Most baseball fans recognize the significance of the number 56. That’s the number of consecutive games Joe DiMaggio got a hit in.

And every time some player starts to inch close to that, all eyes are on him. Pete Rose got the closest, with 44 games, in 1978.

There’s another consecutive streak number baseball fans might not be aware of. It’s 54. That’s the record for the number of consecutive at-bats without a hit. It was set in 2019 by former Rangers and then-Oriole Chris Davis. 

Current Ranger Joc Pederson is starting to get into the territory when people should start paying attention. Since singling in the fourth inning of Game 8 in the season, back on April 2, and counting his 0-for-3 last night, Joc Pederson has now gone 36 at-bats in a row without a hit. He is just 18 at-bats away from tying the record, 19 from breaking it. 

Assuming he gets three at-bats per game, he should break the record next weekend in San Francisco, or the following homestand against the Sacramento Athletics. Every Pederson at-bat until 55 is much-watch viewing as he goes for the record.

Somewhere, Chris Davis is rooting for him.

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