Issue #602
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! ⚾
The below are some appetizers from today’s full Baseball Buffet newsletter. Paid subscribers receive the full edition. (Upgrade now at 30% off the annual rate!)
Yesterday featured a solid slate of 13 games. Here are the results (link to all game box scores):
LAD 14, TOR 2 - LAD SP Justin Wrobleski allowed four walks but otherwise did well (5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K), while TOR SP Max Scherzer had less velocity than usual and so exited after two innings (2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). Four Blue Jays relievers gave up plenty of hits and runs, with only catcher Tyler Heineman managing to silence the Dodgers' bats (1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER). Shohei Ohtani was 2-6 with a HR, Freddie Freeman was 2-4 with a walk, a HR, and a double, Teoscar Hernández was 2-5 with a HR and 4 RBI, and Dalton Rushing went 4-4 with 2 homers.
SEA 1, TEX 2 - In the first inning Cal Raleigh battled TEX SP Jacob deGrom for 12 pitches before finally connecting for his first HR of 2026. deGrom settled in after that and did well (5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), and five Rangers' relievers didn't let the Mariners score any further, with Jakob Junis notching his first save. SEA SP Logan Gilbert pitched well overall (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K), but the two runs he allowed were all it took.
MIL 8, BOS 6 - Both starters allowed a lot of baserunners in this one: MIL Brandon Woodruff (5.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) and Brayan Bello (3.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 5 K). The game was tied 5-5 through seven, but the Brewers scored three more while the Red Sox could only add one in the bottom of the ninth. Christian Yelich went 3-4 with a double and Garrett Mitchell went 2-5 with 2 RBI for the Brewers. For Boston, Willson Contreras was 3-3 with a walk, a HR, a double, and a HBP (read the article by Adam McCalvy at MLB for the drama on that!)
CHC 4, TBR 6
KCR 4, CLE 2
CIN 2, MIA 0
SDP 5, PIT 0
STL 6, WSH 9
BAL 2, CWS 1
DET 3, MIN 7
HOU 7, COL 9
ATL 2, LAA 6
PHI 6, SFG 4
Today’s Trivia Question
One of today's Birthday Boys (see below) is Adrian Beltré. He ranks third all-time in HR for players who played 50% or more of their games at 3B—can you name the two 3B with more HR? Further, he is the all-time leader in RBI for primary 3B, and ranks third in all-time runs by a primary 3B. Can you name the two 3B with more runs than Beltré? (Hint: they are different than the two ahead of him in HR.)
(Trivia answers are provided for paid All-Star subscribers of the Baseball Buffet.)
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Adrian Beltré, John McGraw, Bobby Doerr, Josh Hader
Currently active players who were born on April 7 include ARI Eduardo Rodríguez, ARI Tim Tawa, and ATL Joel Payamps.
Today’s Matchups
We have a full slate of 15 games today, with the following as particularly interesting matchups (and here is the full list):
SDP Nick Pivetta vs. PIT Paul Skenes - Skenes is always worth watching, and today he is at home but against a formidable lineup
CIN Andrew Abbott vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara - Sandy threw a complete game his last game
MIL Jacob Misiorowski vs. BOS Garrett Crochet - nice pitching matchup, and a big test for the Red Sox who have gotten off to a slow start this year
LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. TOR Kevin Gausman - game two of this 2025 World Series rematch, with two strong starters throwing
DET Tarik Skubal vs. MIN Taj Bradley - Skubal is great, and Bradley is off to a great start this year
SEA George Kirby vs. TEX Nathan Eovaldi - Normally a good pitching matchup here, but Eovaldi has struggled in his first two starts
Other hurlers on the hill today include CLE Gavin Williams, BAL Trevor Rogers, NYM Freddy Peralta, TBR Drew Rasmussen, NYY Cam Schlittler, and PHI Cristopher Sánchez.
Baseball Quote of the Day
One of today's Birthday Boys is Hall of Famer John McGraw. He had many colorful quotes during his time as a player and a manager:
"Get in front of those balls, you won't get hurt. That's what you've (Heinie Groh) got a chest for young man."
"I think we can win it if my brain holds out."
"Sportsmanship and easygoing methods are all right, but it is the prospect of a hot fight that brings out the crowds."
"Learn to know every man under you, get under his skin, know his faults. Then cater to him — with kindness or roughness as his case may demand."
"No club that wins a pennant once is an outstanding club. One which bunches two pennants is a good club. But a team which can win three in a row really achieves greatness."
"The way to get a ball past (Honus) Wagner is to hit it eight feet over his head."
"I name (Honus) Wagner first on my list, not only because he was a great batting champion and base-runner, and also baseball's foremost shortstop, but because Honus (Wagner) could have been first at any other position, with the possible exception of pitcher. In all my career, I never saw such a versatile player."
"(Ty) Cobb would have to play center field on my all time team. But where would that put (Tris) Speaker? In left. If I had them both, I would certainly play them that way."
⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
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The above was just some highlights from today’s full Baseball Buffet. Paid All Star subscribers receive all of the following, every day:
Longer 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 answer to the trivia question!
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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.
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