The Baseball Buffet for 5/14/2025

Issue #274

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 48th day of the season had a full Tuesday slate (15) of games, though there were two rainouts:

• MIL 0, CLE 2 - Other than a HR by Jose Ramirez, Quinn Priester pitched well (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K). But Logan Allen did even better (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), and three Guardians relievers combined with him on the shutout, including Emmanuel Clase who struck out two in the ninth inning to lock down his ninth save.

• PIT 1, NYM 2 - The Pirates outhit the Mets 7-5, but its hard to score runs if you go 0-13 with runners in scoring position. Kodai Senga pitched well (5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) and Edwin Diaz notched his 9th save of the year. Mitch Keller also pitched well (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K), but the two runs allowed were enough.

• BOS 9, DET 10 - This one had 25 hits and run scoring spread throughout, with Alex Bregman, David Hamilton, Spencer Torkelson, and Javier Báez all hitting HR leading to a 6-6 tie through nine innings. Both teams scored a run in the tenth, and Kristian Campbell hit a 2-run HR in the top of the 11th. Greg Weissert was the Red Sox seventh pitcher of the game, and in the bottom of the 11th, Javier Báez hit his second HR of the day, a 3-run walk off.

• TBR 11, TOR 9 - The Rays had homers from Jonathan Aranda and Danny Jansen, but the Blue Jays had four: two from Daulton Varsho, and one each from Bo Bichette and Ernie Clement. As a result, Toronto had a 7-6 lead through eight innings. But then Jeff Hoffman allowed four hits including a grand slam by Junior Caminero that put the Rays up 11-7. The Jays scored two in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough.

• WAS 2, ATL 5 - CJ Abrams hit a leadoff HR, but Spencer Schwellenbach otherwise pitched well (7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K). Atlanta’s rookie catcher Drake Baldwin was 3-4 with a HR and a double, and Pierce Johnson had his first save on the season.

• MIA 4, CHC 5 - Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby hit homers for Miami, and they had a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. A series of hits including Nico Hoerner driving in one with a single and Justin Turner driving in two with a walk-off double gave the Cubs the victory.

• COL 1, TEX 4 - Jack Leiter pitched well (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K), and Josh Jung hit two HR to drive in all four Texas runs.

• KCR 1, HOU 2 - Jeremy Peña hit his 6th HR of the year, but Kris Bubic otherwise pitched well (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K). Framber Valdez pitched eight strong innings (8 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K), and in the bottom of the ninth Isaac Paredes came through with a walk-off HR for the win.

• CHW 5, CIN 1 - Andrew Abbott pitched well (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K), but so did Jonathan Cannon (6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K). With Chicago up 1-0, Elly De La Cruz hit a solo HR in the bottom of the ninth to force extras. Emilio Pagán, who had pitched in the ninth, went back out for the 10th and let up a 3-run HR to Miguel Vargas to give the White Sox the eventual win.

• LAA 4, SDP 6 - Zach Neto hit his 6th HR of the year, but Dylan Cease otherwise pitched well (6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K). Jose Siriano pitched well for Los Angeles (7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K), and Matthew Lugo hit a 2-run pinch-hit HR in the seventh to put the Angels up 4-2. But then the Padres battled back as Ryan Zeferjahn let up two runs in the bottom of the 8th, and Kenley Jansen let up a walk-off two-run HR to Fernando Tatis Jr. in the bottom of the 9th.

• NYY 1, SEA 2 - This one was indeed the pitching duel I thought it might be. Max Fried pitched well (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), and four Yankees pitchers combined to strikeout the Mariners 13 times through nine innings. But Bryan Woo also pitched well (6.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K), and four Mariners relievers combined to strike out the Yankees 13 times (in 10 innings). So it came down to the bottom of the 11th, when a couple of singles drove in the ghost-running Manfred Man in Leody Taveras for the Seattle win.

• AZ 6, SFG 10 - Josh Naylor hit his 5th HR and Corbin Carroll hit his 14th HR to tie Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead. But the Giants had three HR, including 2B Christian Koss hitting a grand slam in the second inning as the first homer of his major league career. Willy Adames added his 5th HR in the fifth inning, and Jung Hoo Lee added his 5th HR in the eighth inning.

• ATH 11, LAD 1 - Landon Knack struck out 8 in 4.2 IP, but he also allowed 7 hits and 5 runs. Jeffrey Springs pitched well (7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), and the Athletics hitters supported him with five HR, including two from Jacob Wilson, and one each from Nick Kurtz, Miguel Andujar, and JJ Bleday.

• STL vs. PHI - postponed

• MIN vs. BAL - postponed

Today’s Trivia Question

Looking ahead, it seems Clayton Kershaw will be making his 2025 debut on Saturday. He currently sits 21st on the all-time strikeout list, with 2,968. Justin Verlander (3,456) is 10th, and Max Scherzer (3,408) is 11th. After those three, which two active pitchers have the most career strikeouts?

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

• DET C Jake Rogers

• PHI RP Jose Ruiz

• MIN RP Michael Tonkin

• CHW RF Austin Slater

• DET SP Sawyer Gipson-Long

• CLE CF Lane Thomas

• SFG 1B Casey Schmitt

• SFG 2B Tyler Fitzgerald

• ATL RF Ronald Acuna Jr.

🤕 Placed on the IL

• NYY 3B Oswaldo Cabrera - 10-day IL (left ankle fracture)… though no doubt he will be out much longer

• CHC LF Ian Happ - 10-day IL (left olique strain)

• CLE SP Ben Lively - 15-day IL (right forearm strain)

• TEX SS Corey Seager - 10-day IL (right hamstring strain)

🚼 Placed on the Paternity List

• WAS 2B Luis Garcia Jr.

📝 Signed Free Agent

• KCR SP Rich Hill (to a minor league contract)—the 45-year old veteran is back!

• NYY SP Anthony DeSclafani (to a minor league contract)

• PHI 1B Seth Beer (to a minor league contract)

• SEA OF Tomo Otosaka (to a minor league contract)—check out his foreign league career numbers

League Leaders

It has been over ten days since I reported out on the OPS leaders, so here is everyone who qualifies and is at .900 or higher:

• 1.267 - NYY Aaron Judge

• 1.145 - LAD Freddie Freeman

• 1.035 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

• 1.008 - NYM Pete Alonso

• .996 - TBR Jonathan Arranda

• .985 - PHI Kyle Schwarber

• .977 - AZ Corbin Carroll

• .963 - SDP Fernando Tatis Jr.

• .948 - BOS Alex Bregman

• .933 - LAD Teoscar Hernandez

• .930 - BOS Wilyer Abreu

• .922- SEA Cal Raleigh

• .915 - LAD Will Smith

• .912 - NYY Ben Rice

• .908 - TOR George Springer

• .902 - ATH Jacob Wilson

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 May 14…

• 1913: Walter Johnson finally allows a run. According to baseball-reference.com, “At Sportsman's Park, Walter Johnson tops Jack Coombs' record of 53 consecutive scoreless innings when he stretches the mark to 56 innings. But after the Washington Senators back him with six runs, Johnson gives up a run in the 4th inning against the St. Louis Browns to end his streak. Ahead 9-1, Johnson is relieved by Joe Boehling and Washington wins, 10-5.”

• 1965: Yaz has a huge day: a cycle with two HR. Boston Red Sox left fielder Carl Yastrzemski hits for the cycle against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park. In addition to the cycle, Yaz added a second HR, but all of that didn’t prevent Boston from losing the game 12-8.

• 1977: Jim Colborn threw a no-hitter. Jim Colborn pitches a no-hitter for the Kansas City Royals, beating the Texas Rangers, 6-0.

• 1996: Dwight Gooden threw a no-hitter. Dwight Gooden becomes the eighth pitcher in New York Yankees history to throw a no-hitter, with a 2-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium.

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Tony Pérez (1942) is a Hall of Famer who had a 23-year major league career, with his best years for the Reds but also spending time with the Expos, Red Sox, and Phillies. A seven-time All-Star, Pérez was a slugger and key run producer for the 1970s Big Red Machine. He played more often at 3B early on, before shifting to 1B for most of his career. Arguably his three best statistical seasons were in 1969 when he hit 37 HR with 122 RBI and a .294 average, in 1970 when he hit 40 HR with 129 RBI and a .317 average, and then in 1973 when he hit 27 HR with 101 RBI an a .314 average. Overall for his career he slugged 379 HR with 2.732 hits, 1,652 RBI, a .279/.341/.463 slash line, and a 122 OPS+. Pérez later was briefly a major league manager, for 44 games with the Reds in 1993, and 114 games with the Marlins in 2001. Also of note, Tony is the father of Eduardo Pérez who had a 13-year career in the majors and has had a long career as a baseball broadcaster.

• Earle Combs (1899) is a Hall of Famer who played his entire 12-year career (1924-1935) for the New York Yankees. He was an important table-setter for the power of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig who batted third and fourth in the famous Murderers’ Row lineup of the late 1920s. As such, Combs scored a lot of runs—1,186 for his career, with eight consecutive seasons of 100+ runs scored, including career highs of 137 in 1927 and then 143 in 1932. He didn’t hit many HR, but did hits lots of doubles and triples, with 30+ doubles in eight consecutive seasons and he led the AL in triples three times: 23 in 1927, 21 in 1928, and 22 in 1930. He retired with an impressive .325/.397/.462 slash line, and a 125 OPS+.

• Roy Halladay (1977) is a Hall of Famer who pitched 12 years with the Blue Jays and then four with the Phillies, spanning 1998-2013. He won 20+ games three times, including leading the AL with a 22-7 record in 2003, and then leading the NL with a 21-10 record in 2010—earning a Cy Young Award in both instances. Halladay was a workhorse, leading his league in complete games seven times, and innings pitched four times. He also was a solid strikeout pitcher, with five seasons of 200+ K. Injuries led to a somewhat early retirement at the age of 36. His career record of 203-105 (.659) is very impressive, and he had a 3.38 ERA and 131 ERA+ to go with it. Tragically, on November 7, 2017, at the age of 40, Roy Halladay died when he crashed his ICON A5 amphibious plane into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. (Source: Wikipedia)

• Dennis Martínez (1953) was born in Nicaragua and is easily the most accomplished Major League player from that country. Over a 23-year career from 1976-1998 he had ten seasons with 14-16 wins each. Martínez pitched the first half of his career with the Orioles, with the second half primarily with the Expos, but then also a bit with the Indians, Mariners, and Braves at the end. A four-time All-Star, he led the NL with a 2.39 ERA in 1991, and retired with a 245-193 (.559) record, 3.70 ERA, and 106 ERA+. Although not a milestone he was likely paying attention to, he pitched 3,999.2 innings of his career—just one out away from 4,000!

Today’s Matchups

A full slate (17) of Wednesday games, including two double-headers, so we have lots of possibilities. Some games that jump out to me are:

• STL vs PHI doubleheader has four interesting pitchers going, with ERick Fedde vs. Jesús Luzardo in game 1, and Sonny Gray vs. Aaron Nola in game 2.

• ATH vs. LAD has Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1.80 ERA, 53 K in 45 IP) taking on rookie Gunnar Hoglund (2.38 ERA, 10 K in 11.1 IP) who has looked good in two starts so far, but will be tested here by a tough Dodgers lineup.

Also on the bump today are NYM Clay Holmes, SEA Luis Castillo, DET Tarik Skubal, and TOR Chris Bassitt.

HR Watch

Predicting who might hit a HR on any given day is a challenge. But here are a few to consider based on opposing SP past performance:

• PHI Bryce Harper, 11-22 with 6 HR and a double vs. STL Erick Fedde—that is an impressive history!

• TBR Brandon Lowe, 5-11 with 3 HR and a double vs. TOR Chris Bassitt

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. In addition to the HR Watch guys listed above, here are some others to consider based on opposing SP past performance:

• SFG Matt Chapman, 7-16 with a HR and 4 doubles vs. AZ Eduardo Rodriguez

• PHI Trea Turner, 9-23 with a triple and a double vs. STL Sonny Gray

• PHI Alec Bohm, 5-11 with a double vs. STL Sonny Gray

• SDP Manny Machado, 9-20 with a double vs. LAA Kyle Hendricks

• COL Ryan McMahon, 7-16 with a double vs. TEX Patrick Corbin

• BAL Ryan O’Hearn, 5-12 vs. MIN Bailey Ober

• NYM Brandon Nimmo, 5-12 with a HR vs. PIT Bailey Falter

• HOU Victor Caratini, 4-11 with a HR vs. KCR Michael Lorenzen

Who is streaking?

These are players on active hit streaks and who for this reason (if playing) might also be interesting picks to get a hit today:

• 13 - SDP Manny Machado

• 9 - NYY Cody Bellinger

• 8 - PHI Alec Bohm

• 8 - CLE Jose Ramirez

• 8 - MIA Connor Norby

• 8 - CHC Nico Hoerner

• 7 - BAL Ryan Mountcastle

• 7 - TOR Ernie Clement

• 7 - SDP Fernando Tatis Jr.

• 7 - MIA Xavier Edwards

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:

• COL Jacob Stallings, 1-17 with 3 K vs. TEX Patrick Corbin

• PHI Bryce Harper, 3-20 with 9 K vs. STL Sonny Gray

• PHI Kyle Schwarber, 3-22 with 9 K vs. STL Sonny Gray

• SFG Willy Adames, 0-10 with 4 K vs. AZ Eduardo Rodriguez

• BAL Gunnar Henderson, 1-11 with 4 K vs. MIN Bailey Ober

• SDP Fernando Tatis Jr., 1-12 but 0 K vs. LAA Kyle Hendricks

• WAS Josh Bell, 1-10 with 2 K vs. ATL Bryce Elder

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

Clayton Kershaw looks to be pitching on Saturday, and he is third on the active career strikeouts list, behind Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. After those three, Chris Sale is currently tied with Jack Morris for 42nd all-time with 2,478 strikeouts, and Gerrit Cole is 61st with 2,251.

Good Reads

Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.

• Decision on ineligibility status after death impacts Rose, others, by Anthony Castrovince at MLB, 5/13/2025

• Instant reaction: Baseball's Ban on Rose is Over, by Joe Posnanski at Joe Blogs, 5/13/2025

• 7 utility players thriving through their versatility, by Jeffrey Lutz at MLB, 5/13/2025

• These big leaguers played for the most teams, by MLB.com writers, 5/13/2025

See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!

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