The Baseball Buffet for 5/9/2025

Issue #269

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 43rd day of the season had a typical Thursday partial slate (9) of games:

• BAL 2, MIN 5 - Dean Kremer pitched well (7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K), and the Orioles outhit the Twins 10-5. But they were only 2-13 with runners in scoring position, as Twins starter Bailey Ober (5 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and four Twins relievers limited the Orioles’ run scoring.

• TEX 0, BOS 5 - Brayan Bello was a bit wild, but otherwise pitched well (4.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 5 BB 1 K), and Rafael Devers hit his sixth HR of the year.

• CHW 0, KCR 10 - Kris Bubic was outstanding (7 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K), and the Royals had 17 hits and 10 runs. No homers, but six Royals had two hits each and Bobby Witt Jr. went 4-5 with two doubles and two stolen bases.

• DET 10, COL 2 (Gm 1) - The Tigers jumped all over Kyle Freeland (3 IP, 11 H, 9 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). Similar to the Royals as described above, no homers but six Tigers hitters had two hits each. And Casey Mize pitched well (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) to improve to 6-1 on the year.

• DET 11, COL 1 (Gm 2) - The Tigers won game two by an even wider margin, though again did most of their damage from singles and doubles. Colt Keith hit the only HR, a 2-run shot in the 7th inning. Keider Montero pitched well in this second game (8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 K), and Spencer Torkelson was 5 for 9 overall on the day.

• PHI 7, TBR 6 - Both starters did fairly well: Jesús Luzardo (5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 K) and Ryan Pepiot (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 K). For the Rays, Junior Caminero hit his 7th HR and Yandy Diaz hit his 6th HR, and for the Phillies Bryson Stott was 2-4 with a HR and a double. But after nine innings the game was tied 5-5. In the top of the 10th Brandon Marsh doubled to drive in the ghost-running Manfred Man Edmundo Sosa, and then later Trea Turner singled to drive in Marsh. The Rays scored one in the bottom of the 10th, but that wasn’t enough.

• CIN 4, ATL 5 - Both starters did well: Nick Lodolo (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) and Spencer Schwellenbach (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K). The game was tied 4-4 through nine and also ten innings. In the bottom of the 11th, with runners on first and second and two outs, Drake Baldwin singled to left to drive in Ozzie Albies for the win.

• TOR 8, LAA 5 - Taylor Ward and Jo Adell had homers early, but Toronto had 14 hits in this one, including Ernie Clement 3-5, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 3-4 with a walk, and Daulton Varsho 3-4 with a HR and a double.

• LAD 3, AZ 5 - Shohei Ohtani hit a HR in the 9th inning but it wasn’t enough as Arizona had gotten to Yoshinobu Yamamoto by the fourth inning, with Gabriel Moreno hitting a grand slam and then Ketel Marte adding a solo HR. Meanwhile Brandon Pfaadt pitched really well (6.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 6 K) and Kevin Ginkel came in to get his first save of the year.

Today’s Trivia Question

As I did yesterday with team offense, today I’ll ask which teams have the best pitching numbers this year for ERA, Strikeouts, and WHIP? (Hint: three different team)

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

• MIL SP Aaron Civale

• BAL RP Andrew Kittredge

• TBR OF Josh Lowe

• LAD RP Michael Kopech

➡️ Traded

• Seattle traded SP Luis F. Castillo to the Orioles for cash. (Thank you. This eliminates the confusion of there being two pitchers named Luis Castillo on the Mariners.)

League Leaders

It has been nearly two weeks since I reviewed the ERA leaders, and after Yoshinobu Yamamoto let up two HR yesterday (and one was a grand slam), he dropped a bit on this leaderboard:

• 1.05 - NYY Max Fried

• 1.16 - NYM Kodai Senga

• 1.48 - TEX Tyler Mahle

• 1.67 - HOU Hunter Brown

• 1.69 - KCR Kris Bubic

• 1.80 - LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto

• 2.01 - SDP Nick Pivetta

• 2.02 - BOS Garrett Crochet

• 2.03 - TEX Nathan Eovaldi

• 2.11 - PHI Jesús Luzardo

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 9…

• 1984: The longest game in A.L. history (both in time and innings). According to baseball-reference.com, “The longest - and slowest - game in American League history ends in the 25th inning when Harold Baines homers off Chuck Porter to give the White Sox a 7 - 6 victory over the Brewers. It is the latest homer in history. The game falls one inning shy of the major league record, but takes by far the most time to play: 8 hours and 6 minutes. The contest was suspended the previous day after 17 innings with the score tied 3 - 3, and each team scores three more runs in the 21st. The Sox lose a chance to win in the 21st as runner Dave Stegman is touched by 3B coach Jim Leyland, which leads to a Sox protest. Tom Seaver pitches the final inning to earn the win, then wins the regularly-scheduled game as well, 5 - 4. Tom Paciorek of the Sox sets a major-league record as he enters the game in the 4th inning and registers nine at bats as a substitute.”

• 1987: Eddie Murray homers from each side of the plate two days in a row. Eddie Murray homers from each side of the plate for the second consecutive game, a major league first.

• 2022: Josh Naylor has eight RBI all after the 7th inning. According to baseball-reference.com, “Josh Naylor does something unprecedented as he drives in eight runs, all from the 8th inning onward, as the Guardians defeat the White Sox, 12 - 9. He first hits an RBI double in the 8th, then with two outs in the 9th, hits a grand slam off Liam Hendriks, capping a six-run comeback and sending the game into extra innings. After the two teams trade runs in the 10th, he hits a three-run shot off Ryan Burr in the top of the 11th to provide Cleveland with its margin of victory.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Tony Gwynn (1960) is a Hall of Famer who was one of the greatest contact hitters of all-time. He won eight NL batting titles, including highs of .370 in 1987, .394 in 1994, and .372 in 1997. Early in his career he was a good baserunner as well, stealing 30+ bases four times, with a high of 56 in 1987. A 15-time All-Star, he won five Gold Glove Awards in the outfield. He retired after 20 seasons with 3,141 hits, 319 SB, a .338/.388/.459 slash line and 132 OPS+.

• Prince Fielder (1984) is the son of major-leaguer Cecil Fielder, and like his a father was a HR-slugging 1B. A six-time All-Star, he led the NL with 50 HR in 2007, and then hit 46 HR in 2009 when he paced the NL with 141 RBI. He hit 25+ in eight seasons and posted 100+ RBI in six seasons. In mid-July of 2016 Prince was diagnosed with C4-C5 herniations in his neck, an injury that would end his playing career. He retired after 12 seasons with 319 HR, a .283/.382/.506 slash line and 134 OPS+.

• Brandon Webb (1979) had a short but impactful major league career, all with the Diamondbacks from 2003-2009. A three-time All-Star, he won the NL Cy Young Award in 2006 after leading the league in wins with a 16-8 record along with a solid 3.10 ERA. He was the CYA runner-up the following two years when he went 18-10 with a 3.01 ERA and 22-7 with a 3.30 ERA. Webb pitched on opening day in 2009 but was placed on the disabled list afterwards with right shoulder bursitis. That would end up being his final major league game, as multiple surgeries and rehab minor-league stints couldn’t resolve the shoulder woes.

Today’s Matchups

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

• TOR vs. SEA features Kevin Gausman (3.83 ERA and 37 K in 40 IP) who was excellent in his last appearance against Cleveland, and Luis Castillo (3.29 ERA and 30 K in 38.1 IP) who has had two good starts in a row.

• SDP vs. COL because I’m starting to wonder about the Rockies. Did they hear the White Sox set a new major league record last year, and think hey, records are great… we’ll break that record! Pitching today are Randy Vasquez (3.90 ERA with 13 K in 32.1 IP) for the Padres and Antonio Senzatela (5.50 ERA with 17 K in 34.1 IP) for the Rockies. The game is in Colorado, so I’m not looking at high strikeouts in this one—but it is baseball, so anything is possible on any given day!

Also on the hill today are DET Tarik Skubal, NYM Clay Holmes, PHI Aaron Nola, HOU Hunter Brown, and LAD Roki Sasaki.

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:

• SEA Cal Raleigh, 5-11 with 3 HR vs. TOR Kevin Gausman

• DET Gleyber Torres, 4-11 with 2 HR vs. TEX Patrick Corbin

• SFG Wilmer Flores, 6-12 with 2 HR and a double vs. MIN Chris Paddack

• SFG Mike Yastrzemski, 7-15 with 2 HR and 3 doubles vs. MIN Chris Paddack

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:

• SDP Manny Machado, 9-23 with a HR and 4 doubles vs. COL Antonio Senzatela

• TEX Corey Seager, small sample but is 6-9 with a double vs. DET Tarik Skubal

• LAD Freddie Freeman, 6-12 with a HR and a double vs. AZ Eduardo Rodriguez

• LAD Enrique Hernández, 5-11 with a HR and a double vs. AZ Eduardo Rodriguez

• ATL Marcell Ozuna, 5-10 with 3 doubles vs. PIT Bailey Falter

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:

• 15 - SEA J.P. Crawford

• 13 - LAA Zach Neto

• 13 - LAD Freddie Freeman

• 10 - TOR Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

• 9 - DET Javier Baez

• 8 - DET Trey Sweeney

• 8 - SDP Manny Machado

• 8 - HOU Jake Meyers

• 8 - STL Victor Scott II

• 8 - STL Brendan Donovan

• 7 - WAS James Wood

• 7 - PHI Trea Turner

• 7 - ATL Austin Riley

• 7 - COL Jordan Beck

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 Juan Soto, 1-11 with 5 K vs. CHC Jameson Taillon

• NYM Tyrone Taylor, 1-10 with 4 K vs. CHC Jameson Taillon

• NYM Francisco Lindor, 2-13 with 4 K vs. CHC Jameson Taillon

• SEA J.P. Crawford, 2-16 with 5 K vs. TOR Kevin Gausman (though per above J.P. is on a 15-game hitting streak!)

• SEA Leody Taveras, 1-10 with 4 K (though the hit was a HR) vs. TOR Kevin Gausman

• SEA Mitch Garver, 0-10 with 3 K vs. TOR Kevin Gausman

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

The top pitching staffs so far in 2025 in these categories are:

• ERA - Mets at 2.89, just better than the Royals at 2.91 and Tigers at 2.95

• Strikeouts - Phillies with 366, ahead of the Dodgers at 357

• WHIP - Reds at 1.124 ahead of the Astros at 1.131

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.

• 6 BOLD predictions for the rest of this season, by MLB.com and Yahoo! sports writers, 5/8/2025

• 10 young hitters making a leap in 2025, by Theo DeRosa at MLB, 5/8/2025

• Versatile Players Make Life Easier For Clubs, by Dan Schlossberg at Here’s the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 5/9/2025

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