The Baseball Buffet for 4/24/2025

Issue #255

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 28th day of the season included a full slate of 15 games:

• STL 1, ATL 4 - Both starters pitched well: Miles Mikolas (6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 K) and Bryce Elder (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 K). But three different Cardinals relievers allowed runs, with LF Eli White providing the main hit with his first HR of the season.

• SDP 0, DET 6 - Jose Iglesias went 2-3, but those were the only two hits allowed by Reese Olson (7.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K) and two Detroit relievers. Justyn-Henry Malloy, Gleyber Torres, and Dillon Dingler all had homers for the Tigers.

• PHI 3, NYM 4 - Brett Baty had his first HR of the year, but Zack Wheeler otherwise pitched well (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K). The game was tied 2-2 after nine, and the Phillies scored one in the top of the tenth from a Nick Castellanos single that drove in Bryce Harper. But in the bottom of the tenth, Pete Alonso hit his now MLB-leading 11th double of the year to drive in Francisco Lindor, and then Starling Marte hit a two-out single to drive in Alonso for the win.

• CIN 5, MIA 2 - Matt Mervis continues to mash for Miami, hitting his 7th HR of the year. Otherwise though, Brady Singer pitched well (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K), and Emilio Pagán notched his fifth save. Elly De La Cruz went 1-3 with two walks and his 10th stolen base. And catcher Austin Wynns continues to hit well in limited playing time, going 3-4 with a HR and raising his average on the year to .500 (13-26).

• NYY 5, CLE 1 - Carlos Rodón pitched really well (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K), and Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt just keep making quality contact. Judge went 2-4 with his first triple of the year, raising his MLB-leading average to .415, while Goldschmidt went 3-5 with two doubles and 2 RBI, raising his average to .383.

• BAL 3, WAS 4 - The Orioles outhit the Nationals 10-6, but they were only 1-12 with runners in scoring position. Washington had homers from Josh Bell and James Wood (his 8th on the year), Trevor Williams pitched well (5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K), and Kyle Finnegan recorded his 9th save.

• SEA 8, BOS 5 - Five Mariners hitters had multi-hit games, including J.P. Crawford who went 2-4 with his first HR of the year. Emerson Hancock pitched well (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 7 K), and Andrés Muñoz secured his 8th save of the year.

• LAD 6, CHC 7 - The tough Dodgers lineup got to Matthew Boyd who allowed 10 hits over 6 innings, including HR by Teoscar Hernandez and Andy Pages. But ultimately the Dodgers bullpen day didn’t work out as Pete Crow-Armstrong went 3-4 with a HR and two SB, and the Cubs scored all seven of their runs in the fourth and fifth innings.

• TOR 1, HOU 3 - Christian Walker hit his third HR of the year, Ryan Gusto pitched well (5.2 IP, 3 H 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), and the trio of Bryan King (7 holds), Bryan Abreu (8 holds), and Josh Hader (7 saves) once again locked down the final three innings.

• CHW 3, MIN 6 - Trevor Larnach hit his third HR of the year, and Byron Buxton hit his fifth, as the Twins scattered their 6 runs across five consecutive innings. Danny Coloumbe picked up his first save of the year, and now has a 0.00 ERA across 9.2 IP in 11 games.

• PIT 3, LAA 0 - Longtime Angels pitcher Andrew Heaney had little difficulty against his old team (6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K), and three Pirates relievers combined for a 2-hit shutout. Every player in the Pirates starting lineup had a hit, with Oneil Cruz leading the way by going 2-5 with his sixth HR and his MLB-leading 11th stolen base.

• TBR 7, AZ 6 - Corbin Carroll had two more HR bringing his season total to nine. But the Rays had seven extra-base hits, six doubles plus a HR by Christopher Morel. The game was tied at 5-5 through nine, and the same after ten too. Doubles by Kameron Misner and Yandy Diaz each drove in a run in the top of the 11th inning, and while the D-Backs scored one in the bottom of the 11th, a double play ultimately ended the game.

• MIL 2, SFG 4 - Brice Turang went 3-5 to raise his average to .350 on the year, but the Brewers left too many runners on base (10) in this one. Logan Webb pitched well (6.1 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 6 K) and and Camilo Doval earned his fourth save.

• TEX 2, ATH 5 - Wyatt Langford hit his sixth HR of the season, but JP Sears otherwise pitched well enough (5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) and Mason Miller struck out three in the ninth to notch his seventh save and keep his ERA a perfect 0.00 through 8 games. Lawrence Butler led off with a HR in the first inning against Kumar Rocker, who ultimately couldn’t get out of the second (1.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 K).

• COL vs KCR - postponed

Today’s Trivia Question

Who is the only major-leaguer to hit a grand slam right-handed and left-handed in the same game? (Hint: Is not Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray, or Chipper Jones.)

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

• BAL SP Trevor Rogers

🤕 Placed on the IL

• TEX SS Corey Seager - 10-day IL (right hamstring strain)

• ATH RP Jose Leclerc - 15-day IL (right late strain)

League Leaders

Continuing my rotation through current league leaders in various categories, today I’ll look at doubles—as noted above, Pete Alonso hit his 11th which gives him the top spot for now:

• 11 - NYM Pete Alonso

• 10 - BOS Alex Bregman

• 10 - SFG Jung Hoo Lee

• 9 - CHC Pete Crow-Armstrong

• 9 - COL Kyle Farmer

• 9 - SDP Manny Machado

• 9 - AZ Pavin Smith

• 9 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

Farmer and Smith are particularly interesting here, as they’ve hit their 9 doubles in only 67 and 60 at-bats, respectively.

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 24…

• 1901: The birth of the American League. According to baseball-reference.com, “Three rain postponements give Chicago the honor of hosting the first major league game in American League history (the circuit played as a minor league in 1900). At South Side Park, a crowd of over 10,000 fans attends the game to see pitcher Roy Patterson take the win for the Chicago White Sox over the the visiting Cleveland Blues, 8 - 2. Clark Griffith manages Chicago.”

• 1956: Get that umpire a pair of glasses! According to baseball-reference.com, “American League umpire Frank Umont is the first to wear glasses in a regular-season game when he officiates a contest between the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Athletics. A former NFL tackle for the New York Giants, Umont still presents an intimidating appearance to most players and fans.”

• 1957: Nine walks by one team in one inning. Cubs pitchers walked nine Reds in the fifth inning for a new NL record. Moe Drabowsky walked four, Jackie Collum three, and Jim Brosnan two.

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Chipper Jones (1972) is a Hall of Famer who had a 19-year career with the Atlanta Braves, mostly as a 3B with some time in LF too. An 8-time All-Star, Jones hit 25+ HR in ten seasons, score 100+ runs eight times, and had 100+ RBI nine times. He was NL MVP In 1999 when he had 45 HR, 110 RBI, 25 SB, and a .319/.441/.633 slash line. He captured a batting title in 2008 with an impressive .364 mark. For his career he had 468 HR, 1,619 Runs, 1,623 RBI, a .303/.401/.529 slash line and 141 OPS+.

• Carlos Beltran (1977) had a 20-year career, primarily with the Royals and Mets, but also spent time with five other teams. He was AL Rookie of the Year in 1999 when he hit 22 HR with 108 RBI, 27 SB, and a .293 average. A nine-time All-Star, Beltran took home three consecutive NL Gold Glove Awards in CF from 2006-2008. He provided an impressive combination of speed and power, with 25+ SB in six seasons and 25+ HR in eight. Overall for his career he had 435 HR, 312 SB, 1,582 Runs, 1,587 RBI, a .279/.350/.486 slash line and 119 OPS+. It seems likely he will soon be in the Hall of Fame, as his vote % has risen in his first three years of eligibility from 46.5% to 57.1% to 70.3% (with 75% required).

• Andy Cooper (1897) was a left-handed Hall of Fame pitcher from the Negro Leagues, having pitched in major leagues from 1920-1930, and again from 1937-1939. According to the data available at baseball-reference.com, Cooper’s career W-L record is 118-64 (.648), with a 3.58 ERA that translates to a 122 ERA+.

• Omar Vizquel (1967) was a defensive standout at SS over his 24-year major league career. He spent most of his time with the Mariners, Indians, and Giants, during which he earned 11 Gold Glove Awards. A 3-time All-Star, Vizquel didn’t have much power, and was only a .272 hitter which led to a below average 82 OPS+. But he did run well on the bases, with eight seasons of 20+ SB, and 404 total for his career.

Today’s Matchups

As is typical for a Thursday, many teams are travelling or otherwise have a day off, so we have a short slate (9) with one double-header making up for yesterday’s postponed contest in Kansas City. Some games that jump out to me are:

• SEA vs. BOS features good starters in Bryan Woo (2-1, 3.12 ERA) against Garrett Crochet (2-1, 1.13 ERA)

• TBR vs. AZ is an interesting pitching matchup as Corbin Burnes hasn’t start the year as strong as hoped (4.64 ERA, 1.41 WHIP), while Drew Rasmussen has been stellar (0.87 ERA, 0.82 WHIP).

Also on the mound today are KCR Cole Ragans, TEX Jacob deGrom, and WAS MacKenzie Gore.

HR Watch

With a short slate and limited past performance numbers, nothing jumps out to me today.

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. In addition to the HR Watch guys listed above, here are some others to consider based on opposing SP past performance:

• BAL Ramón Laureano, small sample but is 5-6 with a double vs. WAS MacKenzie Gore

• PIT Bryan Reynolds, small sample but is 4-6 with a HR and a double vs. LAA Tyler Anderson

• AZ Lourdes Gurriel Jr., 4-11 with a HR vs. TBR Drew Rasmussen

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 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr

• 14 - HOU Jeremy Pena

• 11 - MIA Eric Wagaman

• 10 - PHI Alec Bohm

• 10 - BOS Jarren Duran

• 9 - CIN Gavin Lux

• 8 - NYY Paul Goldschmidt

• 8 - WAS Dylan Crews

• 8 - ATL Matt Olson

• 8 - CIN Elly De La Cruz

• 7 - CIN T.J. Friedl

• 7 - CLE Steven Kwan

• 7 - PIT Adam Frazier

• 7 - COL Hunter Goodman

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

Who is the only major-leaguer to hit a grand slam right-handed and left-handed in the same game? In the hint I ruled out three great switch-hitting sluggers in Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray, and Chipper Jones. The answer is Red Sox third baseman Bill Mueller who on July 29, 2003, had a solo home run in the third inning, and grand slams in the seventh (right-handed) and eighth innings (left-handed).

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