The Baseball Buffet for 4/9/2025

Issue #240

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 13th day of the season included a solid slate of 15 games:

• NYY 0, DET 5 - Tarik Skubal pitched well (6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6K) and the Tigers had four HR from Spencer Torkelson, Zach McKinstry, Dillon Dingler, and Kerry Carpenter.

• CHW 0, CLE 1 - A grand total of five hits in this one, as both Shane Smith (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 6 K) and Ben Lively (5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 K) pitched well. The lone run came in the bottom of the ninth, a rare walk-off walk for Nolan Jones (Mike Clevinger was the pitcher). This is the first walk-off walk in a 1-0 game by any team since May of 2009.

• MIA 5, NYM 10 - Clay Holmes let up 4 ER, but also had 10 K in 5.1 IP. The Mets offense tallied 13 hits, including two doubles from Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor’s first HR of the year.

• STL 5, PIT 3 - Bryan Reynolds had a HR and a double, but Cardinals hitters managed 6 hits and 5 ER off Paul Skenes. Sonny Gray pitched well (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4K) to get his second win of the season.

• LAD 2, WSH 8 - The Dodgers got solo HR from Kike Hernandez and Andy Pages but otherwise struggled offensively going 0-7 with runners in scoring position and leaving 12 runners on base. Meanwhile, 24-year old Justin Wrobleski, after making one minor league start this year, did not do well (5 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) giving up two HR to 22-year old James Wood.

• TOR 6, BOS 1 - Easton Lucas pitched well (5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 8 K) and George Springer keeps hitting (.459), going 2-4 with his second HR of the year.

• LAA 4, TBR 3 - Both Kyle Hendricks (5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 K) and Shane Baz (7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 6 K) pitched well, and Rays 21-year old Junior Caminero had his first HR of the season. But in the top of the ninth the Angels’ Luis Rengifo singled in the winning run off Rays closer Pete Fairbanks.

• PHI 5, ATL 7 - What seemed like a great matchup of aces (Wheeler and Sale) saw both of them give up 5 ER each. Kyle Schwarber went 3-5 with a triple and his fifth HR of the year, while every player in the Braves starting lineup got a hit, including catcher Sean Murphy who hit a 3-run HR in his first game of the year.

• TEX 6, CHC 10 - Both Wyatt Langford (TEX) and Dansby Swanson (CHC) had their fourth HR of this young season. The Rangers had tied the game 6-6 in the top of eighth, but then the Cubs scored four unearned runs off Chris Martin in the bottom of the eighth.

• MIN 1, KCR 2 - Both Pablo Lopez (4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 6 K) and Cole Ragans (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K) pitched well. The Twins out-hit the Royals 7-3, but superstar Bobby Witt got on base twice (double and a walk), scored both times, and that was the difference in the game.

• MIL 7, COL 1 - Freddy Peralta pitched well (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 K) and the Brewers had homers from Brice Turang, Christian Yelich, and William Contreras to power the win. Brenton Doyle’s second HR of the year was the lone run for the Rockies.

• BAL 3, AZ 4 - Merrill Kelly pitched well (6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 K) and the D-backs bullpen pitched three shutout innings. Corbin Carroll had his fourth HR of the year.

• HOU 2, SEA 1 - A good pitching dual in this one, as both starters, Luis Castillo (5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 6 K) and Framber Valdez (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 8 K), pitched well. Each team scored a run in the 7th inning, but the game went into extras. The game winner came in the top of the 12th when Brendan Rodgers was on third and Victor Caratini, who had entered earlier as a pinch hitter and taken over as catcher, singled him in.

• CIN 1, SFG 0 - Both Nick Lodolo (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 K) and Landen Roupp (6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 4 K) did well. You never know when an early run will be decisive, as Spencer Steer scoring on a Jose Trevino groundout in the third inning was this game’s only run.

• SDP 4, ATH 10 - Manny Machado finally hit his first HR of the year, but Padres’ starter Dylan Cease did not do well (4 IP, 9 H, 9 ER, 3 BB, 4 K). The Mariners were 6-12 with runners in scoring position, withu JJ Bleday hitting a HR and a double, and hot-hitting SS Jacob Wilson going 3-4 to raise his season average to an even .400.

Today’s Trivia Question

Which player mentioned in today’s newsletter was a special live narrator of texts by Martin Luther King Jr. as part of a concert series featuring the first performance of New Morning for the World by Joseph Schwantner, a Pulitzer Prize winning composer who taught at my alma mater, the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music? This ballplayer joined conductor David Effron and the Eastman Philharmonia on a concert tour that included the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Eastman Theatre, and other famous venues.

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

• MIL SP Tobias Myers

🤕 Placed on the IL

• DET C Jake Rogers - 10-day IL (left oblique tightness)

• DET LF Manuel Margot - 10-day IL (left knee inflammation)

• SDP CF Jackson Merrill - 10-day IL (right hamstring strain)

• CIN SS Matt McLain - 10-day IL (slight left hamstring strain)

• BOS C Connor Wong - 10-day IL (left fifth finger fracture)

• HOU SP Spencer Arrighetti - 15-day IL (broken right thumb)

• TBR OF Johnny DeLuca - 10-day IL (right shoulder strain)

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 9…

• 1959: A triple-play on Opening Day. In the fifth inning against Washington the Orioles became the first team in history to turn a triple play on Opening Day.

• 1981: The birth of Fernando-mania. According to baseball-reference.com, “On Opening Day, Dodgers rookie pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, in replacement of injured starter Jerry Reuss, shuts out the visiting Astros, 2-0, on five hits, in his first major league start. Valenzuela will go on to win eight consecutive games.”

• 2001: Hall of Famer Willie Stargell died at age 61. Personally, my favorite player while growing up, Willie Stargell was one of the games’ biggest sluggers of the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. He led the NL with 48 HR in 1971 and 44 in 1973, posted 100+ RBI in five seasons, and was an All-Star seven times. At the age of 39 he led the “We are Family” Pirates to a World Series championship, was named both NLCS and World Series MVP, and was also named 1979 NL Co-MVP along with batting champion Keith Hernandez. He retired with 475 HR, 1,540 RBI, a .282/.360/.529 slash line, and 147 OPS+.

• 2021: Joe Musgrove throws a no-hitter. According to baseball-reference.com, “It took a record 8,206 games, but someone has finally pitched a no-hitter for the San Diego Padres: off-season acquisition Joe Musgrove defeats the Rangers, 3-0, allowing just one hit-by-pitch but no hit and striking out ten in a masterful performance. Many fans thought the team was cursed ever since manager Preston Gomez had removed Clay Kirby from a game on July 21, 1970, in the team's second season, when Kirby had a no-hitter going after 8 innings but the Padres were trailing, 1-0.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Hippo Vaughn (1888) pitched in 13 seasons in the majors, having his best seasons with the Chicago Cubs. He won 20+ games five times and won the NL pitching triple crown in 1918 when he posted a 22-10 record, 1.74 ERA, and a modest 148 strikeouts. He also pitched well in that year’s World Series, throwing three complete games and allowing only 3 runs in 27 innings (1.00 ERA), even though the Cubs lost two of the games. He didn’t do well in the first half of 1921 and at the age of 33 left the Cubs to instead play minor league and semi-pro ball (which he did for another 15 years).

• Claude Passeau (1909) also pitched in the majors for 13 seasons, and also pitched primarily for the Cubs (1939-1947). He won 15+ games six times, including a 20-13 record with a 2.50 ERA in 1940. He was an All-Star four times, and retired with a 3.32 ERA and 113 ERA+.

• Doc White (1879) pitched during the early part of the 20th century, mostly with the Chicago White Sox. He won 15+ in eight seasons, leading the AL with a 1.52 ERA in 1906 and in wins with a 27-13 record in 1907. Guy Harris “Doc” White retired at the age of 34 with a career ERA of 2.39, which translates into a 113 ERA+.

• Luis Arráez (1997) has won three batting titles with three different times, and as noted in the trivia question in a recent Baseball Buffet, if he can win a fourth he will be only the 15th hitter to do so. Arráez doesn’t hit for much power or steal many bases, but as of this writing he has a .322 career average, by far the active leader.

• Nate Colbert (1946) was a power hitter and the first star player for the San Diego Padres in the early 1970s, with five consecutive seasons of 20 or more HR, including 38 HR in both 1970 and 1972. He was an All-Star three times, but then injuries and back problems led to a quick drop in performance and he retired at age 30 in 1976. Of note Colbert had a great day on August 1, 1972 when he hit five HR with 13 RBI in a double-header.

• David Robertson (1985) is currently a free agent after having pitched in 16 seasons in the majors. He was still quite effective (3.00 ERA with 99 K in 72 IP) last year for the Rangers, his eighth team. Over his career he has been both an effective closer with three seasons of 30+ saves, and also an outstanding setup man including early in his career with the Yankees when Mariano Rivera was their closer. He currently has a career 2.91 ERA and 144 ERA+, with 1,154 K in 876.2 IP.

Today’s Matchups

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

• NYY vs. DET gives us a nice pitching matchup between Max Fried and Jack Flaherty.

• TEX vs. CHC features two division leaders in the Rangers (8-4) and the Cubs (9-5). Facing off on the hill are Tyler Mahle vs. lefty Shota Imanaga.

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:

• AZ Lourdes Gurriel Jr., small sample but is 3-8 with 2 HR and a double vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• ATL Michael Harris II, small sample but is 4-5 with 2 HR and a double vs. PHI Taijuan Walker

• COL Ryan McMahon, small sample but is 2-5 with 2 HR vs. MIL Tyler Alexander

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:

• BOS Jarren Duran, 7-19 with a HR and five doubles vs. TOR Kevin Gausman

• CHW Andrew Vaughn, 8-17 with a HR and three doubles vs. CLE Logan Allen

• CHW Luis Robert Jr., 5-12 with two doubles vs. CLE Logan Allen

• ATL Bryan De La Cruz, 9-23 with a HR and two doubles vs. PHI Taijuan Walker

• ATL Austin Riley, 5-12 with a HR and a triple vs. PHI Taijuan Walker

• STL Willson Contreras, 7-19 with a HR and three doubles vs. PIT Mitch Keller

• STL Lars Nootbaar, 6-15 with a HR and a double vs. PIT Mitch Keller

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:

• 12 - ATH Jacob Wilson

• 11 - MIL Brice Turang

• 10 - MIL Jackson Chourio

• 7 - NYM Francisco Lindor

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 Trevor Story, 3-26 with 13 K vs. TOR Kevin Gausman

• CHC Ian Happ, 2-23 with 12 K (though the hits were a HR and a double) vs. TEX Tyler Mahle

• KCR MJ Melendez, 1-15 with 10 K vs. MIN Joe Ryan

• KCR Kyle Isbel, 1-12 with 3 K vs. Joe Ryan

• SFG Mike Yastrzemski, 0-11 with 7 K vs. CIN Nick Martinez

• TBR Brandon Lowe, 0-12 with 6 K vs. LAA Yusei Kikuchi

• SEA Cal Raleigh, 2-13 with 6 K vs. HOU Hunter Brown

• TOR George Springer, 0-12 with 5 K vs. BOS Tanner Houck

• TOR Alejandro Kirk, 0-11 though only 2 K vs. BOS Tanner Houck

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

Bonus points if you knew the answer to, or even guessed correctly, today’s obscure trivia question. It was Willie Stargell in 1983 who was the live narrator on the special concert tour described above.

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