The Baseball Buffet for 4/12/2025

Issue #243

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 16th day of the season included a full slate of games scheduled:

• PIT 3, CIN 5 - Only 8 combined hits in this one, with HR from Adam Frazier and Jeimer Candelario. Brady Singer pitched well enough for the win (5 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 K) and Emilio Pagan picked up his third save.

• KCR 0, CLE 7 - Tanner Bibee didn’t allow any runs through 4.2 IP, and then four relievers from the excellent Guardians bullpen did the same the rest of the way. They used 11 hits, 4 walks, and 3 Royals errors to score their 7 runs, with the only HR coming from Gabriel Arias.

• ATL 3, TBR 6 - Marcell Ozuna and Ozzie Albies had homers, but the Braves fell to 3-10 on the year. Christopher Morel went 3-4 with two stolen bases and his first HR of the year, and Danny Jansen went 3-4 with a HR, a double, and 4 RBI. Taj Bradley pitched well (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 7 K) and Pete Fairbanks notched his third save.

• WAS 7, MIA 4 - The Marlins were leading 4-0 after five innings, but then the Nationals got homers from Josh Bell in the 6th and James Wood in the 9th, and Kyle Finnegan locked down his fifth save of the year.

• BOS 1, CHW 11 - Davis Martin was sharp (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and the White had a lot of baserunners and scored their 11 runs from a combination of 12 hits, 4 walks, and five Red Sox errors.

• PHI 0, STL 2 - Groundball specialist Andre Pallante was outstanding (7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) and Ryan Helsley closed it out for his second save of the year. The Cardinals were only 1-13 with runners in scoring position, so they didn’t do much with their many baserunners (9 hits, 5 walks), but scoring two was enough.

• SFG 9, NYY 1 - It was a cold, rainy night. The Giants jumped on Marcus Stroman in the first inning (he left with a knee injury), and continued to score runs against several Yankees relievers too in part because they were so wild—they let up six hits, but also walked 11 batters in 5.2 IP. That is as far as the game went, as it was called due to the weather. Giants SP Robbie Ray was a bit wild too with 4 walks in 4 IP, but he also struck out 7 and only allowed 2 hits and 1 ER.

• LAA 3, HOU 14 - The Astros had 16 hits and 8 walks to produce 14 runs, including the first homers of the year from Yainer Diaz, Cam Smith, and Isaac Paredes. Mike Trout is only batting .208 so far, but did have his 6th HR of the year in this one.

• DET 7, MIN 6 - David Festa had a good start (4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 K) after being called up to start with Pablo Lopez going on the IL. But the Twins relievers couldn’t keep it going and the bottom five hitters for the Tigers had 8 of their 10 hits to lead them to one-run win.

• COL 0, SDP 8 - As is often the case, the Rockies hitters struggled in their first road game after playing at home in Denver. Nick Pivetta was outstanding (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K), and Fernando Tatis Jr. and Gavin Sheets each homered.

• TEX 3, SEA 5 - Bryce Miller was solid (5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 K) and Andrés Muñoz locked down his fifth save of the year. Jorge Polanco and Rowdy Tellez each homered off of Jacob deGrom, and then Cal Raleigh provided a two-run HR in the bottom of the 8th which turned out to be decisive.

• MIL 7, AZ 0 - Jose Quintana pitched well in his season debut (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 K), and relievers Jared Koenig and Trevor Megill combined for the shutout. Jackson Chourio was only 1-5, but that single continued his now 13-game hitting streak.

• NYM 7, ATH 6 - Pretty even game with both teams collecting 9 hits, but the Mets came out on top backed by HR from Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso.

• CHC 0, LAD 3 - Matthew Boyd was doing well until Tommy Edman hit a 3-run HR in the sixth inning, his sixth HR of the year. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was outstanding (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) and three Dodgers relievers locked things down for the shutout.

• TOR vs. BAL - postponed

Today’s Trivia Question

As just noted, Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched well yesterday with 9 K in 6 shutout innings. He is now the ML leader with 28 K in his first four starts. But that is not even in the top 200 for strikeouts in a pitcher’s first four starts of a season. Many have had over 40, and one pitcher had 50! What 32-year old had 50 K in 29 IP in his first four starts of a season? (Hint: like Yamamoto, he also pitched yesterday.)

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

• NYM 2B Jeff McNeil

🤕 Placed on the IL

• MIN SP Pablo Lopez - 15-day IL (right hamstring strain)

• KCR RP Hunter Harvey - 15-day IL (right teres major strain)

• CHW RP Fraser Ellard - 15-day IL (strained right hamstring)

• MIA C Nick Fortes - 10-day IL (left oblique strain)

• LAA RP Ben Joyce - 15-day IL (right shoulder inflammation)

• SDP 1B Jake Cronenworth - 10-day IL (non-displaced right rib fracture)

• TBR RP Kevin Kelly - 15-day IL (left gluteal strain)

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 12…

• 1916: The Red Sox trade superstar Tris Speaker to the Indians. According to baseball-reference.com, “The Cleveland Indians acquire outfielder Tris Speaker from the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Sad Sam Jones, minor league infielder Fred Thomas, and $55,000 cash.” The reason for the trade was a salary dispute between Speaker and Red Sox management. They had asked him to a take a cut in pay due to a drop in his batting average. Admittedly, he had hit .374 across 1912-13, but was a .330 average in 1914-15 really so bad that a drop in pay was warranted? Yes, Sad Sam Jones gave Boston some good seasons, but Cleveland clearly got the better of the deal. In 1916 Speaker led the AL with 211 hits, 41 doubles, and a then career-high .386 average. He went on to top that average twice in years to come, and overall in 11 seasons for the Indians would play outstanding defense in CF, slash .354/.444/.520 which is a 158 OPS+, and even serve as player-manager for many years including leading them to a World Series championship in 1920.

• 1965: First HR in the Astrodome. Visiting slugger Richie Allen hit the first home run in the Houston Astrodome, off Bob Bruce, as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Astros 2-0.

• 1980: Two grand slams in one inning. Both Cecil Cooper and Don Money hit a grand slam HR in the second inning of the Milwaukee Brewers 18-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

• 1994: Scott Cooper hits for the cycle in a wild 33-run game. Scott Cooper drove in five runs while hitting for the cycle to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 22-11 rout of the Kansas City Royals.

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Addie Joss (1880) is a Hall of Famer and was one of the most effective pitchers of the early 1900s. He only pitched nine seasons in the majors, but compiled a 160-97 (.623) record for the Cleveland Indians, along with a tidy 1.89 ERA which given his time period translates to a 143 ERA+. Amongst qualifying pitchers he is the all-time leader in WHIP with a 0.968 mark. Granted not many HR were hit during those years, but he still remarkably had two seasons with 0 HR allowed, one with 192.1 IP and one with 242.2 IP. His career was cut short as he fell ill in 1911 and died from tuberculosis two days after his 31st birthday.

• Vic Willis (1876) is a Hall of Famer and was a contemporary of Addie Joss, but played in the National League, mostly in the Boston and Pittsburgh. He pitched from 1898-1910, and started out strong with a 25-13 record and 2.84 as a 22-year old rookie. He had eight 20+ win seasons in all, with a 2.63 ERA, and 117 ERA+.

• Johnny Antonelli (1930) pitched from 1948-1961, missing 1951-52 due to military service. He started out with the Braves, but then had his best seasons with the Giants. He won the NL ERA title in 1954 with a 2.30 mark, and retired with a solid 3.34 ERA and 116 ERA+. He was an All-Star in five seasons, and won 20+ games twice.

• Paul Lo Duca (1972) was primarily a catcher while also playing a little 1B and OF. A 4-time All-Star, his best offensive season was his first full one, in 2001, when he hit 25 HR with 90 RBI and a .320/.374/.543 slash line.

• Mike Macfarlane (1964) was a longtime catcher for the Kansas City Royals, and also played one year for the Red Sox, and two at the end of his career for the A’s. He had a little power, hitting 15+ HR four times, and also had a knack for getting hit by pitch as he led his league in that category twice, and came in second twice more.

Today’s Matchups

Another full slate (15) of games, so there are lots of possibilities. Some games that jump out to me are:

• PHI vs. STL features SP Christopher Sanchez and a formidable Phillies lineup with several good left-handed hitters going up against the Cardinals and Miles Mikolas, who was crushed in his last start in Boston.

• PIT vs. CIN features two lefties named Andrew: for the Pirates, Andrew Heaney who was outstanding in his last game against the Yankees; and for the Reds, Andrew Abbott making his season debut.

• CHC vs. LAD is again two quality teams facing off, with the Cubs starting Ben Brown and the Dodgers going with the exciting rookie Roki Sasaki—who is making his fourth start already, though he’s had limited innings and been quite wild so far (8.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 11 BB, 9 K).

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:

• HOU Yordan Alvarez, 7-19 with 3 HR and 2 doubles (though 8 K) vs. LAA Tyler Anderson

• NYY Aaron Judge, small sample but is 2-6 with 2 HR vs. SFG Jordan Hicks

• PIT Ke’Bryan Hayes, small sample but is 2-5 with 2 HR vs. lefty CIN Andrew Abbott (and Hayes generally hits LHP much better than RHP)

• CIN Jeimer Candelario, small sample but is 4-7 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. PIT Andrew Heaney

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

• PHI Bryce Harper, 8-23 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. STL Miles Mikolas

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 Alec Bohm, 7-14, with a HR and 2 doubles vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• TEX Marcus Semien, small sample but is 5-9 with a HR and a double vs. SEA Bryan Woo

• MIA Xavier Edwards, small sample but is 4-4 with 2 doubles vs. WAS Trevor Williams

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:

• 14 - ATH Jacob Wilson

• 13 - MIL Jackson Chourio

• 8 - DET Zach McKinstry

• 8 - LAA Jorge Soler

• 7 - COL Brenton Doyle

• 7 - STIL Brendan Donovan

• 7 - MIL Sal Frelick

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:

• WAS Amed Rosario, 1-14 though only 2 K vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara

• WAS Paul DeJong, 1-12 with 4 K vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara

• WAS Luis Garcia Jr., 2-19 though only 2 K vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara

• PHI Bryson Stott, 2-17 though only 1 K vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• PHI J.T. Realmuto, 2-15 with 3 K vs. STL Miles Mikolas

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is off to a great start in 2025. But perhaps the best pitching start through four games ever came from Jacob deGrom in 2021, when he had an amazing 50 K in 29 IP, with a 0.31 ERA and only 13 hits allowed. His game-by-game K totals were 7, 14, 14, and 15. He somehow only had a 2-1 record in those four games.

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