The Baseball Buffet for 4/28/2025

Issue #259

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 32nd day of the season had a typical full slate plus one additional game from Saturday’s rainout:

• NYM 7, WAS 8 - Dylan Crews hit his fourth HR of the year, but Tylor Megill otherwise pitched well (6.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K). The Mets were up 7-6 heading to the bottom of the ninth, but some Nats hits and a throwing error by Pete Alonso led to a tough loss for the team with MLB’s best record.

• TOR 2, NYY 11 (Gm 1) - The Blue Jays (11) had almost as many hits as the Yankees (12), but were 2-13 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base. Meanwhile the Yankees had six doubles plus Anthony Volpe hit his fifth HR of the year, while Max Fried had a quality start (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 K) to raise his record to 5-0 on the year.

• TOR 1, NYY 5 (Gm 2) - Anthony Santander hit his third HR of the year, but that was the only hit that Clarke Schmidt allowed (5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K). Four Yankees relievers shut down the Blue Jays the rest of the way, and New York got homers from Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, and J.C. Escarra.

• BOS 13, CLE 3 - Nolan Jones hit a 3-run HR, but Brayan Bello otherwise pitched pretty well (6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 K). Jarren Duran went 4-6 and the Red Sox had homers from Rob Refsnyder, Rafael Devers, and Ceddanne Rafaela.

• BAL 0, DET 7 - Tarik Skubal was outstanding in this one, pitching 6 innings, with 0 walks and 11 K, and only allowing 4 hits with 0 ER. Two Tigers relievers combined with him on a five-hit shutout.

• LAA 0, MIN 5 - Similar to the BAL/DET game, this one was all about Joe Ryan (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 11 K). Justin Topa pitched the final two innings to combine for the 4-hit shutout.

• HOU 7, KCR 3 - Hunter Brown pitched well (6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) and Yordan Alvarez went 2-4 with a double and his third HR of the year. Bobby Witt went 1-4 with his 12th double, extending his hitting streak to an MLB-leading 19 games.

• MIL 7, STL 1 - Jose Quintana pitched well (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 K), and all nine guys in the Brewers lineup got at least one hit, including Jackson Chourio who went 2-5 with his 11th double on the year.

• CIN 8, COL 1 - The Reds continued hitting in Colorado, with 14 hits after getting 13 in each of the first two games in the series. In this one they had six hitters with 2 or more hits each, but didn’t hit any HR. Their starter didn’t have any issue with the ballpark, as Nick Lodolo was outstanding (7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K).

• TEX 2, SFG 3 - Joc Pederson showed signs of life, going 2-4 with a triple and a double—to raise his average on the year to .101 (7-69). The game was tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, when multiple fielding errors turned a weakly hit ball by Heliot Ramos into the gaming win run scored… by Heliot Ramos. This was a little-league HR, as Ramos’ hit was barely more than a bunt in distance between 3B and the pitching mound. Amazing ending!

• CHW 2, ATH 3 - Both teams scored a run in the first, but then pitching took over and the scored remained 1-1 through nine. In the top of the 10th Luis Robert Jr. singled to drive in Jacob Amaya, but in the bottom of the inning Luis Urías homered driving in himself and the ghost-runner Manfred-Man for the win.

• TBR 4, SDP 2 - Rays rookie Chandler Simpson was 3-4 with a stolen base and two runs scored, and Taylor Walls hit his first HR of the year. Zack Littell pitched fairly well (5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 K) and four Rays relievers combined for four shutout innings, including Pete Fairbanks earning his sixth save.

• ATL 4, AZ 6 - The Braves outhit the D-Backs 11-9, but they left 10 runners on base. Josh Naylor went 3-4 with two doubles, Corbin Carroll was 2-4 with two triples, and Geraldo Perdomo hit his fourth HR of the year and also stole two bases.

• MIA 6, SEA 7 - Marlins rookie Agustín Ramírez hit two HR and Connor Norby went 3-4 with a 3-run HR. But it wasn’t enough as Cal Raleigh and J.P. Crawford each homered and Jorge Polanco continued his torrid start going 3-4 with two doubles to raise his average to .377 on the year. Pitching prospect Logan Evans did fine in his MLB debut (5 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K), and Andrés Muñoz locked down his 10th save.

• PIT 2, LAD 9 - The Pirates had two solo HR in the first inning off Tyler Glasnow, from Enmanuel Valdez and Andrew McCutchen (who went 4-4 on the day). But those were the only two runs they could score, as four Dodgers relievers came in and pitched 8 shutout innings. Teoscar Hernandez hit his 8th HR of the year, and Andy Pages went 4-5 with his 5th HR.

• PHI 3, CHC 1 - Jameson Taillon pitched well (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 K), but so did Aaron Nola (7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6K) for his best start thus far in 2025. The game was tied 1-1 through nine, and in the top of the tenth the Phillies loaded the bases a couple of times and scored two runs.

Today’s Trivia Question

Which player never played for a New York team, but hit 86 career home runs in New York?

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

• PIT 1B Spencer Horwitz

• NYM SS Ronny Mauricio

• BOS C Connor Wong

• MIA SP Ryan Weathers

🤕 Placed on the IL

• SDP RP Logan Gillaspie

Also of note: The Braves have claimed their former pitcher Ian Anderson off waivers from the Angels. He has struggled of late, including in spring training and in relief work for the Angels. But he was the Braves first round (#3 overall) draft pick in 2016 and was outstanding for them in the postseason in both 2021 and 2022… and is still only 26 years old (turns 27 later this week).

League Leaders

Today I’ll circle back to look at saves again, as in the past week Seattle’s Andrés Muñoz has moved up the leaderboard and as noted above earned his tenth on the year, which ties him for the lead:

• 10 - SEA Andrés Muñoz

• 10 - SDP Robert Suarez

• 9 - WAS Kyle Finnegan

• 8 - TEX Luke Jackson

• 8 - ATH Mason Miller

• 8 - LAD Tanner Scott

• 7 - NYM Edwin Diaz

• 7 - KCR Carlos Estevez

• 7 - HOU Josh Hader

• 7 - CIN Emilio Pagan

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 28…

• 1906: Two player-managers steal home on the same day. Here is great fodder for a trivia question… according to baseball-reference.com, “It's the only time two player-managers steal home on the same day, though not in the same game. Cubs pilot Frank Chance steals in the ninth to give Chicago a 1-0 win over the Reds, and Fred Clarke matches him in the Pirates' 10-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.”

• 1961: Warren Spahn throws a no-hitter… at age 40. Five days past his 40th birthday, Warren Spahn becomes the second-oldest major league pitcher (after Cy Young) to hurl a no-hitter, blanking San Francisco 1-0.

• 1965: A game broadcast comes from 200+ feet above second base. Mets announcer Lindsey Nelson broadcasts the Mets-Astros game at the Astrodome from a gondola hanging 208 feet above second base.

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Barry Larkin (1964) is a Hall of Famer and 12-time All-Star who played his entire 19-year career as a shortstop for the Reds. He had some power, hitting highs of 33 HR in 1996 and 20 HR in 1991. But he was better known for his defense with three Gold Glove Awards, and speed on the bases with nine seasons with 20+ SB, and a high of 51 in 1995, the year he took home the NL MVP Award. He was a high average hitter with nine seasons over .300, and a career slash line of .295/.371/.444 and a 116 OPS+.

• Matt Chapman (1993) remains one of the better all-around players in the game today, having won five Gold Glove Awards at 3B while providing 25+ HR four times, with a high of 36 in 2019. He has 187 HR over nine seasons so far, with a 119 OPS+.

• Red Lucas (1902) pitched in the majors for parts of 15 seasons spanning from 1923-1938, mostly with the Reds and Pirates. His high win totals were 18-11 in 1927 and 19-12 in 1929, and he received down-ballot MVP consideration in five seasons. As a pitcher he posted a 3.72 ERA and 107 ERA+ for his career, but he was also valuable as a pinch-hitter, something he did 507 times in his career. Lucas posted a .281 batting average with 155 runs and 190 RBI in 1,608 plate appearances.

• Tom Browning (1960) pitched from 1984-1995, almost all with the Reds. He was the Rookie of the Year runner-up in 1985 when he was 20-9 with a 3.55 ERA. He was a workhorse, leading the NL in starts four out of five seasons from 1986-1990. His biggest moment came on September 16, 1988, when Browning pitched the twelfth perfect game in major league history, and only the third by a left-hander, against the Los Angeles Dodgers (who would go on to win the World Series that year.)

Today’s Matchups

A typical short slate (8) of games for a Monday, as many teams are travelling or otherwise have the day off. Some games that jump out to me are:

• NYY vs. BAL is an AL East battle between two teams with almost inverse records, the Yankees at 17-11 and the Orioles struggling at 10-17, and on a three-game losing streak. Today’s starters are Will Warren and Tomoyuki Sugano.

• NYM vs. WAS features the team with the best record in baseball, the Mets at 19-9 (.679) but who as noted above had a tough loss yesterday. Pitching today are Griffin Canning and Trevor Williams.

• ATL vs. COL is a chance for the Braves to continue to recover from their surprisingly bad start to the year. They are 7-3 in their last ten games, and if they can handle the Colorado environment they have a chance to pick up some wins as the Rockies are an MLB-worst 4-23 (.148). Today’s starters are Bryce Elder and Ryan Feltner.

HR Watch

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

• WAS Nathaniel Lowe, 3-13 with 2 HR vs. NYM Griffin Canning

• NYM Pete Alonso, 3-13 with a HR a double vs. WAS Trevor Williams, who is a flyball pitcher and Alonso is off to a great start this year with 6 HR, 11 doubles, and a surprising .333 average.

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:

• NYM Jesse Winker, 7-11 with a double vs. WAS Trevor Williams

• CLE José Ramírez, 6-19 with a HR and two doubles vs. MIN Bailey Ober

• TEX Kevin Pillar, 5-10 with a HR and a double vs. ATH JP Sears

Who is streaking?

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

• 19 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr

• 11 - CIN Gavin Lux

• 11 - CIN Elly De La Cruz

• 11 - PIT Adam Frazier

• 10 - CLE Steven Kwan

• 9 - STL Willson Contreras

• 8 - DET Zach McKinstry

• 8 - BOS Alex Bregman

• 8 - CLE Angel Martinez

• 8 - PIT Ke’Bryan Hayes

• 8 - TBR Chandler Simpson

• 8 - NYY Aaron Judge

• 7 - TEX Wyatt Langford

• 7 - SEA J.P. Crawford

• 7 - MIL Rhys Hoskins

• 7 - MIL William Contreras

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:

• CLE Steven Kwan, 0-12 though 0 K vs. MIN Bailey Ober

• CLE Carlos Santana, 0-10 with 2 K vs. MIN Bailey Ober

• CLE Brayan Rocchio, small sample but is 1-8 with 5 K vs. MIN Bailey Ober

• TEX Leody Taveras, 2-15 with 6 K (though one hit was a HR) vs. ATH JP Sears

• NYM Juan Soto, 2-15 but with 7 BB and only 2 K vs. WAS Trevor Williams

• NYM Brandon Nimmo, 1-10 with 4 K vs. WAS Trevor Williams

• HOU Victor Caratini, 1-10 with 3 K vs. DET Jack Flaherty

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

Which player never played for a New York team, but hit 86 career home runs in New York? The answer is Stan Musial, who had 475 career home runs, with the following regular-season numbers in New York:

• Polo Grounds (NY Giants): 49 HR in 171 games, with a .343/.438/.633 slash line

• Ebbets Field (Brooklyn Dodgers): 37 HR in 163 games, with a .359/.448/.660 slash line

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