The Baseball Buffet for 10/8/2025

Issue #418

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! ⚾

[Mea culpa! I honestly didn’t mean to torment Cubs fans yesterday… truly. In the lead-in to yesterday’s Baseball Buffet I said the Cubs were up 2-0 in the NLDS, but of course the Brewers are up 2-0. I had it correct in the game 2 write-up, just not up top… which a half-dozen readers alerted me to so I could correct the web version of the article. Thanks all!]

The 195th day of the season featured game three for each of the ALDS match-ups:

• SEA 8, DET 4 - After a lengthy rain delay the Mariners built a 4-0 lead through four innings, including a solo HR by Eugenio Suárez. Logan Gilbert pitched well (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K), and Seattle scored four more including a solo HR by J.P. Crawford in the sixth and a 2-run HR by Cal Raleigh in the top of the ninth. Caleb Ferguson struggled in the bottom of the frame, allowing a walk, three hits, and three runs while not getting any outs, but then closer Andrés Muñoz came in and shut things down. The Mariners are now up two games to one.

• TOR 6, NYY 9 - Things didn’t look good for the Yankees early on, as red-hot Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a 2-run HR in the top of the first. New York scored one in the bottom of the frame, but then Carlos Rodón struggled in the third giving up four more runs (2.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K). But then the Yankees’ hitters got to work, scoring two in the bottom of the the third, three in the fourth, and two more in the fifth. This included a 3-run HR by Aaron Judge which tied the game 6-6, and then a solo HR by Jazz Chisholm Jr. which gave them their first lead of the series. Meanwhile New York’s inconsistent bullpen came through in this one, with five relievers pitching over six innings and not allowing any runs. David Bednar recorded the last five outs for the save.

Today’s Trivia Question

In honor of Joe Sewell (whose birthday is tomorrow), today’s trivia will focus on hitters who didn’t strike out very much in 2025. Luis Arraez is the modern day Sewell, with by far the lowest K% amongst qualified hitters at 0.31 K/PA. Can you name any of the other four qualified hitters who in 2025 had a K% (K/PA) below .100?

League Leaders

The final OBP leaderboard shows just one player over .400 in 2025, Aaron Judge who was far ahead of everyone else.

• .457 - NYY Aaron Judge - AL Leader

• .399 - TOR George Springer

• .396 - NYM Juan Soto - NL Leader

• .392 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

• .389 - AZ Geraldo Perdomo

• .381 - TOR Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

• .377 - CHC Kyle Tucker

• .376 - AZ Ketel Marte

• .372 - SFG Rafael Devers

• .368 - SDP Fernando Tatis Jr.

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 8…

• 1956: Don Larsen throws a perfect game in the World Series. “Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitches the only perfect game in World Series history for a 2-0 triumph over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Sal Maglie, the opposing pitcher, gives up five hits.”

• 1961: Whitey Ford’s World Series scoreless innings streak reaches 32. “The New York Yankees' Whitey Ford sets a World Series record for consecutive scoreless innings by extending his streak to 32 innings in a 7-0 triumph over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 4. The mark had previously been held by Babe Ruth.”

• 1986: Mike Scott strikes out 14 in game one of the NLCS. “Mike Scott equals a postseason record with 14 strikeouts and throws a five-hitter as the Houston Astros defeat the New York Mets, 1-0, in the first game of the NLCS. Glenn Davis opens the 2nd inning with a home run off Dwight Gooden for the game's only score.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Donie Bush (1887)

• 16-year major league career, spanning from 1908-1923, mostly as a SS with the Detroit Tigers

• An extremely light hitter, with a .250 average and only 9 career HR in 8,775 plate appearances

• But he had a good eye and so led the AL in walks five times, and had a more impressive .356 OBP

• Had 100+ runs twice, including leading the AL with 115 in 1909 and again with 112 in 1917, with a career-high of 126 runs in 1911

• Also stole a lot of bases, with eight seasons of 30+ SB, including a high of 53 in his first full season in 1909

• Overall had 1,281 runs and 406 SB

Wally Moses (1910)

• 17-year major league career as a RF, spanning from 1935-1951, with over half his seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics, and the rest with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox

• Hit over .300 in his first seven seasons, with a high of .345 in 1936, when he was an All-Star with 113 runs, 25 HR, 48 doubles, and 13 triples

• Never had 10 or more HR again after that, but did steal 56 bases in 1943 (more than twice his second highest SB total, which was 21 the following year)

• Overall had 1,124 runs, 174 SB, a .291/.364/.416 slash line, and a 109 OPS+

Paul Splittorff (1946)

• 15-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1970-1984, all with the Kansas City Royals

• Had 15+ wins four times, including a 20-11 record in 1973 and a 19-13 mark in 1978

• Overall had a 166-143 (.537) record, a 3.81 ERA, and a 101 ERA+

Mike Morgan (1959)

• Drafted in the first-round (4th overall) by the Athletics in 1978

• Had a long 22-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1978-2002, spending time with 12 different clubs

• Primarily a starter until his final three seasons in his 40s with the Diamondbacks

• Was an All-Star with the Dodgers in 1991 when he had a 14-10 record and a 2.78 ERA

• Was 16-8 with a 2.55 ERA the following year with the Cubs

• Had mixed results over his long career, ending with a 141-186 record, a 4.23 ERA, and a 97 ERA+

Currently active players who were born on October 8 include COL Hunter Goodman, ATL Nick Allen, BAL Albert Suárez, CLE Tim Herrin, PIT Colin Holderman, ATH Brady Basso, ATH Joey Estes, and WAS Shinnosuke Ogasawara.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have four games, two each in the AL and NL (pitching stats shown below are regular season totals):

• SEA vs. DET at 3:08pm ET - Seattle is now up 2-1 in the series, and will go with Bryce Miller (5.68 ERA, 74 K in 90.1 IP) in game four, with Detroit countering with Casey Mize (3.87 ERA, 139 K in 149 IP).

• MIL vs. CHC at 5:08pm ET - The Brewers lead the series 2-0, with game three shifting to Wrigley in Chicago. The Cubs will go with Jameson Taillon (3.68 ERA, 98 K in 129.2 IP) and the Milwaukee will counter with Quinn Priester (3.32 ERA, 132 K in 157.1 IP).

• TOR vs. NYY at 7:08pm ET - The Yankees came alive yesterday and will have impressive rookie Cam Schlittler (2.96 ERA, 84 K in 73 IP) on the mound for game four. It appears Toronto will go with a bullpen day, with Louis Varland (who gave up the HR to Judge yesterday) slotted as the opener.

• PHI vs. LAD at 9:08pm ET - The Dodgers lead the series 2-0, and now they are home in LA where they were 52-29 (.642) during the regular season (though the Phillies took two of three at LA this year). Can Aaron Nola (6.01 ERA, 97 K in 94.1 IP), who struggled a lot this year but had a strong final start on September 26th vs. the Twins, come through for Philadelphia in this must-win game? The Dodgers I assume are comfortable with Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.49 ERA, 201 K in 173.2 IP) taking the mound.

⚾ Enjoy the games today! ⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

Here are the five qualified hitters in 2025 with the lowest K% (K/PA), with Luis Arraez far in the lead:

• .031 - SDP Luis Arraez

• .075 - ATH Jacob Wilson

• .076 - CHC Nico Hoerner

• .087 - CLE Steven Kwan

• .099 - MIL Caleb Durbin

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.

• Here's what to watch for on a full day of Division Series action, by Will Leitch at MLB, 10/8/2025

• NLDS Game Two: Wheeling and Dealing, by Jeff Kallman at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 10/8/2025

• The Prospects of the NL East, by Allen Settle at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 10/8/2025

• My Five Very Best MLB Playoff Performers, by Mark Kolier at Almost Cooperstown, 10/8/2025

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.

This newsletter was produced with beehiiv, an outstanding platform for creating email newsletters and blogs. If this might be of interest for your own creative work, get a 30-day trial and 30% off your first three months!