Carson Kelly first Cubs player to hit for cycle in 32 years - ESPN

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Carson Kelly had come close to hitting for the cycle, yet that elusive triple kept holding him back. He had just two triples over a 10-year big league career before Monday night.

That's when Kelly became the first Chicago Cubs player in 32 years to hit for the cycle. He tripled in the eighth inning of an 18-3 rout of the Athletics — ending the longest drought without a cycle by any team in the National League.

Kelly even walked twice in the first major league game at Sutter Health Park, the minor league ballpark serving as the new home for the A's this season.

«I've been in this same position before where I needed a triple for the cycle. If anybody's ever looked up my numbers, I have two triples, so odds are not in my favor, right?» the 30-year-old Kelly said. «I didn't get it done the first time. This time I'm like, oh, I'm just going to put a good at-bat together. Hit it, like, 'Oh yeah, pretty good.' Then I hit first and saw it ricochet and I was like, 'Oh boy, this is it right here, I gotta go.' That's probably the fastest you'll ever see me run.»

Kelly homered in the fourth inning, had a two-run single in the fifth, doubled and walked in the sixth, and tripled in the eighth. The previous Cubs player to hit for the cycle was Mark Grace on May 9, 1993, against San Diego — before Kelly was even born in 1994. The team had 342 near-cycles since Grace's feat, meaning the particular player was one required hit short.

According to ESPN Research, Kelly is the first player with a cycle in March, and just the 17th catcher with a cycle in MLB history. The last catcher to do so was when J.T. Realmuto of the Philadelphia Phillies accomplished the feat on June 12, 2023.

And from a franchise perspective,