The Baseball Buffet for 5/31/2025

Issue #291

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 65th day of the season had a full slate (15) of Friday games:

• CIN 6, CHC 2 - The Reds hit three HR off Colin Rea (5.2 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K), including TJ Friedl, Tyler Stephenson, and Jake Fraley. Meanwhile Andrew Abbott was outstanding (7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K) and Emilio Pagán got the last two outs for his 14th save.

• CHW 1, BAL 2 - Jared Shuster was a one-inning opener for Chicago, and then Sean Burke pitched pretty well (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K). But the two runs he allowed were enough because Zach Eflin pitched very well (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and Felix Bautista pitched the ninth for his 9th save.

• MIL 6, PHI 2 - Christian Yelich hit two HR, and the two Brewers pitchers did well: DL Hall (3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) and Quinn Priester (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K). Nick Castellanos hit his fifth HR, and Kyle Schwarber was 2-4 with two doubles, but that wasn’t nearly enough offense.

• COL 2, NYM 4 - Francisco Lindor went 3-4 with two HR, and Starling Marte added a solo HR. Meanwhile David Peterson pitched well (5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) and Edwin Díaz struck out three in the ninth to secure his 12th save.

• ATH 7, TOR 11 - Lots of offense here, with 25 hits and 18 runs. Tyler Soderstrom his his 11th HR and Shea Langeliers hit his 10th. But Jeffrey Springs was wild and the Jays jumped on him early (2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 6 BB, 2 K). Ernie Clement went 4-5 with a HR and a double, and Addison Barger added a solo HR.

• LAA 4, CLE 1 - Luis L. Ortiz pitched well (6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), but Guardians relievers allowed three runs late, including a HR by Jorge Soler. Meanwhile José Soriano pitched well (6 IP, 4 IP, 0 ER, 4 BB, 2 K) for his fourth win on the year. Mike Trout also made his return from the IL in this game, hitting the ball hard but going 1-5 with a single.

• SFG 2, MIA 0 - Tyler Fitzgerald went 3-4 with a double and Matt Chapman went 2-2 with a HR and a walk. Kyle Harrison pitched well (5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and six Giants relievers combined on the 3-hit shutout, with Camilo Doval getting the final four outs for his 6th save on the year.

• BOS 5, ATL 1 - Grant Holmes struck out 9 in 5.2 innings, but let up three runs including a 2-run HR to Trevor Story. Lucas Giolito pitched fairly well (4.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) and five Red Sox relievers shut out the Braves the rest of the way.

• TBR 1, HOU 2 - José Caballero hit a leadoff HR, but Framber Valdez otherwise did great for an 83-pitch complete game win (9 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K). Ryan Pepiot did well (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), but the Astros scored two runs late, including Yainer Diaz hitting his 7th HR.

• PIT 2, SDP 3 - Mitch Keller pitched pretty well (6 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K), but the three runs he allowed was all it took, as Nick Pivetta also did well (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) and Robert Suarez recorded the last four outs for his 18th save on the year.

• STL 1, TEX 11 - Jack Leiter pitched well (5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) and the Rangers lineup finally busted out, collecting 15 hits including HR by Wyatt Langford and Marcus Semien, who went 4-4 to raise his average to a still unsightly .190 on the year. Oddly, Texas scored their 11 runs against the three actual Cardinals pitchers used, but were held scoreless against position player Alec Burleson who pitched the ninth.

• DET 7, KCR 5 - Bobby Witt Jr. had his 6th HR, and the Royals totaled 12 hits, but they also left 11 runners on base. Meanwhile the Tigers were powered by homers from Riley Greene, Dillon Dingler, and Spencer Torkelson.

• WAS 9, AZ 7 - Both teams scored early, including Nationals getting HR from James Wood and Josh Bell in the third inning, With the game tied 6-6 after three, the Nats pitchers quieted the D-Backs bats, with Kyle Finnegan allowing one more run but securing his 16th save.

• MIN 12, SEA 6 - The Big Dumper had a big day, as Cal Raleigh went 2-4 with two HR and five RBI, giving him 21 homers on the year. But Willi Castro also had two HR, and Trevor Larnach had a solo HR and was 4-6 with 4 RBI overall in this one. The Twins were down 6-3 heading into the ninth and were facing Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz, who had a 0.00 ERA coming into this contest. Down to their final out, Minnesota scored three runs to tie the game, and came up big in the tenth with six more runs off Casey Legumina, including a 2-run HR by Carlos Correa.

• NYY 5, LAD 8 - Lots of excitement in game one of this interesting World Series replay matchup. Both Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani hit homers, with Ohtani actually hitting two solo shots. New York added three other HR from Austin Wells, Trent Grisham, and Paul Goldschmidt. But Max Fried had a rare bad start (5 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) even though, as I noted yesterday, he historically had done quite well against most Dodgers he was facing (just not Ohtani!). Tony Gonsolin didn’t fare much better (6 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K), but the LA bullpen shut out the Yankees in the final three innings with Alex Vesia picking up his second save.

Today’s Trivia Question

As noted above, Robert Suarez is now alone in leading the majors in saves with 18. Should he lead at least the NL in saves this year, he would join a host of others in Padres history to do so. Of course Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman did—twice, in 1998 and 2006. How many of the five others can you name?

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 LF Heriberto Hernández (25 years old) started the game and batted second, going 0-1 with a strikeout and a walk before being pinch hit for by Jesús Sánchez. Hernández has demonstrated some power in the minors, including 24 HR in 2022 and 23 HR in 2024.

• KCR RP Andrew Hoffmann (25 years old) pitched the final two innings against Detroit, striking out four but allowing three hits and two ER. Hoffmann has averaged over a strikeout per inning in the minors, mostly as a starter and then this year as a reliever with AAA Omaha. But he’s also often posted a pretty high ERA, including 4.97 in 19 appearances 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).

➕ Sent on a Rehab Assignment

• TEX CF Evan Carter

• CLE SP Shane Bieber

• SEA RP Trent Thornton

• AZ SP Eduardo Rodriguez

🤕 Placed on the IL

• BAL OF Cedric Mullins - 10-day IL (right hamstring strain)

• KCR RP Lucas Erceg - 15-day IL (low back strain)

• TOR OF Anthony Santander - 10-day IL (left shoulder inflammation)

• CIN LF Austin Hays - 10-day IL (left foot contusion)

• DET SP Jackson Jobe - 15-day IL (right grade one flexor strain)

• ATL RF Stuart Fairchild - 10-day IL (left pinky finger dislocation)

• BOS RP Liam Hendricks - 15-day IL (right hip inflammation)

• CLE CF Lane Thomas - 10-day IL (right foot plantar fasciitis)

League Leaders

As noted above, Max Fried was roughed up by the strong Dodgers lineup, so he has dropped from first to fourth on the current MLB leaderboard:

• 1.45 - KCR Kris Bubic

• 1.56 - TEX Nathan Eovaldi

• 1.64 - TEX Tyler Mahle

• 1.92 - NYY Max Fried

• 1.97 - LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto

• 2.00 - HOU Hunter Brown

• 2.04 - BOS Garrett Crochet

• 2.15 - PHI Jesús Luzardo

• 2.15 - PIT Paul Skenes

• 2.33 - TBR Drew Rasmussen

• 2.42 - TEX Jacob deGrom

• 2.49 - DET Tarik Skubal

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 31…

• 1948: Tommy Lasorda has quite a game. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Pitching for the Schenectady Blue Jays of the Can-Am League, Tommy Lasorda strikes out 25 batters and collects the game-winning hit in the 15th inning in a 6 - 5 win over the Amsterdam Rugmakers.”

• 1961: The guy who pinch hit for both Williams and Yastrzemski. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Batting for Carl Yastrzemski, Boston Red Sox pinch hitter Carroll Hardy bunts for a single in the 8th inning of 7-6 loss to the Yankees. Hardy will be the only player to pinch-hit for both Yastrzemski and Ted Williams.

• 1979: It was an Underwood family affair. As described at baseball-reference.com, “In his major league debut, Pat Underwood blanks the Blue Jays for 8 1/3 innings, earning the victory when the Tigers beat Toronto, 1-0, thanks to Jerry Morales' 8th-inning solo home run. The 22-year-old rookie's mound opponent is his older brother Tom Underwood, now winless in seven decisions, who goes the distance in the Exhibition Stadium contest.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Kenny Lofton (1967) had an impressive 17-year career as a CF, drafted by the Astros in 1988, but then playing the first half of his career mostly with the Indians before spending partial or one-year stints with nine other teams. While he had a little HR power, his primary weapon was his speed on the bases as he led the AL in SB in five consecutive seasons from 1992-1996 with highs of 70 in 1993 and 75 in 1996. A six-time All-Star, Lofton was also excellent defensively, winning four Gold Glove Awards. He scored 100+ runs six times, and had a career total of 1,528 runs, along with 622 SB, a .299/.372/.423 slash line and 107 OPS+.

• Jake Peavy (1981) had a 15-year major league pitching career, with his best seasons coming early with the Padres before he later spent time with the White Sox, Red Sox, and Giants. He led the NL in ERA twice, first with a 2.27 mark in 2004, and then again with a 2.54 ERA in 2007. That year he won the NL Cy Young Award and NL pitching triple crown, as he also led in wins with a 19-6 record and strikeouts with 240. A three-time All-Star, Peavy retired with a 152-126 (.547) record , 3.63 ERA, and 110 ERA+.

• Shane Bieber (1995) is currently still recovering from Tommy John surgery, but he appears to be nearing a return finally. Hopefully at only 30 years old as of today, he still has plenty of good pitching in his future. Since 2018 he has been an All-Star twice, and won the AL Cy Young Award in the shortened 2020 season when he won the AL pitching triple crown with an 8-1 record, 1.63 ERA, and 122 strikeouts (in just 12 starts). For his career to date he has a 62-32 (.660) record, 3.22 ERA, and 133 ERA+.

• Dave Roberts (1972) had a 10-year career in the majors from 1999-2008, playing a mix of CF and LF for the Dodgers, Indians, Padres, Giants, and Red Sox. He posted 30+ SB five times, and overall had 243 SB for his career with a .266 average and .342 OBP. Today his better known for his on-going career as a manager with the Dodgers, where since 2016 he has guided them to an impressive .627 winning percentage with first-place NL West finishes in 8 out of 9 seasons and World Series championships in 2020 and 2024.

In addition to Shane Bieber, other currently active major leaguers born on May 31 include ATL Spencer Schwellenbach, SEA Emerson Hancock, BAL Matt Bowman, ATH Grant Holman, and ATL David Fletcher.

Today’s Matchups

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

• MIL vs. PHI features two starters who have good numbers so far this year: Chad Patrick (2.97 ERA, and 51 K in 57.2 IP) and Jesús Luzardo (2.15 ERA, 77 K in 67 IP).

• DET vs. KCR is another AL Central battle with two good but quite different starters in Tarik Skubal (2.49 ERA, 92 K in 68.2 IP) and Michael Wacha (3.21 ERA, 44 K in 61.2 IP).

Also taking the hill today are SDP Dylan Cease, STL Sonny Gray, NYM Kodai Senga, ATL Spencer Schwellenbach, and SFG Robbie Ray.

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:

• KCR Salvador Perez, 11-33 with 4 HR and 2 doubles vs. DET Tarik Skubal

• NYM Brandon Nimmo, small sample but is 2-8 with 2 HR vs. COL Antonio Senzatela

• BOS Rafael Devers, small sample but is 2-5 with 2 HR vs. ATL Spencer Schwellenbach

• SDP Manny Machado, small sample but is 2-4 with 2 HR vs. PIT Bailey Falter

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:

• NYM Starling Marte, 7-13 with a HR and a double vs. COL Antonio Senzatela

• HOU Jose Altuve, 6-10 vs. TBR Zack Littell

• ATL Austin Riley, 6-15 with a double vs. BOS Walker Buehler

• DET Colt Keith, 5-11 with a double vs. KCR Michael Wacha

• CHC Seiya Suzuki, 5-11 with 3 doubles vs. CIN Nick Lodolo

• WAS Brandon Lowe, 5-9 with a HR and a double vs. AZ Brandon Pfaadt

• AZ Josh Naylor, small sample 4-6 with a HR and a double vs. WAS Michael Soroka

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:

• 14 - KCR Maikel Garcia

• 12 - TBR Brandon Lowe

• 10 - AZ Ketel Marte

• 10 - CHC Seiya Suzuki

• 9 - BAL Ryan O’Hearn

• 9 - CLE Carlos Santana

• 9 - NYY Paul Goldschmidt

• 8 - WAS Amed Rosario

• 8 - AZ Josh Naylor

• 8 - LAD Teoscar Hernandez

• 8 - MIN Ty France

• 7 - CIN TJ Friedl

• 7 - MIL Christian Yelich

• 7 - AZ Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

• 7 - CIN Elly De La Cruz

• 7 - SDP Manny Machado

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:

• ATL Ronald Acuña Jr., 1-12 with 5 K vs. BOS Walker Buehler

• ATL Marcell Ozuna, 0-14 though only 1 K vs. BOS Walker Buehler

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

Robert Suarez currently leads the NL (and all of MLB) with 18 saves. Padres’ Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman led the NL in saves in both 1998 and 2006. The five other Padres relievers to do so have been Mark Melancon (2021), Kirby Yates (2019), Heath Bell (2009), Mark Davis (1989), and Rollie Fingers (1977 and 1978).

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.

• Surprising League Leaders of the 1960s, by Paul Semendinger at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 5/31/2025

• 7 MLB connections to softball you probably didn't know about, by Savanna Collins at MLB, 5/30/2025

• 12 Athletes Unlimited Softball League players you need to know, by Jason Foster at MLB, 5/28/2025

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 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.

This newsletter was produced with beehiiv, an outstanding platform for creating email newsletters and blogs. If this might be of interest for your own creative work, get a 30-day trial and 30% off your first three months!