The Baseball Buffet for 4/3/2025

Issue #234

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 to Week 2 ⚾

The Dodgers remain undefeated, which sets a new record as they are the first World Series champions to begin the following year 8-0. Their division is mostly off to a strong start as SDP is 7-0 (the only other undefeated team), SFG is 5-1, AZ is 4-2, and COL is struggling as expected at 1-4. Another standings note this morning… all five teams in the AL Central are 2-4. Meh.

The seventh day of the season included a a full slate of 15 games:

• TEX 1, CIN 0 - A real pitching duel with both teams only managing 3 hits each. Hunter Greene was solid (7 H, 3 H, 1 ER, 8 K), but SS Josh Smith doubled in Joc Pederson in the 4th and that was all it took. 24-year old Jack Leiter is now 2-0 after a solid performance (5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K) and Luke Jackson notched his third save of the year.

• KCR 2, MIL 3 - Two strong starters delivered the goods in Cole Ragans (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 10 K) and Freddy Peralta (8 IP, 2 H, 1 ER 0 BB, 8 K). 21-year old Jackson Chourio provided offense for Milwaukee’s win with a solo HR in the first inning and then a double in extra innings.

• LAA 5, STL 12 - Sonny Gray had 9 strikeouts but let up a solo HR to Mike Trout in the first, and then a grand slam to Logan O’Hoppe in the top of the seventh. Nonetheless, the Cardinals came back by scoring 9 runs in the bottom of the 7th and 8th innings. The big STL hitter was catcher Ivan Herrera who hit three HR with 6 RBI.

• PIT 4, TBR 2 - The Pirates won for only the second time this year, and Paul Skenes of course was a big reason why (7 IP, 3 H 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K). Oneil Cruz provided some offense with a HR and his MLB-leading sixth SB of the year.

• WAS 2, TOR 4 - MacKenzie Gore wasn’t nearly as dominant (5 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 5 K) as he was in his first game, and the Blue Jays took an early lead in support of Easton Lucas (5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3K) and never gave it up. George Springer has been hitting well so far this year, and yesterday had his first HR of 2025.

• CHC 10, OAK 2 - The runs continue to pile up in West Sacramento as the Cubs jumped to an 8-2 lead after four innings. Jameson Taillon pitched well (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 7 K) and Seiya Suzuki was the big producer going 3-5 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.

• CLE 2, SDP 5 - Dylan Cease pitched well (6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 7K) and the top four Padres hitters each had two hits, including HR by Jackson Merrill and Luis Arraez.

• DET 2, SEA 3 - Luis Castillo (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 K) won this pitching matchup against 2024 AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal (5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 K).

• SFG 6, HOU 3 - The Giants jumped out to a 5-1 lead after two innings, with Wilmer Flores and Luis Matos hitting HR off Houston starter Framber Valdez. Landen Roupp let up 3 ER in 4 IP in his season debut (struck out 8), but Giants relievers shut out the Astros the rest of the way.

• MIN 6, CHW 1 - Pablo Lopez pitched well (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5K), and Byron Buxton and Harrison Bader hit HR to lead the Twins to a 6-0 lead through the first five innings.

• NYM 6, MIA 5 - Connor Gillespie pitched well (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K) and the Marlins were up 4-1 until Pete Alonso tied it in the top of the 8th inning with a 3-run HR. The Mets went on to win in 11 innings but had to use eight pitchers to get the win.

• BOS 3, BAL 0 - Rafael Devers finally got a hit… two of them even (a double and a single). Trevor Story also had his first HR of the year in support of Garret Crochet who was outstanding (8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 8 K).

• COL 1, PHI 5 - Zack Wheeler was superb (7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K) and the Phillies generated 5 runs off of 12 hits, including 3 each from Trea Turner and Edmundo Sosa.

• AZ 4, NYY 3 - Zac Gallen had been very tough on players currently on the Yankees roster, and that continued this time as he pitched 6.2 IP, allowing 3 H and 0 ER with 0 BB and 13 K. NYY threatened in the ninth as Anthony Volpe hit a three run HR that drove in Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge, but ultimately they fell short.

• ATL 5, LAD 6 - ATL jumped out to an early 5-2 lead as LAD made a couple of errors in the field and Blake Snell walked several hitters. But Tommy Edman and Michael Conforto homered making the game tied 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth. Naturally Shohei Ohtani then hit a walk-off HR against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias.

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).

🖊️ Free Agent Signing

• NYM 1B Jon Singleton - minor league contract

• NYM 3B Niko Goodrum - minor league contract

➕ Starting Rehab Assignment

• BOS SP Lucas Giolito

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 3…

• 1919: Yankee player beats an ostrich in past-eating contest. According to baseball-reference.com, “One of the most bizarre off-the-field incidents in history takes place in Jacksonville, Florida. New York Yankees outfielder Ping Bodie competes against an ostrich named "Percy" in a spaghetti-eating contest! Bodie wins the competition when Percy passes out after its 11th plate of pasta.”

• 1966: How the Mets got Tom Seaver. According to baseball-reference.com, “The New York Mets sign University of Southern California star Tom Seaver to his first contract, including a $50,000 bonus. Seaver had been selected by the Atlanta Braves in the January draft, but Commissioner Spike Eckert voided the deal when he signed a contract after USC's season had already begun. The Mets beat out the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Phillies in a lottery for Seaver's services.”

• 1989: Ken Griffy Jr. makes his debut. 19-year old Ken Griffey, Jr. of the Seattle Mariners makes his major league debut, hitting a double in his first at-bat against Dave Stewart of the Oakland Athletics.

• 2017: Slugger Roy Sievers died at the age of 90. Roy Sievers played for five major league teams over 17 seasons from 1949-1965. He was AL Rookie of the Year with the St. Louis Brown in 1949 after hitting 16 HR with 91 RBI and a .306/.398/.471 slash line. A four-time All-Star, Sievers hit 25+ HR six times and had 100+ RBI four times. His best season came in 1957 for the Senators when he led the AL with 42 HR and 114 RBI.

• 2019: Jacob deGrom has a great game. Jacob deGrom strikes out 14 in 7 IP against the Marlins… and also hits a homer to lead the Mets to a 6-4 win. According to baseball-reference.com, “It is deGrom's 26th consecutive quality start, dating back to 2018, matching the major league record set by Hall of Famer Bob Gibson in 1967-1968.”

• 2022: 18-year star Tommy Davis died at the age of 83. Tommy Davis started his career with the Dodgers (1959-66), but went on to play for nine other major league teams before retiring after the 1976 season. A two-time All-Star, Davis retired with a .294 average and won two NL batting titles, hitting .346 in 1962 and .326 in 1963. That 1962 campaign was by far his best, as he had a career-high 26 HR and led the NL with 230 hits and 153 RBI.

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Wally Moon (1930) was NL Rookie of the Year for the Cardinals in 1954, and was later an All-Star for them in 1957 and for the Dodgers in 1959. He had a modest mix of power and speed and retired with a solid .289/.371/.445 slash line and a 118 OPS+.

• Jay Bruce (1987) was an All-Star three times and had 30+ HR in five seasons, posting a career .244/.314/.467 slash line.

• Gary Pettis (1958) was a speedster on the bases, stealing 354 bags over parts of 11 years, including three seasons with 40 or more. He was also outstanding defensively in CF, taking home five Gold Glove Awards.

• Jason Kipnis (1987) played all but his final season in Cleveland, and was an All-Star in both 2013 and 2015. He provided a mix of power with four seasons of 15+ HR, and speed with three seasons of 20+ SB.

• Guy Hecker (1856) was a pitcher during the early days of professional baseball, pitching mostly for Louisville of the American Association during the 1880s. Overall he had a 2.93 ERA and 113 ERA+, with his best season coming in 1884 when he won the pitching triple crown, leading the league with 385 strikeouts, 52 wins (vs. just 20 losses), and a 1.80 ERA over 670.2 innings.

• Koji Uehara (1975) came over from Japan late in his career but was solid in 9 seasons in the majors, posting 95 saves, including three seasons with 20+ saves. He had an impressive 2.66 ERA and 162 ERA+, striking out 10.7 batters per 9 innings. Across 12 seasons mostly as a starter in Japan he posted a 112-67 record, 3.25 ERA, and 1.010 WHIP.

Today’s Matchups

Many teams are travelling or otherwise have the day off, so we have a light slate of only five games today. Two games that jump out to me are:

• HOU vs. MIN features two pitchers who had good first outings in Hunter Brown and Joe Ryan.

• CIN vs. MIL on the other hand features Nestor Cortes who hopes to do better than his first game of the year, this time at home against and facing the Reds and Nick Lodolo.

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, 4-12 with 3 HR vs. MIN Joe Ryan

• NYY Cody Bellinger, 7-26 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. AZ Merrill Kelly

• PHI Bryce Harper, 3-12 with 2 HR vs. COL Antonio Senzatela

• PHI Kyle Schwarber, small sample but is 3-7 with a HR and a double vs. COL Antonio Senzatela

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:

• MIN Willi Castro, small sample but is 6-9 with a double vs. HOU Hunter Brown

• PHI Trea Turner, 6-12 with 0 strikeouts vs. COL Antonio Senzatela

• COL Kris Bryant, 5-12 with a HR vs. PHI Taijuan Walker

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:

• BOS Alex Bregman, 1-14 but only 3 K vs. BAL Charlie Morton

• AZ Lourdes Gurriel Jr., 2-11 with 7 K vs. NYY Carlos Carrasco

• HOU Jeremy Peña, 2-12 with 6 K vs. MIN Joe Ryan

• MIN Ryan Jeffers, 2-11 with 6 K vs. HOU Hunter Brown

Once we get a few weeks into the season I’ll starting sharing out some starting pitchers to consider for strikeout totals (over/under bets), some teams that might explode offensively that day, and even some fun with NRFI (no-runs in the first inning bets). But these kinds of things are hard to judge early in the season until we see how teams and players are starting out the year.

⚾ Enjoy Day Eight! ⚾

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