The Baseball Buffet for 5/6/2025

Issue #266

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 40th day of the season had a partial Monday slate (10) of games:

• PIT 3, STL 6 - Bryan Reynold hit his fifth HR of the year in the first inning, but the Cardinals had three homers in this one, from Jose Barrero, Alec Burleson, and Willson Contreras. Ryan Helsley notched his sixth save.

• LAD 7, MIA 4 - The Dodgers spread their seven runs across five different innings, including HR from Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani. Meanwhile the combination of Jack Dreyer as opener and Ben Casparius (4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) as long man was effective.

• SDP 4, NYY 3 - Trent Grisham hit his ninth HR and Carlos Rodón was outstanding (6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). But Devin Williams again struggled (0.2 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K), this time in a non-save situation in the 8th inning, while the Padres’ Robert Suarez locked down his MLB-leading 14th save of the year.

• CIN 0, ATL 4 - AJ Smith-Shawver had a no-hitter through seven innings (8 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K) and Matt Olson hit his 6th HR of the year.

• SFG 2, CHC 9 - Luis Matos hit his third HR, but Matthew Boyd otherwise pitched well (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K). Dansby Swanson was 3-4 with two doubles, and the Cubs had HR from Ian Happ and Carson Kelly.

• CHW 0, KCR 3 - Bobby Witt Jr. was 2-3 with a double, a walk, and two SB, but the big story was Royals starter Cole Ragans who was superb (5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 11 K). Carlos Estévez recorded his 10th save.

• HOU 1, MIL 5 - Tobias Myers pitched well (5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 K) and Christian Yelich hit his 6th HR and stole his 7th base of the season.

• NYM 5, AZ 4 - Corbin Carroll led off the bottom of the first inning with his 10th HR of the year. But Griffin Canning pitched well after that (5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), the Mets got HR from Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor, and Edwin Diaz notched his 8th save.

• SEA 6, ATH 7 - This one was 5-5 after nine innings, and both teams scored a run in the 10th. In the bottom of the 11th, the Mariners intentionally walked Shea Langeliers, who had hit his 7th HR of the year earlier in the game. With one out they then intentionally walked JJ Bleday as well, to load the bases and have force play options at every base and the chance for a double play (though the infielders were all playing in). But contact hitter Jacob Wilson singled to CF to drive in Tyler Soderstrom for the win. It was Wilson’s third hit and third RBI of the game.

• CLE vs. WAS - postponed

Today’s Trivia Question

Who is the only pitcher in MLB history with a perfect game, immaculate inning, and four-strikeout inning?

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).

🤕 Placed on the IL

• HOU LF Yordan Alvarez - 10-day IL (right hand inflammation)

• NYM LF Jesse Winker - 10-day IL (right oblique strain)

📝 Signed as a Free Agent

• TOR SP Spencer Turnbull

• TOR SP/RP José Ureña

League Leaders

As noted above, Robert Suarez secured his 14th save on the year, which lengthens his MLB lead:

• 14 - SDP Robert Suarez

• 12 - SEA Andrés Muñoz

• 11 - WAS Kyle Finnegan

• 10 - KCR Carlos Estévez

• 10 - ATH Mason Miller

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 6…

• 1915: Babe Ruth hits his first HR… against the Yankees. According to baseball-reference.com, “Babe Ruth, pitching for the Boston Red Sox, collects three hits, including his first major league home run when he connects off Jack Warhop of the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds.”

• 1934: The Red Sox hit four consecutive triples. According to baseball-reference.com, “At Fenway Park, Carl Reynolds, Moose Solters, Rick Ferrell and Bucky Walters hit four consecutive triples for the Boston Red Sox en route to a 14-4 win over the Detroit Tigers.”

• 1951: Cliff Chambers walks eight, but throws a no-hitter. According to baseball-reference.com, “Cliff Chambers of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches a 3 - 0 no-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader against the host Boston Braves, despite walking eight batters and throwing a wild pitch. Chambers becomes only the second Pittsburgh pitcher to hurl a no-hitter.”

• 1953: Bobo Holloman threw a no-hitter. Bob Holloman of the St. Louis Browns pitched a 6-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Athletics in his first major league start. Born Alva Lee Holloman, Bobo had quite a bit of success in eight seasons across various levels of the minors, but only pitched in the majors in 1953 and only made 10 starts.

• 2010: Hall of Famer Robin Roberts died at age 83. A 7-time All-Star, Roberts won 20+ games six times, and led the NL in wins each year from 1952-1955, including his 28-7 season in 1952. A workhorse of pitcher, Roberts led the NL in complete games and IP each year from 1951-1955. He retired after 19 seasons with a 286-245 record, 3.41 ERA, and 113 ERA+.

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Willie Mays (1931) is a Hall of Famer and one of, and arguably the, greatest all-around player. He played briefly as a 17-year old in the Negro Leagues in 1948, then quickly worked his way trough the minors and earned NL Rookie of the Year honors with the New York Giants in 1951. After spending time in the military, his career took off in 1954 when he won the NL MVP Award after hitting 41 HR with 110 RBI and leading the league with 13 triples and a .345 average. That was the first of 12 consecutive seasons in which Mays scored 100+ runs, and the first of ten seasons in which he had 100 RBI+. He led the NL in SB four times (with a high of 40 in 1956), and HR four times (with a high of 52 in 1965, the year he won his second MVP award). An All-Star in 20 seasons (every year from 1954-1973), Mays was also one of the greatest defensive CF of all time, taking home 12 Gold Glove Awards. His career totals include 660 HR, 2,068 runs, 1,909 RBI, 339 SB, a .301/.384/.557 slash line and 155 OPS+.

• Jose Altuve (1990) is a 9-time All-Star with the Houston Astros, who has played most of his career at 2B but this year has shifted to LF. A high-average hitter with speed, Altuve has won three AL batting titles, and led the league in SB with 56 in 2014 and 38 in 2015. After his first several seasons he also developed some power, and has so far hit 20+ HR six times with a high of 31 HR in both 2019 and 2021. He led the AL in hits with over 200 each year from 2014-2017, and as of this writing has a .305/.362/.466 career slash line and 128 OPS+.

• Bill Hands (1940) came up through the Giants system, but was traded before his first full major league season, along with Randy Hundley, to the Cubs for Lindy McDaniel and Don Landrum. With Chicago, Hands was a mixed starter and reliever for two seasons, and then in 1968 went 16-10 with a 2.89 ERA. In 1969 he had his best season, going 20-14 with a 2.49 ERA in 41 starts and precisely 300 IP. Overall for his 11-year career Hands had a 111-110 record, 3.35 ERA, and 114 ERA+.

• Larry Andersen (1953) was a relief pitcher who played in 699 games across 17 major league seasons, spanning from 1975 to 1994. Because he wasn’t a closer he is not as well known as some of contemporaries, but Anderson was often quite effective, such as in 1984 when he had a 2.38 ERA in 90.2 IP for the Phillies, or in 1989 when he had a 1.54 ERA in 87.2 IP for the Astros. Overall for his career Anderson had 49 saves, a 3.15 ERA, and an impressive 121 ERA+.

Today’s Matchups

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

• PHI vs. TBR features Zack Wheeler (3.48 ERA, 57 K in 44 IP) up against Drew Rasmussen (2.64 ERA, 30 K in 30.2 IP).

• SDP vs. NYY is game two of an interesting series, with former Yankee Michael King (2.09 ERA, 46 K in 38.2 IP) against Clarke Schmidt who allowed only 1 hit in 5 IP against Toronto in his last start.

Also taking the mound today are PIT Paul Skenes, TEX Nathan Eovaldi, ATL Chris Sale, SFG Justin Verlander, MIN Pablo Lopez, and AZ Zac Gallen.

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:

• BOS Alex Bregman, 10-32 with 2 HR and 3 doubles vs. TEX Nathan Eovaldi

• BOS Wilyer Abreu, small sample but is 3-4 with 2 HR vs. TEX Nathan Eovaldi

• SFG Mike Yastrzemski, small sample but is 3-5 with 2 HR and a double vs. CHC Colin Rea

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:

• LAD Freddie Freeman, 9-17 with a triple and 2 doubles vs. MIA Cal Quantrill

• TOR Daulton Varsho, 7-12 with a HR and 3 doubles vs. LAA Tyler Anderson (yes this is a L vs. L, but Varsho hits LHP for a higher average, albeit with less power)

• TOR Vladimir Guerrero Jr, 6-11 with 2 doubles vs. LAA Tyler Anderson

• AZ Randal Grichuk, 5-12 with a HR vs. NYM David Peterson

• STL Alec Burleson, 5-12 vs. PIT Paul Skenes

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 - SEA J.P. Crawford

• 10 - WAS CJ Abrams

• 10 - LAA Zach Neto

• 10 - LAD Freddie Freeman

• 9 - BAL Gunnar Henderson

• 9 - HOU Jeremy Pena

• 8 - MIN Harrison Bader

• 7 - TOR Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

• 7 - COL Hunter Goodman

• 7 - MIN Ryan Jeffers

• 7 - DET Riley Greene

• 7 - DET Javier Baez

• 7 - CHC Danswby Swanson

• 7 - CHC Ian Happ

• 7 - HOU Mauricio Dubón

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:

• NYM Jeff McNeil, 3-18 with 5 K vs. AZ Zac Gallen

• CHC Justin Turner, 1-14 with 4 K vs. SFG Justin Verlander

• TOR Alejandro Kirk, 0-10 with 3 K vs. LAA Tyler Anderson

• CHW Michael A. Taylor, 1-11 with 3 K vs. KCR Seth Lugo

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

Who is the only pitcher in MLB history with a perfect game, immaculate inning, and four-strikeout inning? Answer: Felix Hernandez. The Seattle Mariners right-hander recorded an immaculate inning on June 17, 2008 (three batters, three strikeouts, total of nine pitches); a four-strikeout inning on June 3, 2010 (one of the batters reached first base after a dropped third strike); and a perfect game on August 15, 2012.

Good Reads

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

• 1st MVP poll of 2025 reveals clear AL favorite, open race in NL, by Jason Foster at MLB, 5/6/2025

• Hitting a Home Run In Your First Big League At-Bat Is Special But Not Uncommon, by Dan Freedman at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, by 5/6/2025

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