The Baseball Buffet for 10/1/2025

Issue #414

The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The 188th day of the season featured Game 1 for each of the four Wild Card Series:

• DET 2, CLE 1 - Kerry Carpenter singled in the first and Cleveland RF Johnathan Rodríguez bobbled the ball allowing Carpenter to advance. That mattered, as Spencer Torkelson singled to drive him in, giving the Tigers an early 1-0 lead. Gavin Williams did well after that (6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K), but then another Guardians’ fielding error in the seventh helped lead to a second unearned run, and that was all it took. Tarik Skubal was outstanding, with a career-high 14 strikeouts in 7.2 innings (7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 14 K), and then Will Vest got the last four outs for the save.

• SDP 1, CHC 3 - The Padres scored one in the first inning after Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts hit consecutive doubles. But Matthew Boyd did well in a short start (4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K), and then four Cubs’ relievers kept the Padres off the board the rest of the way, including Brad Keller earning the save in the ninth. Nick Pivetta struck out 9 in 5 innings, but also allowed back-to-back solo homers to Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly in the fifth. Suzuki has been on fire lately, with homers in each of his last five games (6-16 with 6 HR).

• BOS 3, NYY 1 - Anthony Volpe hit a HR in the second inning, but Garrett Crochet was otherwise very effective (7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K). Max Fried also pitched a good game (6.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K), but was pulled after 102 pitches, gambling on the Yankees’ inconsistent bullpen with an eye towards Fried needing to pitch a lot more if New York can go deep in the postseason. Unfortunately, Luke Weaver let up a walk, a double to Nick Sogard, and then a 2-RBI single to Masataka Yoshida. David Bednar allowed another run in the top of the ninth, giving Boston a 3-1 lead. Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman got into trouble in the ninth by loading the bases with no outs, but then got three consecutive outs including two via strikeout to earn the save.

• CIN 5, LAD 10 - Longballs were a problem for Hunter Greene (3 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), as Shohei Ohtani led off the bottom of the first with a HR, and then Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman hit back-to-back homers in the third. Ohtani and Hernández each hit a second HR later in the game as the Dodgers built up an 8-0 lead through six. Meanwhile, Blake Snell did very well, finally giving up two runs in the seventh (7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K). The Reds scored three more in the eighth, but it was too little, too late as Blake Treinen struck out two in the ninth to close it out.

Today’s Trivia Question

Shohei Ohtani hit two HR yesterday in the Dodgers’ game one win. During the regular season he once again led the NL with 380 total bases, something he also did in 2024 with 411. Prior to Ohtani, who were the only two Dodgers players to lead the NL in total bases? (Hint: they each did so only once.)

League Leaders

I covered RBI yesterday, so today here are the final Runs leaders, where we have 12 that topped 100 on the season:

• 146 - LAD Shohei Ohtani - NL Leader

• 137 - NYY Aaron Judge - AL Leader

• 120 - NYM Juan Soto

• 117 - NYM Francisco Lindor

• 111 - PHI Kyle Schwarber

• 111 - SDP Fernando Tatis Jr.

• 110 - SEA Cal Raleigh

• 107 - AZ Corbin Carroll

• 106 - SEA Julio Rodríguez

• 106 - TOR George Springer

• 103 - CLE José Ramírez

• 102 - CIN Elly De La Cruz

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. Unless otherwise noted, the descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.

📅 On October 1…

• 1903: The Pirates win the first World Series game. “The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Boston Americans, 7-3, in the first World Series game ever played which takes place in front of more than 16,000 spectators at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston, MA. Jimmy Sebring hits the first home run in the Series, as Deacon Phillippe is the winning pitcher and Cy Young the loser.”

• 1932: The legendary Babe Ruth called shot game. “Babe Ruth, as legend has it, calls his home run against Chicago Cubs pitcher Charlie Root in the 5th inning of Game 3 of the World Series, won by the New York Yankees, 7-5, at Wrigley Field. Ruth and Lou Gehrig each hit two homers for the Yankees.”

• 1961: Roger Maris breaks Babe Ruth’s record with his 61st HR. “Roger Maris hits his 61st home run of the season against Tracy Stallard of the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. The homer eclipses Babe Ruth's 34-year-old single-season home run record. The Yankees win the game, 1-0.”

• 1970: The final game at Connie Mack Stadium. “The final game at Connie Mack Stadium is played as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the visiting Montreal Expos, 2-1. The fans respond by swarming onto and destroying the field at the end of the game.”

• 2004: Ichiro sets a new single-season hits record. “Ichiro Suzuki surpasses George Sisler's 84-year-old record of 257 hits in a single season. After this game, Ichiro has collected 259 hits in the season with two games left; he will finish the season with 262 hits.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Rod Carew (1945)

• 19-year major league career, spanning from 1967-1985, with the Twins and Angels

• All-Star in 18 of his 19 seasons

• AL Rookie of the Year in 1967 after batting .292 with 8 HR and 7 triples

• Won seven AL batting titles, including in 1977 when he won the AL MVP Award after leading the AL with a .388 average, 128 runs, 239 hits, and 16 triples, to go with 14 HR, 100 RBI, and 23 SB

• Four seasons with 35+ SB, including a high of 49 in 1976

• Overall had 3,053 hits, 1,424 runs, 353 SB, .328/.393/.429 slash line, and 131 OPS+

Mark McGwire (1963)

• 16-year major league career, spanning from 1986-2001, with the A's for a dozen years and the rest with the Cardinals

• Was AL Rookie of the Year in 1987 after setting a new rookie record with 49 HR, to go with 118 RBI and a .289 average

• 12-time All-Star, and won Gold Glove at 1B in 1990

• Had 11 seasons with 30+ HR, with four consecutive seasons with 50+ HR, including setting a new record with 70 HR in 1998 (later surpassed by Barry Bonds)

• Overall had 583 HR, 1,414 RBI, a .263/.394/.588 slash line, and a 163 OPS+

• His accomplishments and legacy have been tarnished of course by his admission in 2010 (Wikipedia) of using performance enhancing drugs during part of his career

Jeff Reardon (1955)

• 16-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1979-1994, with seven clubs, but mostly with the Expos, Mets, Red Sox, and Twins

• Four-time All-Star

• Had 20+ saves in 11 seasons, and 40+ in three seasons, including in 1985 when he led the NL with 41 saves for the Expos

• Overall had 367 saves, a 3.16 ERA, and a 122 ERA+

Xander Bogaerts (1992)

• 13-year major league career so far, spanning from 2013-2025, mostly as a SS with the Red Sox and the last three seasons with the Padres

• Four-time All-Star

• Has so far had four seasons with 20+ HR, two with 100+ runs, and two with 100+ RBI

• Has had three seasons with 15+ SB, including a career high 20 in 2025

• Overall has 197 HR, 126 SB, a .287/.350/.446 slash line, and a 114 OPS+

Robbie Ray (1991)

• 12-year major league career so far, spanning from 2014-2025, with six seasons for the Diamondbacks, and the rest spread between the Giants, Blue Jays, Mariners, and Tigers

• Two time All-Star, and won the AL Cy Young Award in 2021 after leading the league with a 2.84 ERA and 248 K

• Overall so far has an 88-81 record, 3.94 ERA, 108 ERA+, and 1,734 strikeouts in 1,441 innings. His 10.83 K/9IP ratio is fourth all-time, behind only Blake Snell, Chris Sale, and Dylan Cease.

Roberto Kelly (1964)

• 14-year major league career, spanning from 1987-2000, with half of that time spent with the Yankees, and the rest spread across seven clubs

• Five seasons with 20+ SB, including a high of 42 in 1990

• Two-time All-Star

• Overall had 124 HR, 235 SB, a .290/.337/.430 slash line, and a 106 OPS+

Matt Cain (1984)

• Drafted by the Giants in the first-round (25th overall) in 2002

• 13-year major league pitching career, from 2005-2017, all with the Giants

• Three-time All-Star

• Overall had a 104-118 record, with a 3.68 ERA, and 108 ERA+

In addition to Xander Bogaerts and Robbie Ray, currently active players who were born on October 1 include NYM Cedric Mullins, MIA Otto López, PHI Lou Trivino, and TBR Caleb Boushley.

Today’s Matchups

All four Wild Card Series will have game two today:

• DET vs. CLE at 1:08pm ET - Detroit won game one and will go with Casey Mize (3.87 ERA, 139 K in 149 IP), with Cleveland countering with Tanner Bibee (4.24 ERA, 162 K in 182.1 IP).

• SDP vs. CHC at 3:08pm ET - Chicago won game one and are opting for an opener in Andrew Kittredge, who pitched a scoreless 8th inning yesterday. The Padres will go the more traditional route with strikeout-artist Dylan Cease (4.55 ERA, 215 K in 168 IP) as their starter.

• BOS vs. NYY at 6:08pm ET - Boston won game one and will go with Brayan Bello (3.35 ERA, 124 K in 166.2 IP) for game two. The Yankees will counter with Carlos Rodón (3.09 ERA, 203 K in 195.1 IP).

• CIN vs. LAD at 9:08pm ET - Los Angeles won game one and will have another strong starter going in game two in Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.49 ERA, 201 K in 173.2 IP). The Reds will try to stay alive with Zack Littell (3.81 ERA, 130 K in 186.2 IP).

HR Watch

Predicting who might hit a HR on any given day is a challenge. But here are a few to consider based on opposing SP past performance:

• NYY Cody Bellinger, 4-10 with 2 HR vs. BOS Brayan Bello

• CLE José Ramírez, 5-10 with 2 HR vs. DET Casey Mize

• CHC Michael Busch, small sample but is 2-8 with 2 HR vs. SDP Dylan Cease

• LAD Max Muncy, small sample but is 2-5 with 2 HR vs. CIN Zack Littell

Hits Watch

In addition to the HR Watch guys listed above, here are some others who have done well against their opposing SP today:

• DET Gleyber Torres, 6-15 with 2 doubles vs. CLE Tanner Bibee

• NYY Anthony Volpe, 6-17 with a HR and a double vs. BOS Brayan Bello

• CHC Kyle Tucker, 5-13 with 2 doubles vs. SDP Dylan Cease

• BOS Rob Refsnyder, 6-17 with a HR and 3 doubles vs. lefty NYY Carlos Rodón… and as I always note here, Refsnyder has extreme splits and hits lefties well

Who might struggle today?

Betting against any given player to not get a hit is tough, as guys in the starting lineup get at least one hit in a game more often than not. That said, here are some guys who clearly have struggled against their opposing SP today:

• CHC Ian Happ, 1-21 with 10 K vs. SDP Dylan Cease… ouch!

• NYY Aaron Judge, 2-21 with 8 K vs. BOS Brayan Bello… also ouch!

• DET Wenceel Pérez, 2-13 with 7 K vs. CLE Tanner Bibee

• BOS Jarren Duran, 2-16 with 5 K vs. NYY Carlos Rodón

• BOS Romy Gonzalez, 1-13 though only 1 K vs. NYY Carlos Rodón

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

Before Shohei Ohtani, the two Los Angeles Dodgers hitters to lead the NL in total bases were Cody Bellinger with 351 in 2019, and Matt Kemp with 353 in 2011.

Good Reads

Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.

• Which rookies will make the biggest impact in the postseason? Ranking the top 12, by Joe Trezza at MLB, 9/29/2025

• 5 Baseball Cards Saved Their Best for Last, at Wax Pack Gods Newsletter, 9/28/2025

• "We Could See History Today", by Bill Pruden at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 10/1/2025

See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!

Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.

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