Breaking down the June 30 Immaculate Grid baseball game with players and connections for Grid 88 that involve the Blue Jays, Rays, Phillies, Tigers, and more.
It's time for another trip down the lane of MLB fans' big obsession on the internet, the Immaculate Grid baseball game. And today, we have have a fun one for Grid 88 on Friday, June 30. Hopefully you were able to play an Immaculate game and go 9-for-9 with your grid.
Whether you did or not, though, it's always fun to get a good look — especially for trivia buffs — at all of the players who could've been correct answers or connections for each Immaculate Grid square on the day.
So with that, let's take a look at the Friday, June 30 Immaculate Grid 88 that requires a look at the Blue Jays, Tigers, Phillies, Rays, Rookies of the Year, and players with a 40+ home run season. First, we look at the top answers for each square before diving into the rest.
Immaculate Grid 88: Top answers and connections for each square (June 30)
To really get a sense of Friday's game, we're going to take a quick look the top connections and answers for every square in the June 30 Immaculate Grid baseball game, Grid 88. Let's dive in (Top answers as of 10:30 a.m. ET).
- Blue Jays/Tigers: David Price
- Blue Jays/Rays: Kevin Kiermaier
- Blue Jays/40+ HR Season: Jose Bautista
- Phillies/Tigers: Nick Castellanos
- Phillies/Rays: Zach Eflin
- Phillies/40+ HR Season: Ryan Howard
- Tigers/Rookie of the Year: Justin Verlander
- Rays/Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria
- 40+ HR Season/Rookie of the Year: Aaron Judge
This is one of the more widespread distribution of answers that we've seen with Immaculate Grid. The most popular answer was Verlander at 66% but only four of the answers were even above 50 percent. That makes for a fun iteration of the game when you have squares that have no obvious answer. As of this writing, the Blue Jays/Tigers square was the most difficult with only a 59% success rate.
5 players who played for Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays
The toughest square in Friday's game, David Price is the top answer. But let's see who joins the well-traveled pitcher in having played for both the Tigers and Blue Jays.
- David Price
- Cecil Fielder
- Curtis Granderson
- Frank Catalanotto
- David Wells
5 players who played for Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies
Well traveled as well, despite his talent, Nick Castellanos came in as the top answer for this square. So we should probably check in on the other players who played for the Phillies and there's a deep drive to left by Castellanos… oh yeah, and the Tigers.
- Nick Castellanos
- Lance Parrish
- Placido Polanco
- Gregory Soto
- Mark Leiter
5 players who played for Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays
A little bit of AL East love, Kevin Kiermaier, who joined the Blue Jays this season, is the top answer. But let's take a look at some other players who would've been a correct answer with time in Toronto and Tampa.
- Kevin Kiermaier
- Fred McGriff
- Eric Hinske
- B.J. Upton
- Shawn Camp
5 players who played for Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies
Current Rays pitcher Zach Eflin took the top answer/connection for this square, but let's get a look at the other players who would've bee a correct guess for Friday's game as they played in Toronto and Philadelphia.
- Zach Eflin
- Brad Miller
- Pat Burrell
- Jose Alvarado
- Jeremy Hellickson
Toronto Blue Jays with 40+ HRs in a season
Jose Bautista took the nod as the top answer for Blue Jays players who hit 40+ home runs in a season. Here are the other players who also accomplished that feat.
- Jose Bautista (3 times)
- Marcus Semien (2021)
- Vladimir Guererro Jr. (2021)
- Edwin Encarnacion (2 times)
- Josh Donaldson (2015)
- Carlos Delgado (3 times)
- Tony Bautista (2000)
- Shawn Green (1999)
- Jose Canseco (1998)
- George Bell (1987)
- Jesse Barfield (1986)
Philadelphia Phillies with 40+ HRs in a season
Ryan Howard took the nod for the top answer for Phillies to hit 40+ home runs in a single season. Here are other Philadelphia favorites who were able to show off the long ball that often in a year.
- Ryan Howard (4 times)
- Kyle Schwarber (2022)
- Jim Thome (2 times)
- Mike Schmidt (3 times)
- Dick Allen (1966)
- Chuck Klein (2 times)
- Cy Williams (1923)
Detroit Tigers who won Rookie of the Year
Justin Verlander was the obvious answer for a Tigers player who won AL Rookie of the Year. But let's take a look at the other lesser-known answers that would've also been correct for this Immaculate Grid square.
- Michael Fulmer (2016)
- Justin Verlander (2006)
- Lou Whitaker (1978)
- Mark Fidrych (1976)
- Harvey Kuenn (1953)
Tampa Bay Rays who won Rookie of the Year
Who could forget Evan Longoria, one of the most beloved Rays ever, winning Rookie of the Year. But he's not alone in being a player from Tampa to win the honor.
- Randy Arozarena (2021)
- Wil Myers (2013)
- Jeremy Hellickson (2011)
- Evan Longoria (2008)
MLB players who won Rookie of the Year and hit 40+ HRs as a rookie
Aaron Judge, presiding over the baseball world, hit 40 home runs as a rookie and won Rookie of the Year. But here are the other players who also accomplished that feat.
- Pete Alonso (2019)
- Aaron Judge (2017)
- Mark McGwire (1987)