The Baseball Buffet for 4/8/2025

Issue #239

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 12th day of the season included a solid slate of 11 games:

• NYY 2, DET 6 - The Tigers only collected five hits, but they made the most of them, taking an early 5-1 lead through the first five innings. Casey Mize pitched well (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6 K) against a usually dangerous Yankees lineup.

• STL 4, PIT 8 - Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski pitched well (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 K) and three Pirates hitters went 2-4 with 2 RBI each, including catcher Joey Bart who had a HR and a triple.

• LAD 4, WSH 6 - Shohei Ohtani had a HR and a triple, but MacKenzie Gore otherwise pitched well (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 7 K) and Kyle Finnegan notched his fourth save despite allowing several baserunners.

• TOR 6, BOS 2 - The Blue Jays spread around 13 hits and their six runs, including a 4-4 game by hot-hitting George Springer (.455 on the year). While not over powering, Jose Berrios pitched well enough (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K) to get the win.

• MIA 0, NYM 2 - Not much offense in this one, but Kodai Senga pitched well (5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 4 K) and three relievers combined with him to shutout the Marlins.

• TEX 0, CHC 7 - Justin Steele made his fourth start of the young season, and it was by far his best (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 8 K), combining with Colin Rea on a 3-hit shutout against a surprisingly struggling Rangers offense so far in 2025.

• MIN 2, KCR 4 - The Twins offense is also struggling so far this year—for instance, Carlos Correa went 0-4 to drop him to 4-36 (.111). Michael Lorenzen held Minnesota in check (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 K) to earn the win for the Royals.

• BAL 5, AZ 1 - Gunnar Henderson might be getting going after being injured to start the season, as he went 2-4 with a double and two stolen bases. Ryan O’Hearn hit his first homer of the year, and Zach Eflin pitched well (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 K).

• HOU 3, SEA 4 - As can happen at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, there was very little offense with only six combined hits in this one. Logan Gilbert pitched well (5.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 7 K) and Andrés Muñoz notched his fourth save.

• CIN 2, SFG 0 - A nice pitching in San Francisco, as Hunter Greene almost went the distance (8.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K) and Logan Webb was dominant (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K) before his bullpen let him down.

• SDP 5, ATH 4 - Tyler Soderstrom had two homers for the Athletics, and now has six on the season. But the Padres got HR from Jake Cronenworth and Fernando Tatis Jr., and Robert Suarez retained his perfect 0.00 ERA for his fifth save of the year.

Today’s Trivia Question (new feature!!)

Shohei Ohtani now has 229 HR in his career. He has hit them in 3,164 career at-bats, giving him a 13.82 AB/HR ratio, which is 8th best all-time (minimum 3,000 career plate appearances.) Who are the seven sluggers ahead of him? (Hint: two are still active, and a third played in spring training this year.)

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).

🤕 Placed on the IL

• SEA CF Victor Robles - 10-day IL (left shoulder dislocation)

• PIT IF Jared Triolo - 10-day IL (lumbar spine strain)

• STL C Ivan Herrera - 10-day IL (left knee inflammation)

🚼 Placed on the Paternity List

• MIA SP Sandy Alcantara

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 8…

• 1969: All four expansion teams win their opening games. All four expansion teams (Kansas City Royals, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres, Seattle Pilots) make things look easy by winning their first regular-season games.

• 1974: Hank Aaron breaks the record. In the fourth inning of the Braves home opener against the Dodgers, Hank Aaron hits a HR off Al Downing for number 715 of his career, breaking Ruth's once thought to be unapproachable record.

• 1989: Jim Abbott makes his big-league debut. One-handed pitcher Jim Abbott makes his major league debut but lasts only 4.2 innings in California's 7-0 loss to Seattle.

• 1993: Carlos Baerga hits a HR from both sides of the plate in the same inning. Switch-hitter Carlos Baerga becomes the first player in major league history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same inning. The Cleveland second baseman clouts a two-run shot against Yankee southpaw Steve Howe in the seventh inning and finishes the frame with a home run from the left side of the plate against Steve Farr.

• 1994: Kent Mercker throws a no-hitter. Braves lefthander Kent Mercker no-hits the Dodgers, 6-0, in his first career complete game.

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Gary Carter (1954) is a Hall of Famer and one of the all-time greatest catchers. An 11-time All-Star he played most of his career with the Expos and Mets. He hit 20+ HR in nine seasons, and had four with 100+ RBI. A three-time Gold Glove Award winner, the “Kid” retired with 324 HR and 1,225 RBI.

• Catfish Hunter (1946) is a Hall of Famer who played his entire 15-year career with the Athletics and the Yankees. He won 20+ games in five straight seasons, and won the AL Cy Young Award in 1974 after leading the league with a 2.49 ERA and in wins with a 25-12 record. An 8-time All-Star, his 3.26 ERA only translated into a 104 ERA+, but that is in part due to poorer numbers in his first two seasons and his last three. He was particularly outstanding for the A’s during their 1972-74 World Series run, compiling a postseason ERA of 2.24 and a 7-1 record across 11 starts.

• Félix Hernández (1986) won two AL ERA titles, with a 2.27 mark in 2010 and 2.14 in 2014. Interestingly he was an All-Star in six seasons, but not in 2010 when he later took home the AL Cy Young Award. He had six consecutive seasons with 200+ strikeouts, and retired with a 3.42 ERA and 117 ERA+.

• John Hiller (1943) was an outstanding reliever before the position became as specialized as it is today. When Hiller would come into a game late, he’d often pitch two or more innings, not just one like closers do today. He pitched all 15 years of his career for the Tigers, and had his peak from 1972-76 during which time he posted a 2.16 ERA with 81 saves and 488 K in 511.1 IP. In 1973 he led the AL with 38 saves, and had a 1.44 ERA while pitching 125.1 relief innings in 65 games.

• Carlos Santana (1986) has had a fine career, first as a catcher, but mostly as a 1B and DH. He played the first half for Cleveland, then spent time with six other teams, and has now come back to Cleveland for 2025. Last year his excellent glove work at 1B was finally rewarded with a Gold Glove Award. He continues to possess some power and has a keen eye at the plate: over his career he has hit 20+ HR nine times and been walked 100+ times in four seasons. While only a .242 hitter, he has a solid .354 career OBP and 114 OPS+.

Today’s Matchups

We have a full slate (15) of games today, so lots of possibilities. Some games that jump out to me are:

• PHI vs. ATL boasts the best SP aces matchup of the day with Zack Wheeler facing Chris Sale.

• NYY vs. DET features last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner in Tarik Skubal going against the Yankees lineup and Carlos Carrasco.

• STL vs. PIT is must-watch with Paul Skenes throwing for Pittsburgh, and Sonny Gray starting for St. Louis.

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, 8-17 with 3 HR and a double vs. SEA Luis Castillo

• COL Ezequiel Tovar, small sample but it is 3-7 with 2 HR and a double vs. MIL Freddy Peralta

• NYY Paul Goldschmidt, small sample but is 3-7 with 2 HR vs. lefty DET Tarik Skubal (and Goldy generally hits lefties well)

• NYY Aaron Judge, 6-14 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. DET Tarik Skubal

• CHC Seiya Suzuki, small sample but is 4-10 with 2 HR vs. TEX Patrick Corbin

• PIT Bryan Reynolds, 6-19 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. STL Sonny Gray

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:

• SEA Jorge Polanco, 12-25 with a HR, triple, and two doubles vs. HOU Framber Valdez

• AZ Geraldo Perdomo, small sample but is 5-9 with two doubles vs. BAL Charlie Morton

• CHC Nico Hoerner, 5-12 with a double and only 1 K vs. TEX Patrick Corbin

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:

• 11 - ATH Jacob Wilson

• 10 - MIL Brice Turang

• 9 - MIL Jackson Chourio

• 9 - STL Nolan Arenado

• 8 - SEA Victor Robles

• 8 - SFG Jung Hoo Lee

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:

• KCR Vinnie Pasquantino, 0-11 though only 2 K vs. MIN Pablo Lopez

• KCR Michael Massey, 1-11 with 5 K vs. MIN Pablo Lopez

• KCR Hunter Renfroe, 2-15 with 5 K vs. MIN Pablo Lopez

• COL Ryan McMahon, 0-10 with 4 K vs. MIL Freddy Peralta

• COL Kyle Farmer, 1-12 with 5 K vs. MIL Freddy Peralta

• ATH Seth Brown, 1-13 with 6 K vs. SDP Dylan Cease

• HOU Victor Caratini, 2-19 with 8 K vs. SEA Luis Castillo

• BAL Tyler O’Neill, 3-19 with 10 K (though also a HR and a double) vs. AZ Merrill Kelly

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 the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

Shohei Ohtani has a 13.82 AB/HR ratio, which is 8th best all-time (minimum 3,000 career plate appearances.) The seven players ahead of him are:

1. Mark McGwire, 10.61, 7660 PA

2. Aaron Judge, 11.23, 4370 PA

3. Babe Ruth, 11.76, 10628 PA

4. Barry Bonds, 12.92, 12606 PA

5. Jim Thome, 13.76, 10313 PA

6. Joey Gallo, 13.79, 3403 PA

7. Kyle Schwarber, 13.80, 4701 PA

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