. If he achieves 30 home runs, Witt would become the 44th player in AL/NL history to record a 30-30 season and the first since Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins’ accomplished the feat in 2021. — Anne Rogers
Tigers: Miggy makes one final climb up all-time leaderboards
Cabrera entered Thursday with 3,152 hits, tied with Paul Waner for 18th on MLB’s all-time list, according to official statistician Elias Sports Bureau. He’s just two hits shy of George Brett at 17th. With a solid finishing month, he should be able to reach Adrián Beltré, currently 16th with 3,166. Cabrera’s next home run will tie him with Mel Ott for 25th all-time in MLB history with 511, and match Norm Cash for second in Tigers history with 373. He’s also two doubles shy of Hank Aaron for 13th in MLB history with 624. — Jason Beck
Twins: How far can Pablo López climb the strikeout ladder?
It’s already a near-certainty that López will become the Twins’ first 200-strikeout pitcher since José Berríos in 2018, considering López climbed to a career-high 196 Ks with his outing against the Guardians on Tuesday. But how high will he go? Once he gets past 202 strikeouts, he’ll have the most by a Twins pitcher since his pitching idol, Johan Santana, fanned 235 batters in ‘07. If López could push all the way up to 235, that would mark the most in Twins history by any pitcher not named Santana or Bert Blyleven — and that would be some really good company. — Do-Hyoung Park
White Sox: Luis Robert Jr. looks for 40 home runs
A miserable overall season for the South Siders has featured the superstar emergence from Robert. The center fielder’s previous career high in home runs was 13 in 2021 and he had 36 total for his career in 924 plate appearances entering ‘23. But with five more long balls this season, Robert will join Albert Belle, Jim Thome, Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye, Todd Frazier and Adam Dunn as the only White Sox players to reach 40 in a single season. Robert also needs three stolen bases with those five homers to join Magglio Ordonez (‘01) as the only White Sox players with at least 30 homers, 30 doubles and 20 stolen bases in the same campaign. — Scott Merkin
Angels: Ohtani’s chase for the club record for homers in a season
Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani leads the Majors with 44 homers and is just three blasts away from tying the club record of 47 homers hit by Troy Glaus in 2000. But Ohtani tore his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow on Aug. 23 and could undergo season-ending surgery at some point in September. He’s been in the lineup every game since the diagnosis, however, and he’s still awaiting a second opinion on his elbow. — Rhett Bollinger
Astros: Kyle Tucker’s chase for 30-30 … again
Tucker fell five steals shy of reaching 30 homers and 30 steals last year, but he’s closing in on the mark again this year with 26 homers and a career-high 26 steals. Thus, he needs four homers and four steals in the final 27 games, which is doable. The only player in Astros history to have a 30-30 season is Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell, who did it twice. He had 43 homers and 31 steals in 1997 and 42 homers and 30 steals in ’99. — Brian McTaggart
Athletics: Esteury Ruiz’s chance at rookie stolen base history
Ruiz overtaking the American League rookie single-season stolen base record of 66 held by Kenny Lofton (1992) seemed inevitable given his rampant start to the season. Though a right shoulder injury caused him to miss 22 games from July 6-Aug. 4, Ruiz still entered Thursday leading the AL with 53 steals and on pace for 64, which gives the A’s outfielder a chance to tie Lofton for the record. — Martín Gallegos
Mariners: Julio Rodríguez’s quest for 30-30
After crushing seven homers and swiping 11 bags in August, all of a sudden, Rodríguez has a chance to become just the second player in Mariners history to fulfill a coveted 30-30 season. He’s already cleared the stolen bases threshold, with 35, but he needs six homers over the final month to reach the milestone. Making matters a little more complicated is the nerve issue in his left foot that held him out of the starting lineup the past two games. But if he returns soon and keeps up his torrid pace, he could join Alex Rodriguez in this rare company, who did so in 1998 with 42 homers and 46 steals. — Daniel Kramer
Rangers: Corey Seager batting title
Seager would be the AL leader in batting average (.346), but due to two separate IL stints earlier this season, he’s not yet a qualifier. To be eligible for the batting title, a player must accrue 502 plate appearances. Seager has 411 entering Thursday. That means Seager will need to make 91 plate appearances through the team’s final 29 games, an average of 3.14 per game. Only three Rangers have previously won a batting title: Julio Franco (.341, 1991), Michael Young (.331, 2005) and Josh Hamilton (.359, 2010). — Kennedi Landry
Braves: Home runs galore
Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna have already hit the 30-homer mark. Ronald Acuña Jr. (29) and Ozzie Albies (28) could join this group very soon. So, it looks like the Braves will join the 2019 Twins as the only teams with five players who hit 30-plus homers in the same season. Eddie Rosario, who was one of the 2019 Twins, and Sean Murphy, both sitting at 20, also have a chance to make the Braves the first team with seven players to hit at least 25 in the same season, breaking the record of six by those Twins and the 2003 Red Sox. — Mark Bowman
Marlins: Jorge Soler’s push for the second-most HRs in a Marlins season
Soler, who has 35 homers on the season and has hit seven homers in his past 16 games (entering play Thursday), has the chance to tie, or pass, Gary Sheffield for the second most home runs in a season in Marlins franchise history. Sheffield hit 42 in his All-Star 1996 season and earned his second career Silver Slugger. While Soler can surpass Sheffield, it’s unlikely he’ll top Giancarlo Stanton’s 59 homers in 2017, the record for the most long balls in club history. — Paige Leckie
Mets: Pete Alonso’s home run chase
Although a left wrist injury in June quashed any realistic chance for Alonso to reach the hallowed plateau of 60 home runs, he’s still on pace for close to 50. It wouldn’t take much of a hot streak for Alonso to push that a bit and exceed the rookie-record 53 homers he hit in 2019. His highest total since that time was 40 last season, which he is one away from matching entering Thursday. — Anthony DiComo
Nationals: Lane Thomas’ pursuit of Nationals’ first 20-20 season since 2016
Thomas is closing in on becoming the fourth Nats player since the team moved to Washington in 2005 to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in the same season. He hit his 20th homer on Aug. 8, and he has nabbed 17 bases to date. If Thomas reaches this feat, he would join Alfonso Soriano (2006), Ian Desmond (three times, 2012-14) and Bryce Harper (2016) on the select list. — Jessica Camerato
Phillies: The pursuit of 90 wins
The 2022 Phillies were arguably baseball’s top story last year, going from a 21-29 start and a June managerial change to a World Series appearance, but what they weren’t able to do was reach the 90-win plateau. This year’s team, sitting at 74-59, has a very good chance to do so. If Philadelphia can go 16-13 or better over the final 29 games, that will be its first 90-win season since having four straight such years from 2008-11 in the heyday of the Howard-Utley-Rollins era. — Cole Jacobson
Brewers: Carlos Santana’s quest for 300 home runs
158 players in AL/NL history have reached the 300-homer plateau, including 13 players, led by Hank Aaron’s 755 home runs, who spent some time with the Brewers. Santana is bidding to join that group, currently sitting at 296 home runs. He’s hit six of them since the Brewers acquired the veteran switch-hitter from the Pirates a few days before the Trade Deadline. — Adam McCalvy
Cardinals: Adam Wainwright’s pursuit of 200 career wins
When Wainwright defeated the Mets at Citi Field on June 17, he improved to 3-1 on the season and was only two wins shy of joining Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Jesse Haines as the only pitchers in franchise history with 200 wins. However, Wainwright is still sitting at 198 even after pitching better of late. The 41-year-old Wainwright has made 10 starts while trying to nab win No. 199 and has lost nine straight decisions with an unsightly 10.91 ERA. What is encouraging, however, is how well he’s pitched of late. The retiring Cards cornerstone likely has five more starts remaining, and he is hopeful he can turn back the clock like he did on Monday and find a way to win at least two more games. — John Denton
Cubs: Best power-speed season in club history
Back on July 25, the Cubs pieced together a 7-3 win over the rival White Sox that proved to be one of the more unique games in franchise history. It marked the first time since at least 1901 that the North Siders belted at least four homers and stole at least five bases in a game. That was a snapshot of the Cubs’ versatile ‘23 offense. As things currently stand, Chicago is on pace for 190-plus homers and 130-plus steals this season. That would blow away any power-speed combo in modern team history. Looking at the 45 Cubs teams on record with 120-plus steals, the most homers launched was 166 by the 2006 ballclub. — Jordan Bastian
Pirates: Andrew McCutchen’s pursuit of 300 homers
McCutchen’s long-awaited return to Pittsburgh has had some ups and downs this season, but there’s a big milestone within reach. With one more home run, he will become the 159th player in AL/NL history to reach the 300 mark, and the 26th player in that group to also have at least 200 steals. But if you ask McCutchen himself, he has no interest in talking about it until after it’s done, after he notably had three straight hitless games from June 3-6 when he was on the verge of 2,000 career hits earlier this season. — Cole Jacobson
Reds: Rookies close to homer record
For the first time in their history, according to Elias, the Reds have three rookies who have hit at least 10 homers in Spencer Steer, Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz. All of their standout rookies have combined to hit an MLB-high 50 homers this season. The franchise record for homers in a season by rookies is 54 in 2008, when the club was led by Joey Votto (24) and Jay Bruce (21) along with Chris Dickerson, Ryan Hanigan and Paul Janish. — Mark Sheldon
D-backs: Christian Walker chases first 30 HR/100 RBI season
It’s easy to look at the D-backs’ success this season and point at Corbin Carroll and Zac Gallen as lead contributors. However, Christian Walker deserves just as much praise. The 32-year-old first baseman is having the best season of his career, as he sits at 28 home runs and 87 RBIs. If Walker accomplishes that feat, he would be the first D-backs first-baseman to do so since Paul Goldschmidt in 2017, the last time Arizona made the playoffs. — Jesús Cano
Dodgers: Freddie Freeman’s historic doubles pace
With a pair of doubles at Fenway Park over the weekend, Freddie Freeman passed Shawn Green for the most doubles in a single season in Los Angeles Dodgers franchise history. Given that there’s an entire month left of games, Freeman has a chance to hit a historic amount of doubles.
Freeman is one double shy of matching Johnny Frederick for the Dodgers’ franchise record of 52. With nine more, however, Freeman would hit the 60 doubles mark, which would make him the first player to accomplish the feat since Charlie Gehringer in 1936 and just the seventh player in Major League history. — Juan Toribio
Giants: Logan Webb’s quest for 200 innings
Webb fell just short of reaching 200 innings last year, finishing with 192 1/3 frames after the Giants decided to shut him down at the end of the season to preserve his arm. The 26-year-old right-hander has been even more of a workhorse in 2023 with an MLB-high 180 1/3 innings, giving him a chance to exceed the 200 threshold for the first time in his career and force his way into the conversation for the National League Cy Young Award. — Maria Guardado
Padres: Snell’s rare ERA/walks combo
Blake Snell leads the Majors with a 2.60 ERA and is the presumptive favorite for the NL Cy Young Award. Even more remarkable? Snell is doing all that while leading the Majors with 85 walks. In fact, if Snell were to finish the season leading the Majors in both walks and ERA, he’d be the first pitcher to do so since ERA became an official stat in 1913. Snell has been a wizard escaping trouble this season — mostly because of his putaway stuff (he’s second in the NL in strikeouts) and his hit prevention (first in hits/9). As manager Bob Melvin put it: “That’s what he does; he’s a strikeout waiting to happen.” — AJ Cassavell
Rockies: Tovar’s rookie SS fielding percentage
Ezequiel Tovar has lived up to the hype when it comes to his glove at shortstop — his eight defensive runs saved were tied for fourth among NL shortstops entering play Wednesday, via Statcast. But his 2023 rookie campaign could be historic. The 22-year-old has a .986 fielding percentage entering Thursday, second-highest by a rookie shortstop (min. 400 total chances) in AL/NL history. Who is the only player to lead the face of the Rockies’ current youth movement in that regard? Former Rockies great Troy Tulowitzki, who finished the 2007 season with a .987 fielding percentage. — Manny Randhawa