Five incredible stats and numbers from baseball's first half

The second half of the 2023 Major League Baseball season begins on Friday, so it's a good time to check in with some of the most impressive performances and numbers from the first half of the season.

Here are a few things that have stood out. 

Esteury Ruiz and Ronald Acuna Jr. stolen base numbers  

The new rules this season -- especially the disengagement rules for pitchers and the larger bases -- were always expected to lead to an increase in stolen bases. Ruiz (Oakland) and Acuna Jr. (Atlanta) are the two players who have taken advantage of them the most often.

Both players stole more than 40 bases in the first half (43 for Ruiz and 41 for Acuna Jr.), which is impressive for two reasons.

The first is that nobody else in the Major Leagues has stolen more than 28 bases.

The second is that 40 stolen bases – for an entire season – was a mark nearly unreachable in recent years.

Jon Berti led the league a year ago with 41 steals (the only player to steal more than 35), while Starling Marte (47) and Whit Merrifield (40) were the only players topping the 40-mark two years ago.

Spencer Strider's strikeout numbers 

Strider has rapidly become one of the National League's best pitchers in just his second season and there is not a more dominant starting pitcher in the majors when it comes to strikeouts.

Through his first 18 starts this season he has already struck out 166 batters in just 104 2/3 innings. That comes out to a league-best 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

For some perspective on how impressive that is, no other pitcher who qualifies for the league lead has struck out more than 12 batters per nine innings. 

Shohei Ohtani's league-leading totals 

There are not enough adjectives to describe the season Ohtani is having in 2023. As dominant as he was as a two-way player the past two years (when he won the American League MVP award and then finished as the runner-up) he has somehow managed to improve this season.

As of Thursday, he leads all of Major League Baseball in the following offensive categories: Home runs (32), triples (six), total bases (226), slugging percentage (.663), and OPS (1.050).

He is the most dominant hitter in baseball this season and also a top-15 starting pitcher. Nobody has ever done anything like this. 

Rays leading the American League in home runs and stolen bases 

The Rays not only have the best record in baseball, they are also doing something that has not been done in the American League since Cleveland achieved the feat in 1995. 

Coming out of the All-Star break, the Rays lead the American League in both home runs (137) and stolen bases (111).

It is an incredibly rare combination of power and speed and helps make them one of the most exciting teams in the league. 

For a while it looked like the Rays might have a shot at leading all of Major League Baseball in both categories (which has not been done since the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers), but a couple of National League teams have jumped ahead of them in both categories. 

Still, leading just the American League is incredibly rare and impressive. 

Luis Arraez push for .400 

Nobody has finished a Major League season with an average of .400 or better since Ted Williams back in 1941. Arraez is doing his best to try and become the next player to do it. He entered the All-Star break hitting .383, leading all of baseball by a fairly substantial margin.

The next highest average in the league is Acuna Jr. who checks in at .331. The gap between Arraez and Acuna Jr. at one and two is the same as the gap between Acuna Jr. and the No. 31 hitter in all of baseball, Randy Arozarena, who is hitting to a .279 average.

Along with his push for .400, Arraez is trying to win the National League batting title just one year after winning the American League batting title.