The Baseball Buffet for 5/27/2025

Issue #287

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 61st day of the season had a partial slate (12) of Monday games:

• SFG 1, DET 3 - Keider Montero pitched well (5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) and five Tigers relievers held the Giants to just one run with Will Vest (1.44 ERA in 23 appearances), securing his 6th save.

• BOS 2, MIL 3 - Jackson Chourio led off the game with a HR, but otherwise Garrett Crochet pitched well (6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 K). Chad Patrick was solid in a short outing (4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K), and although Trevor Megill let up some baserunners and one run in the ninth, he was able to close things out for his 10th save on the year.

• COL 1, CHC 3 - Mickey Moniak hit a HR for the second day in a row, but that was the only run the Rockies could generate as Jameson Taillon pitched well (6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) and four Cubs relievers shut out Colorado the rest of the way.

• STL 2, BAL 5 - 41-year old Charlie Morton let up a HR to Cardinals catcher Pedro Pagés, but otherwise pitched well (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K). Ryan O’Hearn went 3-4, Dylan Carlson was 2-4 with a stolen base and a 3-run HR, and three Orioles relievers pitched scoreless 7-9th innings, with Felix Bautista notching his 8th save.

• TOR 2, TEX 1 - Wyatt Langford had a solo HR, but the Rangers offense again struggled. Kevin Gausman pitched well (8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K), and Jeff Hoffman pitched the ninth to get his 11th save. Daulton Varsho went 3-5 with a HR and a double, and while Jacob deGrom pitched fairly well (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K), the two runs allowed was all it took. Of note… when is the last time Jacob deGrom pitched 5.1 or more innings and didn’t strike anyone out? Answer: never. In fact, until yesterday every game in which deGrom has pitched 5.1 or more innings he has produced at least 2 strikeouts.

• CIN 7, KCR 4 - Salvador Perez hit his fourth HR of the year, but Nick Martinez otherwise pitched pretty well (7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K). The Reds lineup meanwhile produced 14 hits, including 11 off Royals starter Michael Lorenzen (5 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K). Catcher Tyler Stephenson led the way going 3-5 with his second HR of the season.

• CHW 1, NYM 2 - Adrian Houser pitched well for Chicago (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), but the White Sox bullpen let up two runs late in the game. Clay Holmes did well (5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K), and four Mets relievers pitched shutout ball the rest of the way.

• LAD 7, CLE 2 - José Ramírez went 2-4 with two doubles, but Cleveland couldn’t get much going offensively. Gavin Williams walked six batters (4.2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 6 BB, 3 K) and let up a HR to Shohei Ohtani, his second leadoff HR in consecutive days, and his 19th of the year which puts him atop the MLB leaderboard. Will Smith went 2-3 with two walks and a HR late in the game, while his battery mate Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched well again (6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) and three Dodgers relievers blanked the Guardians in the final three innings.

• MIN 2, TBR 7 - Zack Littell pitched well (6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) and everyone in the Rays lineup had at least one hit. Jonathan Aranda was 2-4 with a 2-run HR, and catcher Danny Jansen added a 2-run HR of his own in the 8th inning as the Rays padded their lead.

• PIT 0, AZ 5 - Eugenio Suárez hit his 15th HR of the year and Josh Naylor had his 6th HR in support of Arizona’s Ryne Nelson who solid in this one (6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K). Four D-Backs relievers combined on the shutout, with Gabriel Moreno chipping in by going 3-4 with a double. While the Pirates offense once again couldn’t do much, one bright spot for the team was seeing 25-year old prospect Braxton Ashcraft make his major league debut and do well in relief (3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K).

• MIA 3, SDP 4 - Ryan Weathers pitched well (5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K) and Miami scored three runs early, including a solo HR by Jesús Sánchez. But then Manny Machado hit a HR in the 8th inning to tie the game at 3-3. In the bottom of the 11th, with one out and runners on first and third, Marlins pitcher Cade Gibson threw a wild pitch allowing Tyler Wade to score the winning run.

• NYY 5, LAA 1 - Zach Neto led off the bottom of the first with a HR off Ryan Yarbrough, who then only allowed one other hit over six innings (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K). Three Yankees relievers shut out the Angels the rest of the way, while New York made the most of their six hits, including a three-run double by Anthony Volpe in the fourth inning.

Today’s Trivia Question

As noted above, the Rockies lost again, bringing their record to 9-45 on the season. So it would be fitting if a member of this squad were to break a negative hitting record, like say most strikeouts in a single season. Well that is what 1B Michael Toglia is on pace to do, as he has 77 thus far and is on pace for 231. Can you name both the all-time record holder, who had 223 strikeouts, but also the next two on that leaderboard, who had 222 and 219, respectively? (Hint: the seasons are 2009, 2012, 2016, in that order.)

Trivia answer is at the bottom of the newsletter.

MLB Debut Yesterday

New section! Here I’ll try to keep up with players who just made their MLB debut the day before!

• MIA CF Victor Mesa (23 years old) - Entered the game late and went 0-1. Had been 6-20 at AAA, and looks to have some power, with 13 HR in the minors in 2023, and 18 HR in 2024.

• SDP RP David Morgan (25 years old) - The right-handed entered in the 8th inning and recorded two outs. He had a high ERA of 6.91 in the minors this year, but also an impressive 30 K in his 14.1 IP.

• PIT SP/RP Braxton Ashcraft (25 years old) - Second round draft pick out of high school in 2018, as noted above he pitched three solid innings in relief yesterday. Although only 3-3 with a 5.40 ERA in AAA this year, he had 56 K in 48.1 IP and projects to be a starter when a rotation spot opens up for the Pirates or elsewhere.

• KCR RF John Rave (27 years old) - Batted sixth and went 0-2 with 2 K and a walk. Was hitting .301 with 9 HR and 17 SB in 44 games at AAA.

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).

➕ Sent on a Rehab Assignment

• LAD SP Emmet Sheehan

• SDP SS Ha-Seong Kim

🤕 Placed on the IL

• MIA CF Derek Hill - 10-day IL (left wrist sprain)

📝 Signed as Free Agent

• LAA IF/OF Chris Taylor - the longtime Dodger utility player is staying in the LA area for the time being.

League Leaders

It has been ten days since I checked in on the batting average leaders, but Aaron Judge is still hovering around .400!

• .398 - NYY Aaron Judge

• .361 - LAD Freddie Freeman

• .350 - ATH Jacob Wilson

• .345 - NYY Paul Goldschmidt

• .340 - BAL Ryan O’Hearn

• .333 - LAD Will Smith

• .328 - STL Brendan Donovan

• .319 - SDP Manny Machado

• .314 - CLE Steven Kwan

• .313 - CLE José Ramírez

• .310 - PHI Trea Turner

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 27…

• 1939: Charlie Gehringer hits for the cycle. Detroit’s Charlie Gehringer hit for the cycle, in a 12-5 win against the St. Louis Browns. It was a natural cycle, as Gehringer does it in order: single, double, triple, home run.

• 1960: Clint Courtney uses an oversized mitt to catch Hoyt Wilhelm. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Baltimore Orioles catcher Clint Courtney uses an oversized mitt in an effort to handle the pitches of knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm. The mitt, designed by Baltimore manager Paul Richards, is 50 percent larger than the standard. Courtney handles Wilhelm's pitches flawlessly in a 3-2 win over the Yankees. The oversized mitt will later be banned.”

• 2004: Carlos Peña goes 6-6 with 2 HR. Carlos Peña of the Detroit Tigers goes 6 for 6 with two home runs, five RBI, and four runs in a 17-7 victory over Kansas City.

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Frank Thomas (1968) had a 19-year major league career, as a 1B and DH, mostly with the White Sox. His immense size (listed as 6’5”, 240 pounds) and power-hitting earned him the nickname “Big Hurt.” Though he never led his league in HR or RBI, he did hit 25+ HR in 12 seasons, with 40+ HR five times. He scored 100+ runs in nine seasons, and had 100+ RBI in 11 seasons. He walked a lot, leading the AL in BB four times. A five-time All-Star, Thomas was AL MVP in both 1993 and 1994 and later won a batting title with a .347 mark in 1997. Over his career Thomas had 1,494 runs, 521 HR, 1,704 RBI, a .301/.419/.555 slash line, and a 156 OPS+.

• Jeff Bagwell (1968) was a contemporary of Thomas, playing from 1991-2005, entirely with the Houston Astros (Thomas and Bagwell thus far are the only two Hall of Famers born on the exact same day, in their case May 27, 1968.) Bagwell was NL Rookie of the Year in 1992 after hitting 15 HR with 82 RBI with a .294 average and .387 OBP. A four-time All-Star, Bagwell was NL MVP in the strike-shortened 1994 season when he led the NL with both 104 runs and 116 RBI, while hitting 39 HR with 15 SB and an impressive .368 average and .451 OBP. He received some MVP consideration in nine other seasons, including coming in second in the voting in 1999 when he led the NL with 143 runs and 149 walks, while hitting 42 HR with 126 RBI and a .304 average. Overall for his career Bagwell had 1,517 runs, 449 HR, 1,529 RBI, 202 SB, a .297/.408/.540 slash line, and a 149 OPS+.

• Pinky Higgins (1909) was a third baseman who played 14 seasons spanning from 1930-1946, spending his time with the Tigers, Athletics, and Red Sox. A three-time All-Star, Higgins received down-ballot MVP consideration in five seasons. He had modest power, with a high of 23 HR in 1935, but had 106 RBI in both 1937 and 1938, even while only hitting 9 and 5 HR in those two seasons, respectively. Higgins retired with 1,941 hits, 140 HR, a .292/.370/.428 slash line, and 107 OPS+.

• Terry Moore (1912) played 11 seasons in the majors spanning from 1935-1948, interrupted by military service from 1943-1945. He hit a career high 17 HR in both 1939 and 1940, two of four consecutive All-Star seasons. Moore was a great defensive CF, frequently leading the NL in various CF defensive statistics. Overall, he retired with a .280/.340/.399 slash line.

• Gary Nolan (1948) had a 10-year major league career, pitching for the Reds for all but his final short season. He went 14-8 with a 2.58 ERA as a rookie in 1967, then was 18-7 with a 3.27 ERA in 1970. He was an All-Star in 1972 when he went 15-5 with an impressive 1.99 ERA, and then went 15-9 in both of the Reds World Series Championship seasons in 1975 and 1976. Overall he retired with a 110-70 (.611) record, 3.08 ERA, and 117 ERA+.

• Todd Hundley (1969) had a 14 year career as a catcher, mostly with the Mets, but spending some time with the Dodgers and Cubs too. He had some power, hitting 202 career HR including 41 HR in 1996 and 30 HR in 1997, his two All-Star campaigns.

• John Jaha (1966) was a slugging 1B for the Brewers and A’s over a ten-year Major League career. His two best seasons came in 1996 when he hit 34 HR with 118 RBI and a .300 average, and then in 1999 when he was an All-Star and hit 35 HR with 111 RBI. He only played in 100+ games in three seasons, so his career HR total was a modest 141, but he had a career .465 SLG and 116 OPS+.

• José Berríos (1994) is a pitcher with the Blue Jays in his 10th year in the majors. He represented the Twins as an All-Star in both 2018 and 2019, and has thus far had seven seasons with 10 or more wins. A good fielding pitcher, he took home a Gold Glove Award in 2023, and thus far in his career has a 103-79 record, 4.08 ERA, and 104 ERA+.

In addition to José Berríos, other currently active major leaguers born on May 27 include LAA 3B Yoán Moncada, NYM RP Danny Young, and PIT 2B Nick Gonzalez.

Today’s Matchups

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

• ATL vs. PHI is an NL East battle with Spencer Strider making his second start since coming back from the IL, facing the Phillies’ Ranger Suárez (3.70 ERA, 23 K in 24.1 IP).

• LAD vs. CLE is game two of the interesting Dodgers (33-21) vs. Guardians (29-24) series. The pitching matchup is Dustin May (4.09 ERA, 49 K in 50.2 IP) and Tanner Bibee (3.57 ERA, 43 K in 58 IP).

Also on the hill today are AZ Corbin Burnes, SFG Logan Webb, MIN Joe Ryan, TEX Nathan Eovaldi, HOU Hunter Brown, and NYY Carlos Rodón.

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:

• ATL Ozzie Albies, only 6-23 but with 3 HR vs. PHI Ranger Suárez

• PIT Oneil Cruz, small sample but is 2-7 with 2 HR vs. AZ Corbin Burnes

• SFG Willy Adames, only 3-12 for with 2 HR vs. DET Jack Flaherty

• HOU Chas McCormick, 4-12 with 2 HR and a double vs. ATH JP Sears

• PHI Bryce Harper, 6-20 with 2 HR vs. ATL Spencer Strider

• PHI Brandon Marsh, 6-17 with 2 HR and a double vs. ATL Spencer Strider

• ATL Austin Riley, 8-25 with 2 HR and 3 doubles vs. PHI Ranger Suárez

• NYM Juan Soto, just one game but is 2-3 with 2 HR vs. CHW Jonathan Cannon

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:

• TOR Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 10-23 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. TEX Nathan Eovaldi

• TOR Alejandro Kirk, 6-10 with 2 doubles vs. TEX Nathan Eovaldi

• CIN Austin Hays, small sample but is 3-7 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. KCR Daniel Lynch

• CHC Dansby Swanson, small sample but is 4-7 with a HR, a triple, and a double vs. COL Germán Márquez

• LAA Chris Taylor, small sample but is 5-9 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. NYY Carlos Rodón

• BOS Jarren Duran, small sample but is 4-8 with a double vs. MIL Aaron Civale

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:

• 19 - CLE Jose Ramirez

• 12 - ATH Miguel Andujar

• 11 - ATL Ozzie Albies

• 11 - KCR Maikel Garcia

• 11 - TBR Chandler Simpson

• 10 - DET KCR Vinnie Pasquantino

• 9 - DET Dillon Dingler

• 9 - MIA Connor Norby

• 9 - AZ Ketel Marte

• 9 - BAL Ramon Urias

• 9 - TBR Brandon Lowe

• 8 - WAS Amed Rosario

• 8 - ATH Lawrence Butler

• 8 - BOS Carlos Narváez

• 8 - TBR Curtis Mead

• 7 - PHI Alec Bohm

• 7 - CHC Seiya Suzuki

• 7 - MIN Kody Clemens

• 7 - 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:

• PHI J.T. Realmuto, 3-22 with 12 K vs. ATL Spencer Strider

• PHI Johan Rojas, 1-11 with 5 K vs. ATL Spencer Strider

• PHI Trea Turner, 3-23 but with only 2K, and two of the hits were a HR and a double, vs. ATL Spencer Strider

• PIT Ke’Bryan Hayes, 1-16 with 6 K vs. AZ Corbin Burnes

• ATL Michael Harris II, 2-20 with 5 K vs. PHI Ranger Suárez

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

The Rockies are 9-45 on the season, and one of their many problems is 1B Michael Toglia hitting .199 with 77 strikeouts, which is on pace for 231 which would smash the all-time record. The three highest single-season totals for strikeouts by a batter are:

• 223 - Mark Reynolds, 2009

• 222 - Adam Dunn, 2012

• 219 - Chris Davis, 2016

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.

• 9 players who need to step up to boost disappointing clubs, by Jared Greenspan at MLB, 5/26/2025

• We Found the Worst MLB Team Ever Assembled, by Molly Knight at The Long Game, 5/23/2025

• A Brief History of Bay Area Managers, by Rich Campbell at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 5/27/2025

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

Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newslette/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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