The Baseball Buffet for 4/15/2025

Issue #245

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 19th day of the season included a partial slate (10) of games scheduled:

• WAS 3, PIT 10 - After an off game last time out, Paul Skenes pitched well (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K). The Pirates offense came alive as they had 14 hits (12 singles and 2 doubles) and scored double-digit runs for the first time this year.

• SFG 10, PHI 4 - Tyler Fitzgerald went 3-4 and was a single short of the cycle from the ninth spot in the Giants’ lineup. Additional homers were hit in this one from Willie Adames, Mike Yastrzemski, and Nick Castellanos.

• BOS 1, TBR 16 - Boston rookie Kristian Campbell hit his third HR of the year, but otherwise this one was all Rays. They clobbered Tanner Houck (2.1 IP, 10 H, 11 ER) and scored more runs off some Sox relievers. Kameron Misner had two HR and Yandy Diaz and Junior Caminero added solo HR as well. All of that was plenty in support of another strong outing from Shane Baz (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K).

• KCR 1, NYY 4 - Bobby Witt Jr. hit his second HR of the year, but otherwise Carlos Carrasco pitched well (5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 K) and the Yankees had four solo HR of their own from Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, and Austin Wells.

• ATL 8, TOR 4 - Grant Holmes pitched well (7.2 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 4 K) and Austin Riley had a good game going 2-4 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.

• DET 9, MIL 1 - Tarik Skubal was outstanding (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K) and Kerry Carpenter hit his fifth HR of the year.

• NYM 5, MIN 1 - Joe Ryan pitched well (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 8 K) but the Twins could only manage three hits off Clay Holmes (5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 8 K) and three Mets relievers. Juan Soto hit his second HR of the year.

• HOU 3, STL 8 - Nolan Arenado went 3-4 with a HR and two doubles, and Brendan Donovan went 4-4, raising his average to .391, and extending his now 10-game hitting streak. Sonny Gray pitched well (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 K) and all the Astros could must was a 3-run HR by Jeremy Pena in the ninth.

• CHC 4, SDP 10 - Each team had 11 hits, but the Padres did more with theirs, including Fernando Tatis Jr. hitting two HR and Luis Arraez hitting a HR and a double.

• COL 3, LAD 5 - Dustin May pitched well (7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) and the first four in the lineup for the Dodgers went a combined 9-17, with Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts each hitting a HR.

Today’s Trivia Question

As noted, Brendan Donovan extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Who has the longest hitting streak, at 33 games, in Cardinals history?

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).

🤕 Placed on the IL

• SDP OF Brandon Lockridge - 10-day IL (left hamstring sprain)

• COL OF Kris Bryant - 10-day IL

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 15…

• 1915: Rube Marquard throws a no-hitter. Rube Marquard of the New York Giants no-hits the Brooklyn Robins, winning, 2-0.

• 1947: Jackie Robinson makes his National League debut. Jackie Robinson goes hitless in three trips in his debut but handles 11 chances at first base, a new position for him, in a 5-3 Brooklyn win over the Boston Braves.

• 1968: New record of the longest game in NL history. According to baseball-reference.com, “At the Astrodome, the New York Mets and Houston Astros play the longest game in National League history. The six-hour and six-minute contest, in which each team has 79 at-bats and 11 hits, ends in the 24th inning when Bob Aspromonte's grounder goes through the legs of shortstop Al Weis as the Astros win, 1-0. It sets the mark as the longest NL game played to completion, the longest major league night game, and the first 23 innings are the longest major league scoreless game.”

• 1972: Reggie has a mustache. Although this seems very strange by today’s standards, baseball-reference.com noted “Reggie Jackson sports a mustache as the Oakland Athletics top the Minnesota Twins, 4-3, in 11 innings. Jackson is the first major league player with facial hair since Frenchy Bordagaray in 1936. Jackson starts a trend with Oakland, as owner Charlie Finley eventually encourages all of his players to grow mustaches. By the end of the season, the Athletics will become known as the ‘Mustache Gang’.”

• 1987: Juan Nieves throws a no-hitter. Juan Nieves throws the first no-hitter in Brewers history, winning 7-0 against Baltimore.

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Willie Davis (1940) played 18 years in the majors, mostly with the Dodgers. A 2-time All-Star he won three Gold Gloves in CF. He had modest power, hitting 15+ HR three times, but led the NL in triples in both 1962 and 1970. He ran well on the bases, with 398 SB in his career.

• Ed Bailey (1931) was an All-Star catcher in 5 of his 14 seasons in the majors. He played for the Reds for parts of nine seasons, but also spent time with the Giants, Braves, Cubs, and Angels. He had three seasons with 20+ HR and retired with a 110 OPS+.

• Jeromy Burnitz (1969) was a slugging right-fielder who played 6 years with the Brewers but also played for 6 other major league clubs across his 14-year career. He had seven seasons with 25+ HR, with highs of 38 in 1998 and 37 in 2004. He had four seasons with 100+ RBI, but also struck out a lot with 1,376 K in his career.

Today’s Matchups

Full slate (15) of games today, so lots of possibilities. Some games that jump out to me are:

• SFG vs. PHI features future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander against Jesús Luzardo, who is off to a great start this year (3 GS, 1.50 ERA, 18 IP, 13 H, 25 K).

• ATL vs. TOR has two SP off to good starts this year in Spencer Schwellenbach (3 GS, 0.45 ERA, 20 IP, 10 H, 19 K) and Kevin Gausman (3 GS, 2.33 ERA, 19.1 IP, 9 H, 14 K).

Other notable SP going today include CHC Shota Imanaga, NYY Max Fried, and DET Jack Flaherty.

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:

• TEX Adolis Garcia, small sample but is 3-9 with 2 HR vs. HOU Yusei Kikuchi

• CLE Carlos Santana, small sample but is 4-11 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. BAL Charlie Morton

• SEA Randy Arozarena, small sample but is 4-6 with 2 HR and a double vs. CIN Nick Lodolo

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:

• SFG Wilmer Flores, 5-11 vs. PHI Jesús Luzardo

• PHI Bryce Harper, 6-12 with a double vs. SFG Justin Verlander

• WAS Josh Bell, small sample but is 6-9 wiith a HR and a double vs. PIT Mitch Keller

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:

• 10 - STIL Brendan Donovan - he is hitting .513 (20-39) during this streak

• 8 - BAL Adley Rutschman

• 8 - WAS Keibert Ruiz

• 8 - MIL William Contreras

• 7 - COL Brenton Doyle

• 7 - AZ Corbin Carroll

• 7 - MIA Xavier Edwards

• 7 - ATL Austin Riley

• 7 - ATL Ozzie Albies

• 7 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr

• 7 - TOR Miles Straw

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:

• PHI Max Kepler, 1-25 with 11 K vs. SFG Justin Verlander

• NYY Aaron Judge, 1-21 with 12 K vs. KCR Michael Wacha… wow, that is rather striking!

• WAS Paul DeJong, 1-10 with 6 K (though the hit was a HR) vs. PIT Mitch Keller

• SDP Manny Machado, small sample but is 0-6 with 5 K vs. CHC Shota Imanaga

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

Brendan Donovan now has a 10-game hitting streak for the Cardinals. But he has a long way to go to break the franchise record, which is 33 and held by Rogers Hornsby in 1922. Two other all-time Cardinals came close: Stan Musial with 30 in 1950 and Albert Pujols with 30 in 2003.

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