The Baseball Buffet for 4/11/2025

Issue #242

What follows is 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].

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The 15th day of the season included a short slate of only 6 games:

• LAA 11, TBR 1 - Jose Soriano pitched well (7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 K), but the big story was that three Angels hitters had 2 HR each: Taylor Ward, Joe Adell, and Mike Trout. If I did the search at Stathead.com correctly, I think this has only ever been done 21 times before, with the most recent being Oakland (Seth Brown, Brent Rooker, and Lawrence Butler) against the Phillies last year on July 14th. Prior to that, the Cubs did it on August 30th, 2020, the Twins on April 20, 2019, and the Phillies on July 26, 2018. The first time this was accomplished was apparently the Pirates on August 16, 1947.

• CHW 1, CLE 6 - Gavin Williams pitched well (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 7 K) and Kyle Manzardo and Steven Kwan each hit 2-run homers.

• MIN 2, KCR 3 - Bailey Ober pitched well (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 K) and Ty France had his second HR of the year, but Michael Wacha and four Royals relievers combined to let up only five hits and two runs.

• MIL 2, COL 7 - Quinn Priester pitched well in his season and Brewers debut (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 K), but the Rockies scored six runs in the 7th and 8th innings. Ryan Feltner was solid (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 7 K) in his third start of the year.

• TOR 3, BOS 4 - Walker Buehler pitched well (6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 7 K) but so did Chris Bassitt (5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5 K), so a 2-2 tie forced extra innings. The Jays scored one in the top of the 10th, but the Sox scored two with RBI coming from Jarren Duran and Trevor Story.

• PHI 2, ATL 4 - This was a long one both because of a weather delay and it going to 11 innings. Both starting pitchers continued their strong seasons, with Jesús Luzardo (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and Spencer Schwellenbach (6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) pitching well. Early on Kyle Schwarber had his sixth HR of the year, but ultimately it was Marcell Ozuna hitting his second HR of the year that was the game winner.

Today’s Trivia Question

As noted above, the Angels did something quite rare yesterday—three batters each had two HR. That has only happened 21 times before, the first being the Pirates on August 16, 1947. One of their three players with two HR was not a power hitter: SS Billy Cox. The other two were prodigious power hitters, both Hall of Famers, one in his second season in the majors, and the other in his last. Who were they?

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

• BOS RP Liam Hendricks

• MIA OF Jesús Sánchez

• PHI SP Ranger Suárez

🤕 Placed on the IL

• CHW C Korey Lee - 10-day IL (left ankle sprain)

• LAA Yoan Moncada - 10-day IL (right thumb sprain)

• CHW Mike Tauchman - 10-day IL (right hamstring sprain)

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 April 11…

• 1907: Shin guards are first used. According to baseball-reference.com, “On Opening Day, New York Giants catcher Roger Bresnahan wears shin guards for the first time in a major league game. The leg guards, usually used in cricket, come in handy, protecting Bresnahan from a 5th-inning foul tip. Other catchers will soon follow Bresnahan's lead and wear similar shin guards.”

• 1953: Hall of Famer Kid Nichols dies at age 83. Charles Augustus “Kid” Nichols was one of the great pitchers of the late 19th century, and one of the all-time greatest players in Braves franchise history. From 1890-1906 he threw over 5,000 innings, posting a 362-208 (.635) record. He won between 27-35 games in each of his first nine seasons, and completed 532 of his 562 career starts. His overall ERA was 2.96 which translates to an outstanding 139 ERA+, which ranks 20th all-time and just ahead of the likes of Cy Young and Christy Mathewson, Grover Alexander, Randy Johnson, Whitey Ford, Max Scherzer and many other greats.

• 1962: The Mets lose their first game. The expansion New York Mets played their first game and lost 11-4 to the Cardinals in St. Louis. They would go on to lose their first nine games. Overall they were 40-120 in their first season, the worst record by winning percentage during the expansion era (the White Sox last year were 41-121, so had more losses.)

• 1990: Combined no-hitter for Langston and Witt. California's Mark Langston and Mike Witt combine to no-hit the Mariners 1-0. It was Langston's first start for the Angels having just signed as a free agent during the off-season.

• 1996: Greg Maddux’ long road streak ends. According to baseball-reference.com, “Atlanta Braves pitcher Greg Maddux ends his major league record for consecutive road victories with a 2-1 loss to San Diego. Maddux had been 18-0 with an 0.99 ERA in 20 regular-season road starts since losing at Montreal on June 27, 1994.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Bret Saberhagen (1964) was an All-Star three times, but interestingly not in either of the two seasons in which he took home the AL Cy Young Award: 1985 when he was 20-6 with a 2.87 ERA and 1989 when we 23-6 and led the AL with a 2.16 ERA. In 1985 Saberhagen struggled in the ALCS but then was World Series MVP as he pitched two complete games, letting up only 1 ER and 11 hits in 18 IP. After 16 seasons, mostly with the Royals, Mets, and Red Sox, Saberhagen retired with a 167-117 (.588) record, 3.34 ERA, and 126 ERA+.

• Mark Teixeira (1980) was a three-time All-Star who played most of his 14-year career with the Rangers and Yankees. He had nine seasons with 30+ HR and eight seasons with 100+ RBI. He was a also a fine fielder at 1B, taking home five Gold Glove Awards. Overall he had 409 HR and 1,298 RBI, with a .268/.360/.509 slash line and 126 OPS+.

• Jason Varitek (1972) was a three-time All-Star and a key member of both the 2004 and 2009 Boston Red Sox World Champion teams. He took home the AL Gold Glove Award at catcher in 2005 and had three 20+ HR seasons.

• Barney McCosky (1917) was never named an All-Star, but received down-ballot MVP votes in six seasons. He started with the Tigers in 1939 and had four solid seasons, including 1940 when he led the AL with 200 hits and 19 triples, while batting a lofty .340. He spent 1943-1945 in the Navy in World War II, and then returned to play a few more full seasons before back and other injuries hurt his performance. He played out a few more partial seasons before retiring after 1953 with an impressive .312 career average and .383 OBP.

• Trot Nixon (1974) played all but his final two seasons for the Red Sox, slashing .274/.364/.464 with a 112 OPS+ for his career. He had 20+ HR each year from 2001-2003, and was a member of the 2004 Red Sox World Champions.

• Tetelo Vargas (1906) was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and was a long-time professional player spending time in Major US negro leagues, as well as in Venezuela and Puerto Rico. According to the statistics we currently have at baseball-reference.com, Tetelo only played in Major US negro leagues in 1927, 1929, and then again from 1941-43 after playing most of the 1930s in Venezuela. But by all accounts he was an outstanding high-average hitter wherever he played, e.g., .379 in 103 AB in 1929, .349 In 169 AB in 1941, and .471 In 121 AB in 1943. He was also very versatile in the field, playing a mix of all three OF positions, as well as 2B and SS.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have a typical Friday full slate (15) of games, so there are lots of possibilities. Some games that jump out to me are:

• PHI vs. STL features the Phillies’ co-ace Aaron Nola against the Cardinals’ groundball specialist Andre Pallante.

• TEX vs. SEA has a nice pitching matchup with Jacob deGrom up against Bryce Miller.

• CHC vs. LAD features two strong teams, with Matthew Boyd who hasn’t given up a run yet in his two starts, up against Yoshinobu Yamamoto who has a 1.69 ERA across 16 IP in three starts.

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:

• NYY Aaron Judge, small sample but is 3-8 with 3 HR vs. SFG Robbie Ray

• BAL Ryan Mountcastle, small sample but is 5-7 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. TOR Bowden Francis

• SFG Willie Adames, 9-19 with 2 HR and a double vs. NYY Marcus Stroman

• SDP Jake Cronenworth, 6-19 with 2 HR, a triple, and a double vs. COL Germán Márquez

• SDP Yuli Gurriel, 5-10 with 2 HR, a triple, and a double vs. COL Germán Márquez

• KCR Vinnie Pasquantino, 7-10 with 2 HR, a triple, and a double vs. CLE Tanner Bibee

• KCR Michael Massey, small sample but is 2-9 with 2 HR vs. CLE Tanner Bibee

• TEX Corey Seager, small sample but is 3-5 with 2 HR vs. SEA Bryce Miller

• SEA Mitch Garver, just two at-bats, both 2 HR vs. TEX Jacob deGrom

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:

• SDP Manny Machado, 12-29 with a HR and a double vs. COL Germán Márquez

• CIN Spencer Steer, 7-13 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. PIT Bailey Falter

• PIT Isiah Kiner-Falefa, 5-10 vs. CIN Brady Singer

Who is streaking?

These are players on active hit streaks and who for this reason might also be interesting picks to get a hit today:

• 13 - ATH Jacob Wilson

• 12 - MIL Jackson Chourio

• 8 - NYM Francisco Lindor

• 7 - DET Zach McKinstry

• 7 - COL Brenton Doyle

• 7 - COL Ryan McMahon

• 7 - LAA Jorge Soler

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:

• KCR MJ Melendez, 0-12 with 7 K vs. CLE Tanner Bibee

• KCR Salvador Perez, 0-13 with 5K vs. CLE Tanner Bibee

• KCR Maikel Garcia, 1-11 vs. CLE Tanner Bibee

• KCR Kyle Isbel, 1-10 though only 1 K vs. CLE Tanner Bibee

• NYY Cody Bellinger, 2-16 with 7 K vs. SFG Robbie Ray

• SDP Fernando Tatis Jr, 2-13 with 6 K (though the two hits were a HR and a triple) vs. COL Germán Márquez

• LAD Teoscar Hernandez, 1-10 with 5 K vs. CHC Matthew Boyd

• WAS Josh Bell, 1-11 though 0 K vs. MIA Edward Cabrera

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

The Pirates beat the Cardinals 12-7 on August 16, 1947. From what I can determine, it was the first game that had three hitters from the same team hit 2 HR each. As noted above, light-hitting SS Billy Cox was one of the players, as he went 3-5 hitting out of the sixth spot in the lineup. The other two guys? Ralph Kiner was in his second season and batting cleanup that day, going 3-3 with two walks and the two homers. And Hank Greenberg, having played his entire career with the Tigers, was playing his last season with Pittsburgh and batted between Kiner and Cox that day. He went 2-2 with three walks and the two homers. Interestingly, Cardinals 3B Whitey Kurowski also hit two HR in this game.

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