| AB | R | H | RBI |
| 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
That is Ian Kinsler’s line from the Rangers game against the Baltimore Orioles from April 15th. Kinsler hit for the cycle – one of three guys to do so in a 4 day span , just the fourth time that has happened in the history of the game – as part of his 6 hits. Kinsler added a stolen base, along with a second double and second single to his cycle. He had 12 total bases. He did it all Wednesday night, as he has for much of the last season plus.
From a fantasy perspective, Kinsler’s night was epic. He totaled 29 fantasy points. Thats a great outing from a starting pitcher, let alone one game from a second baseman. The best hitters average 4 points a game. Kinsler’s production was more than 7 games worth of the best in the league.
Vlookup Vince doesn’t have access to game-by-game stats, but he believes this is the most fantasy points by a second baseman, ever, and likely the third most ever by a hitter. In fact, the only hitting games that I have found that surpass Kinsler’s game in the modern era is Shawn Green’s 4 home run game from May 23, 2009 and Mark Whiten’s 4 home run game from September 7, 1993. Green went 6 for 6 with the 4 HRs, a single, double, 7 RBI, and 6 runs scored, for 32 points. Whitten racked up 12 RBI on his was to 32 points as well. Kinsler’s point total surpassed the 4 homerun games that Mike Cameron, Mike Schmidt, and Willie Mays had in their careers. But there is actually more to the story than that. Both Shawn Green and Mark Whiten hit 9th inning home runs. Both of their teams had the game well in hand, however, as they were on the visiting team, they got their last ABs. The Rangers were at home, and thus didn’t get to bat in the 9th. Kinsler would have hit second in the 9th had they batted. Among player’s whose team batted 8 times in a game, Kinsler almost certainly put up the most points ever.
Interesting related factoid: Also unverified, but I reckon Fernando Tatis has the biggest fantasy inning of all time with his 2 grandslam INNING when he racked up 18 points in the 3rd inning of the game.
As my disclaimers noted, I have no way to verify these ‘largest ever claims’. Add a comment with any potential contenders, and I will follow up.
Unbelievable. What is the most points ever by a pitcher? I know it’s a perfect game but I can’t find the box scores.
[...] recent Ian Kinsler: Historic Fantasy Games & Innings post and the Early MLB Season story lines posts from earlier in the week led to a fair amount of [...]