StaTuesday: Brewers utility man Tyler Saladino's historic, improbable slam
History nearly wasn’t made Monday as Tyler Saladino wasn’t even supposed to be in the lineup for the Milwaukee Brewers.
But with Keston Hiura nursing a tight quad, Saladino got the start at second base and proceeded to hit a grand slam in his second consecutive game.
Amazingly, the utility player had no extra-base hits entering the weekend (and was just 5-for-49 overall) before homering with the bases loaded in the fourth inning at Arizona on Sunday. Saladino repeated the feat in the eighth inning against Cincinnati on Tuesday.
In his career, Saladino had previously hit just one home run with two runners on base.
He’s now one of 20 Brewers to have hit at least two grand slams in the same season and the first to do it since Ryan Braun in 2015. Only three players in Milwaukee history have three slams in a year.
| PLAYER | NO. | YEAR |
| John Jaha | 3 | 1995 |
| John Vander Wal | 3 | 2003 |
| Devon White | 3 | 2007 |
| Joe Lahoud | 2 | 1973 |
| Dave May | 2 | 1973 |
| Darrell Porter | 2 | 1974 |
| Deron Johnson | 2 | 1974 |
| Sixto Lezcano | 2 | 1978 |
| Robin Yount | 2 | 1980 |
| Rob Deer | 2 | 1987 |
| Matt Mieske | 2 | 1995 |
| Raul Casanova | 2 | 2000 |
| Jose Hernandez | 2 | 2000 |
| Richie Sexson | 2 | 2002 |
| Johnny Estrada | 2 | 2007 |
| Bill Hall | 2 | 2007 |
| Jonathan Lucroy | 2 | 2012 |
| Yuniesky Betancourt | 2 | 2013 |
| Ryan Braun | 2 | 2015 |
| Tyler Saladino | 2 | 2019 |
Saladino joined even rarer company – he joined Mike Blowers (1993) and David Eckstein (2002) to have their first two home runs of the season be grand slams in back-to-back games.
Of course, the number of those who have hit slams in consecutive games is not exactly a long list, either. Saladino became the 24th player to accomplish the feat. Just one of those – and of course it’s Babe Ruth – has done it twice.
Saladino was the first to do it since the Yankees’ Jorge Posada in 2010. The last National Leaguer was the Mets’ Carlos Beltran in 2016.
| PLAYER | TEAM | YEAR |
| Jimmy Bannon | Braves | 1894 |
| Jimmy Sheckard | Dodgers | 1901 |
| Babe Ruth | Yankees | 1927 |
| Babe Ruth | Yankees | 1929 |
| Bill Dickey | Yankees | 1937 |
| Jimmie Foxx | Red Sox | 1940 |
| Jim Busby | Indians | 1956 |
| Brooks Robinson | Orioles | 1962 |
| Phil Garner | Pirates | 1978 |
| Willie Aikens | Angels | 1979 |
| Greg Luzinski | White Sox | 1984 |
| Rob Deer | Brewers | 1987 |
| Fred McGriff | Padres | 1991 |
| Mike Blowers | Mariners | 1993 |
| Dan Gladden | Tigers | 1993 |
| Eric Davis | Reds | 1996 |
| Mike Piazza | Dodgers | 1998 |
| Sammy Sosa | Cubs | 1998 |
| Ken Griffey Jr. | Mariners | 1999 |
| Robin Ventura | Mets | 1999 |
| Albert Belle | Orioles | 2000 |
| David Eckstein | Angels | 2002 |
| Carlos Beltran | Mets | 2006 |
| Jorge Posada | Yankees | 2010 |
| Tyler Saladino | Brewers | 2019 |
You’ll notice one other Brewers player who hit grand slams in back-to-back games. But Rob Deer’s feat was dwarfed in the media coverage afterwards because of a different ongoing streak by his teammate -- Paul Molitor extending his hitting streak to 35 games.
Dave Heller is the author of Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow (a Larry Ritter Book Award nominee), Facing Ted Williams - Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns
