The Baseball Buffet for 5/4/2025

Issue #265

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 38th day of the season had a full slate (15) of Saturday games:

• SDP 2, PIT 1 - Manny Machado hit a HR, but Bailey Falter otherwise pitched very well (7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K). However, David Bednar once against faltered in the 9th, this time letting up what would be the decisive run on a wild pitch. Robert Suarez secured his MLB-leading 13th save for the Padres.

• TBR 3, NYY 2 - Austin Wells hit his sixth HR of the year, and Aaron Judge went 2-4 with his 11th HR, raising his batting average to .432. But Tampa’s Zack Littell otherwise pitched well (7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) and Pete Fairbanks notched his 7th save.

• HOU 8, CHW 3 - Hunter Brown struck out 9 in 6 innings, but the big story was the Astros ninth hitter CF Jake Meyers who went 4-4 with 2 HR, a triple, and a double, driving in seven of their eight runs. Maybe he’ll move up from the ninth spot in the lineup?

• CLE 5, TOR 3 - Bo Bichette finally hit his first HR of the season, and Kevin Gausman was outstanding (6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K). The Jays outhit the Guardians 8-4, but they were only 1-10 with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile infielder Daniel Schneemann hit homers in both the 8th and 9th innings, and Emmanuel Clase was able to notch his sixth save.

• COL 3, SFG 6 - The Rockies were winning for a brief moment, but then Matt Chapman hit a grand slam to give the Giants back the lead. Jordan Hicks struck out 7 in 5 innings, and Ryan Walker locked down his sixth save.

• MIN 4, BOS 3 - Bailey Ober pitched well (6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), Jhoan Duran got his 3rd save, and Kody Clemens hit his first HR of the year… at Fenway… with his dad, the great Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens, in attendance.

• ATH 6, MIA 9 - The Athletics had three homers (Brent Rooker, JJ Bleday, Luis Urias) against Max Meyer (5 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K) and had a 6-4 lead entering the bottom of the ninth… with sure-thing closer Mason Miller coming in. But the Marlins and particularly RF Kyle Stowers were not intimidated, as he hit a walk-off grand slam (his second HR of the day).

• AZ 2, PHI 7 - The Phillies beat up on Brandon Pfaadt early (4.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1 BB 6 K), with both Max Kepler and J.T. Realmuto hitting homers. Aaron Nola earned his first win of the year after pitching 6 innings and allowing only 4 hits and 0 runs while striking out 8.

• CHC 6, MIL 2 - Jackson Chourio hit his 12th double, and Rhys Hoskins hit his 4th HR, but otherwise Jameson Taillon pitched pretty well (6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). The Cubs were powered by three HR of their own by Pete Crow-Armstrong, Dansby Swanson, and Kyle Tucker.

• SEA 2, TEX 1 - J.P. Crawford hit a HR, but Patrick Corbin otherwise pitched pretty well (5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 K). So did Luis Castillo (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 K), such that the game was 1-1 through eight. In the top of the ninth hot-hitting Jorge Polanco doubled and then Rowdy Tellez singled to center to drive him in. Andrés Muñoz came in and secured his 12th save, extending his scoreless start to 2025 to 16 appearances.

• WAS 11, CIN 6 - A hitters ballpark produced 27 hits in this one, with the first four Nationals batters going a combined 12-21, including James Wood going 4-6 and Amed Rosario going 3-6 with a HR, a double, and 4 RBI.

• KCR 4, BAL 0 - Kris Bubic pitched well (5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 K) and three Royals hit solo HR, including Cavan Biggio, Kyle Isbel, and Vinnie Pasquantino.

• LAD 10, ATL 3 - The Braves almost had as many hits as the Dodgers (10 vs. 12), but they were only 1-10 with runners in scoring position, whereas LA was 5-8 in that situation. All of the Dodgers’ hits came from the first five in their lineup, including Shohei Ohtani who was 3-4 with a solo HR, and Freddie Freeman who was 3-5 with a 3-run HR.

• DET 2, LAA 5 - Kyle Hendricks pitched well (7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 K) and closer Kenley Jansen got two outs to earn his seventh save (nice to see after his disastrous game on Friday). Spencer Torkelson hit his 10th HR of the year for the Tigers.

• NYM vs. STL - postponed

Today’s Trivia Question

What four players have hit a home run as a teenager and after turning forty?

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

• SDP OF Jackson Merrill

• SDP 2B Jake Cronenworth

• LAA 3B Yoan Moncada

🤕 Placed on the IL

• BOS 1B Triston Cases - 10-day IL (left patellar tendon rupture… so is likely out for the rest of the year)

• LAD 2B Tommy Edman - 10-day IL (right ankle inflammation)

• PHI RP Jose Ruiz - 15-day IL

• LAA RP Garrett McDaniels (left biceps tendinitis)

• BAL 3B Ramón Urías (right hamstring sprain)

⬆️ Called Up

• LAD 2B Hyeseong Kim (KBO star signed as a free agent during off-season)

• BAL 3B Coby Mayo (major prospect, 23-year old)

League Leaders

MacKenzie Gore is lined up to pitch today, which means he could add to his MLB lead in strikeouts. Garrett Crochet and Logan Webb are also on this leaderboard, and are also scheduled to start today.

• 59 - WAS MacKenzie Gore

• 57 - PHI Zack Wheeler

• 55 - CIN Hunter Greene

• 52 - NYY Carlos Rodón

• 50 - BOS Garrett Crochet

• 50 - SFG Logan Webb

• 49 - HOU Hunter Brown

• 49 - LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto

• 48 - DET Tarik Skubal

• 47 - PHI Jesús Luzardo

• 47 - MIA Max Meyer

• 47 - MIN Joe Ryan

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 4…

• 1871: First official major league game is played. According to baseball-reference.com, “A National Association contest between the Cleveland Forest Citys and Fort Wayne Kekiongas is officially the first Major League game ever played. Fort Wayne is the winner, 2-0, behind a four-hit shutout by pitcher Bobby Mathews. Al Pratt is the losing pitcher. Cleveland's catcher, Deacon White, is 3 for 4, including the first hit (a double) and also is the first to hit into a double play. Bill Lennon becomes the first catcher to throw a runner out trying to steal second base. In the 127 games during the 1871 season, there will be a total of four shutouts.”

• 1984: Dave Kingman makes a ball disappear. According to baseball-reference.com, “At the Metrodome, Dave Kingman of the Oakland Athletics is awarded a ground rule double when the ball he hits disappears. The Athletics slugger's towering fly ball goes through a drainage hole in the stadium roof and never returns to the playing field.”

• 1981: Yankees reliever Ron Davis ties a Nolan Ryan record. Ron Davis of the Yankees strikes out the last eight batters of a 4-2 win over the Angels, tying Nolan Ryan's A.L. record for consecutive strikeouts, while also setting a new record for consecutive strikeouts by a reliever.

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Ben Grieve (1976) was the #2 overall pick by the A’s in the 1994 draft. He quickly rose up through the minors and had a monster AA/AAA season in 1997 with 31 HR, 136 RBI, and a .350/.461/.640 slash line before coming to the majors and batting .312 in 93 at-bats. Grieve retained his rookie eligibility and was AL Rookie of the Year in 1998 after hitting 41 doubles, 18 HR, 89 RBI with a .288/.386/.458 slash line. The next two seasons he hit 28 HR and 27 HR, respectively, but never approached those highs again.

• Jack Tobin (1892) started his major league career in the short-lived Federal League in 1914/1915, and he led that league in hits with 184 in 1915. He went on to play the majority of his career with the St. Louis Browns, and led the AL with 18 triples in 1921 when he also had a career-high .352 average. Over his 13-year career he had a .309/.364/.420 slash line and 109 OPS+.

• Joe Borowski (1971) was a relief pitcher for 12 years in the majors, spending time with seven different teams. He had three seasons of 30+ saves, including 2003 with the Cubs when he had 33 saves and a 2.63 ERA. He later had 36 saves for the Marlins in 2006, and then led the AL with 45 saves for the Indians in 2007, though he had a 5.07 ERA that year. Overall he accumulated 131 saves, a 4.18 ERA, and 104 ERA+.

Today’s Matchups

A typical full slate for a Sunday, but with an extra game due to the NYM/STL postponement yesterday. Some games that jump out to me are:

• NYM vs. STL doubleheader includes the Mets 23-year old pitching prospect Blade Tidwell making his major league debut, with Tylor Megill (1.74 ERA and 39 K in 31 IP) throwing in the other game. The Cardinals will counter with Erick Fedde and Andre Pallante.

• HOU vs. CHW includes Lance McCullers Jr. making his long-awaited return to the Astros. He didn’t pitch in the majors or even in the minors in 2023 or 2024 (he last pitched in the 2022 World Series), but seems ready to go after four minor-league starts so far this year.

• CHC vs. MIL is a nice pitching matchup with Shota Imanaga (2.77 ERA with 30 K in 39 IP) up against Freddy Peralta (2.52 ERA with 41 K in 39.1 IP).

• SEA vs. TEX has 23-year old prospect Logan Evans making his second major league start up against Jacob deGrom (2.73 ERA with 33 K in 33 IP).

As noted earlier we also have strikeout leaderboard members BOS Garrett Crochet, SFG Logan Webb, and WAS MacKenzie Gore pitching today.

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:

• SDP Xander Bogaerts, 8-16 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. PIT Andrew Heaney

• KCR Jonathan India, 3-10 with 3 HR vs. BAL Kyle Gibson

• SFG Matt Chapman, small sample but is 3-8 with 2 HR vs. COL Germán Márquez

• NYM Jesse Winker, 4-12 with 2 HR vs. STL Erick Fedde

• PHI Max Kepler, 6-17 with 2 HR and a double vs. AZ Eduardo Rodriguez

Also of note, SEA Mitch Garver is 2-2 with 2 HR vs. TEX Jacob deGrom.

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 Lamonte Wade Jr., small sample but is 5-8 with HR a 2 doubles vs. COL Germán Márquez

• SFG Wilmer Flores, 6-12 with a HR and a double vs. COL Germán Márquez

• NYM Jeff McNeil, 7-16 with a double and only 1 K vs. STL Erick Fedde

• NYM Francisco Lindor, 5-11 vs. Andre Pallante

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 - NYY Aaron Judge

• 11 - SEA J.P. Crawford

• 9 - WAS CJ Abrams

• 9 - LAA Zach Neto

• 8 - BOS Rafael Devers

• 8 - LAD Freddie Freeman

• 8 - BAL Gunnar Henderson

• 7 - CIN Jose Trevino

• 7 - BOS Jarren Duran

• 7 - HOU Jeremy Pena

• 7 - MIN Harrison Bader

• 7 - AZ Alek Thomas

• 7 - SEA Cal Raleigh

• 7 - AZ Gabriel Moreno

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:

• CHC Ian Happ, 2-26 with 12 K (one of the hits was a HR) vs. MIL Freddy Peralta

• CHC Dansby Swanson, 0-15 with 7 K vs. MIL Freddy Peralta

• CHC Seiya Suzuki, 2-14 with 7 K (one of the hits was a HR) vs. MIL Freddy Peralta

• SDP Martín Maldonado, 2-15 with 8 K vs. PIT Andrew Heaney

• PHI Nick Castellanos, 1-15 with 6 K vs. AZ Eduardo Rodriguez

• KCR Mark Canha, 2-19 with 4 K vs. BAL Kyle Gibson

• NYM Brandon Nimmo, 1-13 but only 1 K vs. STL Andre Pallante

• BOS Trevor Story, small sample but is 1-8 with 6 K vs. MIN Chris Paddack

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

What four players have hit a home run as a teenager and after turning forty? Ty Cobb, Rusty Staub, Gary Sheffield, and Alex Rodriguez. Ken Griffey Jr. turned 40 after the 2009 season, but then didn’t hit any HR in 33 games in 2010.

Good Reads

New Feature! Here I will provide one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.

• Who are the best free-agent signings of 2025 so far?, by Mark Feinsand at MLB, 5/4/2025

• What will Red Sox do at 1B in wake of Casas injury?, by Ian Browne at MLB, 5/3/2025

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