Issue #624
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!
⚾ Welcome! ⚾
Yesterday’s action featured a full slate of games (15), though two ended up getting postponed. Here are the results (link to all game box scores):
LAA 2, CWS 3 (10) - The White Sox scored first, but then the Angels came back with a solo HR by Mike Trout in the fourth, and a solo HR by Vaughn Grissom in the seventh, both hit off CWS SP Erick Fedde (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K). Angels reliever Ryan Zeferjahn struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth, but then in the bottom of the ninth he hit Tristan Peters, and then allowed a triple to Sam Antonacci which tied the game and forced extras. The Angels didn't score in the top of the tenth, while the White Sox loaded the bases and Colson Montgomery hit a one-out, walk-off single.
NYY 0, TEX 3 - 22-year-old NYY SP Elmer Rodríguez made his major league debut but had some control issues with four walks in four innings (4 H, 2 ER, 3 K). Meanwhile, TEX SP Nathan Eovaldi pitched really well (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K), and Jacob Latz combined for the shutout. Ben Rice went 3-4 for the Yankees, and Ezequiel Duran went 2-2 with a walk, a double and 2 runs for the Rangers.
DET 3, ATL 4 - Ozzie Albies hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of the first inning, but then DET SP Tarik Skubal settled in (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K). Atlanta rookie SP JR Ritchie did fairly well in his second major league start (5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K), giving up a solo HR to Riley Greene in the third. Ahead 3-2, the Tigers brought in closer Kenley Jansen for the bottom of the ninth, but he walked Albies and then gave up a walk-off, 2-run HR to Matt Olson.
TBR 1, CLE 3
SEA 5, MIN 3
BOS 1, TOR 8
MIA 3, LAD 2
CHC 5, SDP 4
STL 5, PIT 4
COL 13, CIN 2
WSH 14, NYM 2
ARI 6, MIL 2
KCR 2, ATH 5
HOU vs. BAL - postponed
SFG vs. PHI - postponed
Today’s Trivia Question
So far this year, the Dodgers, Braves, and Yankees have the best team pitching ERA and WHIP (Walks+Hits per IP). That isn’t surprising when you look at the standings, as they also have the three best W-L records. In years past, you could count on the Rockies to have the highest ERA and worst WHIP of all teams, largely due to their ballpark effect (and the impact that had on how the team constructed their roster). But this year the Rockies are so far about league average for ERA, and only a bit below average for WHIP. Which team has both the highest team ERA and highest team WHIP, and by wide margin in both cases?
(Trivia answers are provided for paid All-Star subscribers of the Baseball Buffet.)
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Phil Garner, Bill Pierce, Jumbo Brown
Currently active players who were born on April 30 include COL Edouard Julien, MIA Jesús Tinoco, and Michael Kopech (free agent).
See what you are missing!
What you are reading are just some highlights from the full Baseball Buffet newsletter. Paid All Star subscribers receive all of the following, every day:
Game summaries for every game
Current MLB standings
Notable player transactions… injuries, call-ups, free agent signings, trades, etc.
Rotating statistical leader lists
Current hitting streaks of seven or more games
On this day in baseball history…
Career summaries for each of The Birthday Boys
Daily Hitter Watch and Pitcher Watch lists - who has historically done well or poorly against their matchup today?
Good Reads… my favorite recent baseball articles from other writers
… and the answers to the daily trivia questions!
Become an All Star subscriber to The Baseball Buffet today for $7 a month, or the annual rate of $49 a year. That is less than 14 cents a day for more baseball goodness delivered to your inbox every morning!
Today’s Matchups
As is typical for a Thursday some teams are travelling or otherwise have the day off. But with two rainouts yesterday, we now have 11 games today. Here are a few interesting matchups (see also full list):
STL Hunter Dobbins vs. PIT Paul Skenes - Dobbins is making his 2026 debut, after having started 11 games for Boston in 2025 and 5 games at AAA Memphis so far this year, but he draws a tough opponent in Skenes.
DET Framber Valdez vs. ATL Bryce Elder - Valdez is a strong start, and Elder has generally been solid so far this year
SFG Logan Webb vs. PHI Cristopher Sánchez - this matchup got delayed from yesterday, but here we have two generally strong pitchers, though Webb has had mixed results this year and Sánchez was hit hard in his last outing
Some other starting pitchers on the hill today include NYM Freddy Peralta, MIL Brandon Woodruff, and TOR Kevin Gausman
Baseball Quote of the Day
One of the Birthday Boys a few days ago was Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter, but I shared quotes that day from another famous Cardinals Hall of Famer, Rogers Hornsby. So today I'll give a few from Slaughter:
"I learned early on to never walk while I was on the ball field. I ran everywhere I went."
On his dash home in the 1946 World Series: "When the ball went into left-center, I hit second base, and I said to myself, 'I can score.
"One year I hit .291 and had to take a salary cut. If you hit .291 today, you'd own the franchise."
"I asked no odds and I give none. A guy got in my way, I run over him."
⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.
This newsletter was produced with beehiiv.
New to Now Taking the Field? Become a subscriber and get each article in your email inbox so that you don’t miss anything!