The Baseball Buffet for 3/29/2025

Issue #228

What follows is the third issue (I’m on a roll!) of a new feature for 2025 at Now Taking the Field. 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! Let me know what you think of each issue… leave a comment on the post or send me an email at [email protected].

⚾ The season has begun! ⚾

Second day of the season included nine games:

• COL 2, TBR 3 - Ryan Pepiot pitched well (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 8 K) and three relievers didn’t allow any runs, but the hero of the day was 27-year old rookie pinch hitter Kameron Misner who hit a walk-off solo HR in the bottom of the 9th. Veteran Kyle Freeland (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 7 K) pitched outstanding for Colorado

• PIT 4, MIA 3 - Mitch Keller pitched well (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 K) and Oneill Cruz hit a two-run HR in the 5th which proved to be the game winner after the Marlins attempted a comeback in the bottom of the 9th.

• BAL 2, TOR 8 - After a blow-out loss yesterday, the Blue Jays turned the tables on the Orioles by getting to 40-year old starter Charlie Morton in the 4th inning and collecting 14 hits overall.

• BOS 1, TEX 4 - Catcher Jonah Heim hit two homers to back 24-year old Jack Leiter’s strong pitching (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 K).

• NYM 3, HOU 1 - Juan Soto hit his first HR as a Met, and four relievers held the Astros after Tylor Megill went 5 IP with 3 H, 1 ER, and 6 K.

• CHC 1, AZ 8 - The D-Backs hit Cubs starter Jameson Taillon hard, including several doubles and two, 2-run HR by Eugenio Suarez who continues his hit hot spring after hitting well to end last season.

• ATH 7, SEA 0 - Jeffrey Springs was outstanding (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 9 K) and the Mariners couldn’t get anything going against the Athletics’ relievers either. Brent Rooker, Luis Arias, and Max Muncy each had their first homers of the year.

• ATL 3, SDP 4 - Dylan Cease struck out 7 in 4.1 IP, Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his first HR of the year, and Jake Cronenworth’s solo HR in the 8th proved to be the game-winner.

• DET 5, LAD 8 - Early on the story was Yoshinobu Yamamoto who pitched 5 IP, letting up 5 H and 2 ER, including solo HR to Gleyber Torres and catcher Dillon Dingler, but struck out an impressive 10 Tiger hitters. The Tigers forced extra innings and scored two in the top of the 10th, but then the Dodgers scored five in the bottom of the tenth, including a 3-run walkoff HR by SS Mookie Betts (his second homer of the game).

Who’s on the move?

In this section I won’t list 26th-man moves, or every time a team shuttles relievers back and forth to AAA to keep a stock of fresh arms in the bullpen. I’ll focus on the biggest, more impactful demotions, promotions, and injury list changes (for a full list, see all the latest MLB transactions).

➕ Starting Rehab Assignment

• ATL SP Spencer Strider

• BAL SS Gunnar Henderson

• COL SP Austin Gomber

🤕 Placed on the IL

• PIT 2B Nick Gonzales - Enmanuel Valdez was called up, but veteran Adam Frazier will likely see most of the 2B starts while Gonzales is out.

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history (for a longer list, see the feature at the Baseball Almanac or the Bullpen feature at Baseball-Reference.com):

📅 On March 29…

• 1979: Slugger Luke Easter died at the age of 63 (murdered by bank robbers in Euclid, Ohio.) A large man at 6’4” and 240 pounds, Easter started out playing in semi-pro ball in the late 1930s. During World War II he joined the Army and also worked in the defense industry. He played two years in the Negro Leagues before joining the Cleveland Indians and destroying minor league pitching in 1949 (.363/460/.722 with 25 HR in 80 games). He had three and half good years in the majors, but then leg injuries led him to play the rest of his career at AAA where he could hit and not be a liability in the field. He would have been a great DH if that existed in the 1950s, as he hit 30-40 HR with 100+ RBI every year from 1955-58… at ages 39-42.

• 1988: Slugger Ted Kluszewski died at the age of 63. Also a large man at 6’2” and 225 pounds, “Big Klu” played from 1947-61, mostly with the Reds. A four-time All-Star, he had 40+ HR three times, and 100+ RBI five times. His best season came in 1954 when he led the NL with 49 HR and 141 RBI, while slashing .326/.407/.642.

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Cy Young of course is the man the award is named after, one of the greatest pitchers of all time. He pitched in the majors from 1890-1911, and has several all-time records that will never be broken: Wins (511), Losses (315), games started (815), complete games (749), and innings pitched (7,356). He has a career 2.63 ERA and 138 ERA+, and led his league in ERA twice. He was a control artist, leading his league in WHIP seven times, and strikeout/walk ratio an impressive 11 times.

• Denny McLain pitched ten years in the majors (!963-1972), winning the AL Cy Young Award in both 1968 and 1969, and famously is the last pitcher to win 30+ games in a season (31-6 in 1968, the “year of the pitcher”). Given his poor seasons that followed, he retired with a 3.39 ERA which only amounts to a 101 ERA+.

• Matt Olson is one of the best 1B of the game today, and is known in part for his durability, having played in 162 games four times through 2024. A two-time All-Star, he is a good defender taking home two Gold Glove Awards so far. He has hit 29+ HR in five seasons, with a high of 54 HR and 139 RBI in 2023.

• Brian Jordan was a two-sport athlete who played three years in the NFL (defense and special teams) and 15 years in major league baseball. He hit 20+ HR four times and was an All-Star in 1999 when he posted a career high 115 RBI.

• Tommy Holmes had an 11-year career from 1942-52, mostly with the Boston Braves. He had by far his best statistical season during the World War II season of 1945, when he led the NL with 28 HR, 47 doubles, and 224 hits. He slashed .352/.420/.577 but came in second in the MVP vote as his Braves had a losing season, while Phil Cavarretta led the NL in batting average (.355) and was a leader for the pennant-winning Cubs.

• Ferris Fain was very productive over a relatively short 9-season career from 1947 to 1955. A five-time All-Star, his strength was his batting eye, as he had five seasons of 100+ walks and retired with a .290 batting average but an impressive .424 OBP (which is 15th best all-time.)

Today’s Matchups

The first truly full slated of games (15) of the season, so lots of possibilities:

• MIL vs. NYY features Nestor Cortes facing his old team and Max Fried making his regular season debut for the Yankees.

• 40-year old Max Scherzer is making his regular season debut for the Blue Jays against the Orioles and Dean Kremer.

• And similarly 42-year old Justin Verlander is making his regular season debut for the Giants against the Reds and Nick Lodolo.

HR Watch

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

• TOR Vlad Guerrero Jr. is 10-28 with 5 HR and 2 D vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• HOU Yordan Alvarez is 7-13 with 2 HR and a double vs. NYM Griffin Canning—who is a flyball pitcher and lets up homers!

• HOU Christian Walker in a small sample size is 4-8 with 2 HR vs. NYM Griffin Canning

Hits Watch

If you play MLB’s Beat the Streak mobile game, or otherwise bet on/parlay players to collect hits, I’ll try to provide some good options in this section. Early in the season there aren’t any active streaks to report on yet, so in addition to the HR Watch guys listed above, here are some others to consider based on opposing SP past performance:

• PHI J.T. Realmuto, small sample but is 5-9 with a HR and no strikeouts vs. WAS Jake Irvin.

• MIN Carlos Correa, super-small sample but is 3-3 vs. STL Erick Fedde.

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, 0-11 though makes contact as only 1 K vs. AZ Brandon Pfaadt

• BAL Tyler O’Neill, 0-9 with 6 K vs. TOR Max Scherzer

• PHI Kyle Schwarber, 1-13 though only 3 K vs. WAS Jake Irvin

• WAS Luis García Jr., 2-16 though only 2 K vs. PHI Jesus Luzardo

• BOS Trevor Story, 2-15 vs. TEX Tyler Mahle

Once we get a few weeks into the season I’ll starting sharing out some starting pitchers to consider for strikeout totals (over/under bets), some teams that might explode offensively that day, and even some fun with NRFI (no-runs in the first inning bets). But these kinds of things are hard to judge early in the season until we see how teams and players are starting out the year.

⚾ Enjoy Day Three! ⚾

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