The Baseball Buffet for 6/14/2025

Issue #305

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… I can be reached at [email protected].

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The 79th day of the season had a full slate of Friday games:

• PIT 2, CHC 1 - Both starters pitched well: Paul Skenes (5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) and Cade Horton (5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). And both teams scored a run in the eighth inning, and it remained tied to force extras. In the top of the tenth, with the bases loaded, Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a sacrifice fly to LF to drive in what would be the decisive run.

• CIN 5, DET 11 - The Reds had 12 hits, including solo homers by TJ Friedl and Elly De La Cruz. But the Tigers scored runs in six different innings, including four solo HR: two by Gleyber Torres and one each from Riley Greene and Javier Baez.

• TOR 0, PHI 8 - Ranger Suárez did very well (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), and Joe Ross and Taijuan Walker combined with him for a 5-hit shutout. In the second inning, Kyle Schwarber opened things up for the Phillies with a 3-run HR, his 22nd HR of the year. J.T Realmuto and Otto Kemp each had two hits, and the Phillies were an efficient 5 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

• TBR 7, NYM 5 - Jonathan Aranda hit a HR, but Clay Holmes otherwise pitched well (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K). The Mets bullpen, however, allowed six runs in the sixth inning, including a 2-run HR by Danny Jansen. The Rays bullpen meanwhile held the Mets scoreless for the final four innings, with Pete Fairbanks recording his 13th save.

• NYY 1, BOS 2 - The Red Sox scored one run early and Garrett Crochet (8.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K) was cruising until Aaron Judge tied the game in the top of the ninth with his 26th HR of the year. The Yankees didn’t score in the top of the tenth, and then in the bottom of the frame, with two outs and runners on second and third, former Yankee Carlos Narváez singled to center to drive in David Hamilton for the win.

• COL 4, ATL 12 - The Rockies tallied 14 hits in this one, including Ryan McMahon going 3-5 with a HR and a double. But they left 12 runners on base, so only managed to score four runs. Germán Márquez pitched quite well (5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7) but the Braves scored 11 runs off three Rockies relievers. They had 15 hits in all, including 3-run homers by Michael Harris II and Marcell Ozuna. Other offensive standouts were Ronald Acuña Jr. who went 3-4 with a double, a SB, and two runs scored, and Matt Olson who was 3-4 with a double, 3 runs, and 3 RBI.

• LAA 0, BAL 2 - The Angels out hit the Orioles 8-6, but were 0-8 with runners in scoring position. Charlie Morton struck out 10 in 5 innings (5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K), and four Orioles relievers combined for the shutout, including Felix Bautista who earned his 13th save. Baltimore’s two runs came from solo HR by Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano.

• MIA 11, WAS 9 - There were 17 hits for Miami, and 16 hits for Washington. Even though the final score was close, the Marlins always had the lead in this one, in part because Agustín Ramírez hit two HR early in the game. He had three hits on the day, as did teammates Xavier Edwards and Dane Myers. For the Nats, James Wood went 3-5 with his 17th HR and his 17th double, while CJ Abrams and Keibert Ruiz also had three hits each.

• CHW 1, TEX 3 - Josh Smith went 2-3 with a HR and a walk, and the Rangers leveraged a bullpen day to hold the White Sox to only one run. Shawn Armstrong struck out five in the first three innings, and then six others Texas relievers got in some work, with Robert Garcia pitching the ninth to record his 5th save.

• ATH 6, KCR 4 - Luis Severino has not liked pitching in West Sacramento this year (0-6 with a 7.10 ERA in nine starts). But he has been great on the road, now owning a 0.93 ERA in six starts, including yesterday’s fine performance against the Royals (7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K). On offense, the Athletics had 11 hits, including solo HR by Austin Wynns and Luis Urias.

• MIN 3, HOU 10 - The Twins had three solo HR from Willi Castro, Royce Lewis, and Ty France, but that was all the scoring they could muster. The Astros pounded Chris Paddack (4 IP, 12 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 1 BB, 1 K), with four doubles, a triple by Jacob Melton, and a HR by Jose Altuve, his 10th on the year. Jeremy Peña went 4-5 to raise his average to .333.

• STL 2, MIL 3 - Freddy Peralta pitched well (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), and after allowing a couple of hits and a run, Trevor Megill stopped the Cardinals in the ninth to earn his 14th save.

• SDP 1, AZ 5 - The Padres scored a run in the top of the first, but then Ryne Nelson (5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) and four D-Backs relievers held them scoreless after that. Arizona had two solo HR, with Josh Naylor hitting his 9th and Corbin Carroll his 20th.

• CLE 2, SEA 7 - Nolan Jones and Steven Kwan each hit solo HR, but Luis Castillo otherwise pitched well (6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K). Three Seattle relievers held the Guardians scoreless the rest of the way, including Matt Brash who has yet to allow an earned run in 14 appearances (12.1 IP). On offense the Mariners tallied 16 hits, including solo HR by Rowdy Tellez and Jorge Polanco, and seven different players getting two hits or more.

• SFG 6, LAD 2 - Teoscar Hernández went 2-3 with a HR, but his were the only two hits the Dodgers would get as Logan Webb otherwise did very well (7 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K), and Tyler Rogers and Ryan Walker pitched two scoreless innings in relief. Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a rare off day by being both wild and hittable (4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 4 K), allowing a solo HR to Willy Adames in the first inning, and then a grand slam to Casey Schmitt in the third inning. With this win the Giants have tied the Dodgers at 41-29 atop the NL West division.

Today’s Trivia Question

Of the active 30 franchises, which team has the lowest all-time winning percentage?

Trivia answer is at the bottom of the newsletter.

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

• BOS RP Nick Burdi

• TOR SP Max Scherzer

• DET CF Matt Vierling

• CHC RP Porter Hodge

• CHW 2B Lenyn Sosa

• SDP LF Jason Heyward

🤕 Placed on the IL

• NYM SP Kodak Senga - 15-day IL (right hamstring strain)

🚼 Placed on the Paternity List

• MIL RF Daz Cameron

➡️ Traded

• The Chicago White Sox have traded 1B Andrew Vaughn to the Milwaukee Brewers for SP Aaron Civale and cash. The 27-year old Vaughn has struggled this year (.189, 5 HR, 19 RBI in 185 AB) and overall hasn’t lived up to his early prospect status (round 1, overall 3rd pick in 2019 draft). So perhaps a change of scenery will help him (for now the Brewers have optioned him to the minors, and the White Sox have claimed 1B Ryan Noda off waivers from the Red Sox too). As for 30-year old SP Aaron Civale (4.91 ERA, 19 K in 22 IP), he had requested a trade rather than be sent to the bullpen, given that young prospect Jacob Misiorowski has arrived and had a strong MLB debut on Thursday. With the White Sox Civale should be given the chance to start every fifth game.

• The Houston Astros have traded SP/RP Forrest Whitley to the Tampa Bay Rays for cash. The 27-year old Whitley was a former first round pick (17th overall) out of High School in 2016. During his years climbing up the minors he has often struggled with high ERAs, and in five relief appearances for Houston this year he had a 12.27 ERA and 2.05 WHIP. As with Vaughn, a change of scenery could be what he needs.

MLB Debut Yesterday

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

• LAA 2B Christian Moore - The 22-year old played 2B, batted ninth, and went 0-3 with a strikeout. Drafted out of college (University of Tennessee) in 2024 in the first round (8th overall), so far this year at AA/AAA Moore was hitting a combined .279 with a .374 OBP, 5 HR, and 8 SB in 54 games.

League Leaders

While this could fluctuate from day to day, I think this is the first day of the season that only one player (Aaron Judge, obviously) has an OPS over 1.000:

• 1.265 - NYY Aaron Judge

• .994 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

• .993 - SEA Cal Raleigh

• .981 - NYM Pete Alonso

• .978 - LAD Freddie Freeman

• .938 - BOS Alex Bregman

• .929 - CLE José Ramírez

• .929 - PHI Kyle Schwarber

• .925 - WAS James Wood

• .920 - AZ Corbin Carroll

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 June 14…

• 1952: Warren Spahn strikes out 18. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Boston Braves pitcher Warren Spahn ties the National League record of Jim Whitney with 18 strikeouts in an 15-inning, 3-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. Spahn's home run is the only Braves run. On the same day, Braves scout Dewey Griggs signs Hank Aaron to a contract, buying his rights from the Indianapolis Clowns.”

• 1965: Jim Maloney strikes out 18 and no-hits the Mets through ten innings. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds no-hits the New York Mets for ten innings and ties a National League record with 18 strikeouts in an extra-inning game, but loses the game when Johnny Lewis hits a lead-off home run in the 11th inning that gives the Mets a 1-0 win.”

• 1969: Reggie Jackson has 10 RBI. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Reggie Jackson of the Oakland Athletics collects ten RBI with two home runs, a double and two singles helping the A’s beat the Red Sox 21-7 at Fenway.”

• 1974: Nolan Ryan strikes out 19 in 13 innings. As described at baseball-reference.com, “At Anaheim Stadium, Nolan Ryan strikes out 19 Boston Red Sox batters in 13 innings, including Cecil Cooper six consecutive times, to help the California Angels to a 4-3 victory in 15 innings. Barry Raziano is the winner in two innings of relief and Luis Tiant takes the loss in 14 1/3 innings, after Denny Doyle doubles home Mickey Rivers with the winning run.”

• 1995: Previously light-hitting Mike Benjamin goes 6 for 7 and 14 for 18. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Mike Benjamin goes 6 for 7, setting a major league record with 14 hits in three games, and drives in the winning run in the 13th inning as the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-3. A career .186 hitter in his first six seasons, Benjamin is 14 for 18 in that stretch.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Don Newcombe (1926) started out as a teenager in the Negro Leagues (1944-45) and then was signed by Brooklyn and spent three years in their minor league system. He was NL Rookie of the Year in 1949 after going 17-8 with a 3.17 ERA and a league-high five shutouts. That was his first of four All-Star seasons. He won 20+ games three times, including in 1956 when he posted a 27-7 record and 3.06 ERA and took home both the NL Cy Young Award and the NL MVP Award. Over his 12-year major league career Newcombe had a 153-96 (.614) record, a 3.57 ERA, and a 114 ERA+.

• Charlie Buffinton (1861) was a workhorse pitcher of the 19th century, playing 11 years in the majors from 1882-1892. He played the first half of his career with Boston in the National League, and the second half with four other teams. He won 25+ games five times, including his huge 1884 campaign when he went 48-16 with a 2.15 ERA and 417 K in 587 IP. Overall, Buffinton had a 233-152 (.605) record, a 2.96 ERA, and a 115 ERA+.

• Bobby Witt Jr. (2000) was the second overall pick in the 2019 draft, and was in the majors by 2022 when he hit 20 HR with 80 RBI and 30 SB as a rookie. He raised his average to .276 in 2023 and hit 30 HR, with 96 RBI and 49 SB. Then in 2024 he was an All-Star and came in second in the AL MVP vote after leading the league with a .332 average and 211 hits, to go with 45 doubles, 32 HR, 109 RBI, and 31 SB. He is doing well so far this year, currently tied for the major league lead in doubles with 22 and he has 21 SB and a .283 average.

Besides Bobby Witt Jr., other active players who were born on June 14 include LAA Héctor Neris, STL Yohel Pozo, WAS Trey Lipscomb, TEX Robert Garcia, and CHC Tom Cosgrove.

Today’s Matchups

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

• TBR vs. NYM features to pitchers doing pretty well this year in Drew Rasmussen (2.22 ERA, 59 K in 69 IP) and Tylor Megill (3.76 ERA, 84 K in 64.2 IP)

• MIN vs. HOU is a matchup of two teams in the hunt and two solid starters in Joe Ryan (2.96 ERA, 82 K in 73 IP) and Hunter Brown (1.82 ERA, 93 K in 79 IP)

Also pitching today are DET Jack Flaherty, PHI Cristopher Sánchez, TEX Jacob deGrom, ATL Spencer Strider, AZ Zac Gallen, NYY Carlos Rodón, SEA George Kirby, and LAD Clayton Kershaw.

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 Fernando Tatis Jr., 5-17 with 2 HR and a double vs. AZ Zac Gallen

• MIA Jesús Sánchez, 5-15 with 2 HR vs. WAS Trevor Williams

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:

• MIN Willi Castro, 7-11 with a double vs. HOU Hunter Brown

• MIA Xavier Edwards, small sample but is 6-7 with 2 doubles vs. WAS Trevor Williams

• CLE Steven Kwan, small sample but if 5-8 with a triple vs. SEA George Kirby

• CLE José Ramírez, small sample but if 4-6 with 2 doubles vs. SEA George Kirby

• BAL Gunnar Henderson, small sample but is 4-7 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. LAA Tyler Anderson

• HOU Brendan Rodgers, small sample but is 4-8 with a HR vs. MIN Joe Ryan

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 - MIN Brooks Lee

• 8 - KCR Freddy Fermin

• 8 - TOR Alejandro Kirk

• 8 - SEA Jorge Polanco

• 7 - BAL Gunnar Henderson

• 7 - NYM Jeff McNeil

• 7 - SFG Matt Chapman

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:

• CHW Michael A. Taylor, 1-24 with 13 K vs. TEX Jacob deGrom… ouch, maybe just sit this one out?

• MIN Ryan Jeffers, 2-13 with 8 K vs. HOU Hunter Brown

• STL Nolan Arenado, 2-24 with 6 K though both hits were HR vs. MIL Jose Quintana

• STL Willson Contreras, 1-16 with 5 K vs. MIL Jose Quintana

• ATH Seth Brown, 0-11 with 4 K vs. KCR Michael Lorenzen

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

Of the active 30 franchises, the lowest all-time winning percentage is owned by the Miami Marlins. On first glance it might appear that the Marlins are tied with their fellow 1993 expansion mates the Colorado Rockies with a .459 mark. But the Rockies actually have both five more wins and five more losses than the Marlins, so if you expand out the decimals they have a .4586 winning percentage, while the Marlins have a .4585 percentage. There are a few reasons for the ten extra games, including two extra games so far this year, the Marlins more often ending the year with cancelled games that were never made up, Miami playing a few less games in the strike-shortened 1994 and 1995 seasons, and the Rockies playing an extra tie-breaker game in 2018.

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.

• 12 outside-the-box All-Star candidates for 2025, by David Adler at MLB, 6/13/2025

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.

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