The Baseball Buffet for 6/15/2025

Issue #306

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 80th day of the season had a full slate of Saturday games:

• PIT 1, CHC 2 - Andrew McCutchen hit a HR in the first inning, but that was the only hit that Matthew Boyd allowed over six innings (6 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K). Mike Burrows also pitched well (5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K), but then Ryan Borucki allowed a HR to Dansby Swanson in the sixth, which turned out to be the decisive run.

• MIA 4, WAS 3 - The Marlins had 11 hits and scored their four runs in four different innings, including a solo HR by Jesús Sánchez in the seventh. They used six pitchers as part of a bullpen day, and after Anthony Bender allowed two runs to the Nats in the bottom of the ninth, Calvin Faucher came in to get the final out and his 7th save.

• CIN 11, DET 1 - Brady Singer pitched well (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) and the Reds hit three HR (Elly De La Cruz, Tyler Stephenson, Spencer Steer) off Jack Flaherty (4.2 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 5 K). Matt McLain added a 3-run HR in the eighth inning, while three Cincinnati relievers pitched three hitless and scoreless innings.

• LAA 5, BAL 6 - Mike Trout hit his 11th HR of the year in the first inning, and Luis Rengifo hit 2 homers later in the game. But that wouldn’t be enough as the Orioles collected 11 hits, including HR of their own by Cedric Mullins and Gary Sánchez. Felix Bautista held the Angels scoreless in the ninth to pick up his 14th save on the year, and second in consecutive days.

• TOR 2, PHI 3 - Cristopher Sánchez once again pitched well (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K) in this one. With the score tied 2-2 in the eighth, Phillies LF Max Kepler hit a HR which turned out to be the decisive run as Matt Strahm pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his 3rd save.

• CHW 4, TEX 5 - Jacob deGrom pitched well (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K) but the lead in this one went back and forth until the score was 4-4 through nine. Rangers reliever Jacob Latz held the White Sox scoreless in both the 10th and 11th, and then finally with runners on second and third and two outs, Adolis García singled to center to drive in Evan Carter for the winning run.

• ATH 4, KCR 0 - Jacob Lopez pitched very well (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) and two Athletics relievers combined for the 4-hit shutout. The offense came primarily by homers from Max Muncy and Lawrence Butler.

• TBR 8, NYM 4 - Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio each hit solo HR, but the Rays scored five runs in the fourth inning, including Junior Caminero connecting for his 16th HR of the year. Five other Rays batters had two hits each, and four Tampa relievers combined to pitch four scoreless innings.

• MIN 2, HOU 3 - Brooks Lee hit a HR in the fifth inning, extending his MLB-leading hitting streak to 14 games. But otherwise Hunter Brown pitched quite well (7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 12 K) and Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader struck out five hitters to keep the score 2-2 going into the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and runners on first and third, rookie Cam Smith singled to center to drive in Christian Walker for the win.

• COL 1, ATL 4 - Spencer Strider benefitted from facing the hapless Rockies and put up his first truly Strider-like numbers of the season (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 13 K). Two Atlanta relievers struck out another six Rockies in the final three innings giving them a combined 19 K on the day. On offense, Ronald Acuña Jr. led the way by going 2-3 with a HR, a walk, 3 runs, and 2 RBI. And thus we see what has been missing for the 31-38 Braves most of this year… Strider and Acuña being awesome.

• STL 8, MIL 5 - Veteran lefty Jose Quintana had been doing pretty well this year, but the Cardinals got to him the third and fourth innings yesterday (4.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K), including a 3-run HR by Nolan Gorman. Although it didn’t matter to the outcome of the game, it was interesting to see the dueling Contreras brothers each hit a solo HR in the ninth inning: Willson Contreras hit his 9th, and William Contreras hit his 6th. There have been many brother pairs to homer in the same inning when playing on the same team, but this was only the second time (since 1901, according to MLB’s Sarah Langs and the Elias Sports Bureau) when they’ve done so while opposing each other (Rick and Wes Ferrell did it in 1933).

• SDP 7, AZ 8 - Eugenio Suárez hit a 3-run HR, his 20th HR of the year, in the third inning. Rookie Ryan Bergert otherwise pitched well, allowing only three hits and striking out 8 (5 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K). Gavin Sheets was 3-3 with a HR, a double, and walk, and the Padres had a 7-3 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. However, normally reliable closer Robert Suarez let up five hits and five runs, including a bases loaded triple by Geraldo Perdomo, followed by Josh Naylor driving him in for the winning run.

• NYY 3, BOS 4 - Rookie Boston starter Hunter Dobbins pitched well (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K), and while the Yankees scored three late in the game it wouldn’t be enough, as Greg Weissert allowed doubles to Paul Goldschmidt and Jasson Dominguez but survived to get his 2nd save on the year.

• CLE 3, SEA 4 - José Ramírez hit his 13th HR in the fifth inning, but George Kirby otherwise pitched pretty well (5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K). The Guardians had a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, when the Mariners loaded the bases and Emmanuel Clase threw wild pitch to let in the tying run. With two outs, Cleveland then intentionally walked Cal Raleigh to setup force outs everywhere, but Jorge Polanco singled to center to drive in Miles Mastrobuoni for the win.

• SFG 5, LAD 11 - Clayton Kershaw pitched well (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) and the Dodgers jumped on Landen Roupp early. Shohei Ohtani hit 2 HR, including the 250th of his career. Teoscar Hernandez and Miguel Rojas added homers, giving LA a1 11-0 lead after eight. They tried to rest their bullpen by having utility player Kiké Hernández pitch the ninth, something he has now done eight times over the past two years. While it didn’t matter in the outcome of the game, the Giants loaded the bases and Casey Schmitt hit a grand slam—his second in consecutive days.

Today’s Trivia Question

Who led the AL in intentional walks every year from 1987-1992?

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

• CHC RP Eli Morgan

• DET SP Reese Olson

• MIL OF Garrett Mitchell

• MIL OF Blake Perkins

• TBR OF Richie Palacios

🤕 Placed on the IL

• HOU CF Jacob Melton - 10-day IL (right ankle sprain)

• WAS RP Andrew Chafin - 15-day IL (right hamstring strain)

League Leaders

I don’t provide updates on pitching WHIP (Walks+Hits / IP) leaders very often, but it has been three weeks since the last time, so I thought I’d take a look. As this point the two leaders are clearly two of the Cy Young Award frontrunners:

• 0.81 - DET Tarik Skubal

• 0.85 - PIT Paul Skenes

• 0.90 - MIN Joe Ryan

• 0.90 - PHI Zack Wheeler

• 0.91 - TEX Jacob deGrom

• 0.93 - HOU Hunter Brown

• 0.93 - NYY Max Fried

• 0.95 - TBR Drew Rasmussen

• 0.98 - CHC Jameson Taillon

• 0.98 - SEA Bryan Woo

• 0.99 - AZ Merrill Kelly

• 0.99 - NYY Carlos Rodón

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 15…

• 1938: Johnny Vander Meer threw his second consecutive no-hitter. As described by baseball-reference.com, “Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds stuns the baseball world by pitching his second successive no-hitter in five days, defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers, 6-0, as Brooklyn plays the first night game ever at Ebbets Field. In front of 38,748 fans, including spectator Babe Ruth, Vander Meer strikes out seven and walks eight, including three one-out walks in the 9th inning. A force at home and a fly ball end the game. Vander Meer no-hit the Boston Bees, 3-0, on June 11th.”

• 1963: Juan Marichal threw a no-hitter. Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants pitches a 1-0 no-hitter against the Houston Colt .45's.

• 1964: The Cardinals trade for Lou Brock. As described by baseball-reference.com, “The St. Louis Cardinals make one of their best trades ever, acquiring outfielder Lou Brock from the Chicago Cubs for pitchers Ernie Broglio and Bobby Shantz and outfielder Doug Clemens. As a member of the Cardinals, Brock will set the all-time stolen base record and reach the 3,000-hit mark. Broglio will soon be felled by arm injuries and will only win seven more games in the majors, while Shantz and Clemens will only make marginal contributions.”

• 1976: A rained out game… at the Astrodome. As described by baseball-reference.com, “A game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros is rained out at the Houston Astrodome. Only members of both teams are able to make it to the stadium. The game is postponed when heavy rains and flooding prevent umpires, fans and stadium personnel from arriving at the dome. It is the first rainout in Astrodome history.”

• 1977: The Mets trade Tom Seaver to the Reds. As described by baseball-reference.com, “In an unpopular move, the New York Mets trade franchise pitcher Tom Seaver just moments before the trading deadline. The Mets send Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds for four lesser players: infielder Doug Flynn, outfielders Steve Henderson and Dan Norman, and pitcher Pat Zachry. Seaver will go on to win 75 games for the Reds in five and a half seasons. The same day, New York trades slugger Dave Kingman to the San Diego Padres for utility player Bobby Valentine and a minor league pitcher.”

• 1983: The Cardinals trade Keith Hernandez to the Mets. As described by baseball-reference.com, “In one of the worst trades in franchise history, the St. Louis Cardinals send first baseman Keith Hernandez to the New York Mets in exchange for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Wade Boggs (1958) is a Hall of Famer who had an 18-year major league career, primarily with the Red Sox, but with seven years playing for the Yankees and Rays. He won five AL Batting Titles, including four in a row from 1985-1988. He had 200+ hits and 100+ runs every year from 1983-1989, and led the AL in doubles with 45 in 1988 and 51 in 1989. He was an All-Star in 12 consecutive seasons, and was a good 3B as well, winning two Gold Glove Awards later in his career with the Yankees. Overall, Boggs had 3,010 hits, 1,513 runs scored, a .328/.415/.443 slash line, and a 131 OPS+.

• Billy Williams (1938) is a Hall of Famer who also had an 18-year major league career, in his case almost entirely with the Cubs. Williams mostly played LF, with some games at RF and then 1B ultimately DH late in his career with the A’s. After two brief stints in the majors in 1959-60, Williams won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 1961 after hitting 25 HR with 86 RBI and a .278 average. He hit 25+ HR ten times, posted 100+ RBI three times, and scored 100+ Runs five times, including in 1970 when he led the NL with 137 runs and 205 hits, and had career highs of 42 HR and 129 RBI. That year he came in second in the NL MVP Award voting, and did so again in 1972 when he he had 37 HR, 122 RBI, and led the NL with a .333 average. A six-time All-Star, overall for his career Williams had 426 HR, 1,410 runs scored, 1,475 RBI, a .290/.361/.492 slash line, and a 133 OPS+.

• Andy Pettitte (1972) also had an 18-year major league career, in his case mostly with the Yankees, but with a three-year stint in the middle with the Astros. In his second full season in 1996 Pettitte led the AL in wins with a 21-8 record, and then had the same 21-8 record again in 2003. A three-time All-Star, Pettitte had plenty of post-season opportunities and accumulated a 19-11 record across 44 starts with a 3.81 ERA. Overall for his career, Pettitte had a 256-153 (.626) record, 3.85 ERA, and 117 ERA+.

• Tim Lincecum (1984) only pitched in the majors for ten seasons, but during his four All-Star seasons early on (2008-11) he was about as good as any pitcher in the game. During that span for the Giants he posted a 62-36 record, 2.81 ERA, and 143 ERA+. He led the NL in strikeouts each year from 2008-2010, with totals of 265, 261, and 231, and he took home the NL Cy Young Award in both 2008 and 2009. Unfortunately, injuries took their toll eventually, leading to his relatively early exit from the majors after his age-32 season in 2016.

• Lance Parrish (1956) was a catcher drafted in the first round (16th overall) by the Tigers in 1974. He was a key member of the Tigers for the first half of his 19-year career, including their 1984 World Series Championship season when he hit a career high 33 HR. He played for six different teams in the second half of his career, and overall had seven seasons with 20+ HR, and 324 HR in total. An eight-time All-Star Parrish was also strong defensively, earning three AL Gold Glove Awards for his work behind the plate.

• Brett Butler (1957) was a consistently good player over his 17-year career as a CF, including time with the Dodgers, Indians, Giants, Braves, and Mets. Although only honored as an All-Star once (in 1991 with the Dodgers), Butler was a run-scoring and base-stealing threat for most his career. He scored 100+ runs seven times, including leading the NL with 109 in 1988 and 112 in 1991. He led the NL in triples four times, and had 30+ SB an impressive 13 seasons in a row from 1983-1995. Overall for his career Butler scored 1,359 runs, hit 131 triples, had 558 SB, a .290/.377/.376 slash line, and a 110 OPS+.

• Dusty Baker (1949) had brief stints in the majors in his age 19-22 seasons from 1968-71 before finally sticking with the Braves as a regular in 1972. He went on to hit 20+ HR six times, was an All-Star twice, and earned a Gold Glove Award for his work in LF in the strike-shortened 1981 season. Overall for his career, Baker hit 242 HR with 1,013 RBI, 137 SB, a .278/.347/.432 slash line, and a 116 OPS+. Johnnie B. “Dusty” Baker is better known by younger fans today for his long and very successful career as a Major League manager. He has managed an amazing 26 seasons spanning from 1993-2023 and across five different franchises (Giants, Cubs, Reds, Nationals, and Astros). His teams have won 10 division championships, three pennants, and in 2022 his Astros won the World Series.

• Tony Clark (1972) was drafted out of High School with the number two overall pick by the Tigers in 1990. By 1995 he was in the majors and stayed with the Tigers for seven seasons, spending his other eight with the Diamondbacks, Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, and Padres. Clark was a 1B with power, hitting 25+ HR five times and posting 100+ RBI twice. Overall for his career he had 251 HR, 821 RBI, a .262/.339/.485 slash line, and a 112 OPS+. His MLB playing days ended in 2009, but having served as a player rep during his career, he became the MLB Players Association’s executive director in 2013 and continues in that role to this day. He is the sixth executive director of the MLBPA, but the first former player in that role.

Currently active players who were born on June 15 include NYM Travis Jankowski, SFG Dominic Smith, NYY Oswald Peraza, and KCR Steve Cruz.

Today’s Matchups

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

• NYY vs. BOS will be interesting as Boston won the first two games of the series, but only by one run in each. Max Fried (1.84 ERA, 81 K in 88 IP) takes his turn in the rotation, and Boston counters with Brayan Bello (3.96 ERA, 37 K in 52.1 IP).

• SDP vs. AZ features two pitchers having fairly good seasons so far in Nick Pivetta (3.48 ERA, 79 K in 72.1 IP) and Merrill Kelly (3.18 ERA, 79 K in 82 IP).

• SFG vs. LAD is game three of this critical NL West series (tied 1-1), with Kyle Harrison (4.56 ERA, 25 K vs. 23.2 IP) facing Dustin May (4.46 ERA, 64 K in 66.2 IP).

Also pitching today are PHI Zack Wheeler, WAS MacKenzie Gore, and NYM Griffin Canning.

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:

• PIT Bryan Reynolds, 8-14 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. CHC Colin Rea

• SDP Fernando Tatis Jr., 8-25 with 4 HR and a double vs. AZ Merrill Kelly

• PHI Nick Castellanos, 9-26 with 2 HR and a double vs. TOR José Berríos

• BAL Adley Rutschman, 9-26 with 3 HR and a double vs. LAA Yusei Kikuchi

• BAL Ramón Urías, 3-12 with 2 HR vs. LAA Yusei Kikuchi

• CHC Ian Happ, 11-27 with 3 HR and 3 doubles vs. PIT Mitch Keller

• BOS Trevor Story, small sample but is 3-7 with 2 HR and a double vs. NYY Max Fried

• NYY Cody Bellinger, small sample but is 2-3 with 2 HR vs. BOS Brayan Bello

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:

• MIL William Contreras, 7-14 with a double vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• NYY Anthony Volpe, 6-12 with a HR and a double vs. BOS Brayan Bello

• CHC Seiya Suzuki, 5-10 with 2 doubles vs. PIT Mitch Keller

• PIT Nick Gonzalez, small sample but is 4-8 with a HR vs CHC Colin Rea

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 - MIN Brooks Lee

• 9 - SEA Jorge Polanco

• 8 - BAL Gunnar Henderson

• 8 - NYM Jeff McNeil

• 7 - MIN Willi Castro

• 7 - TEX Marcus Semien

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:

• BAL Cedric Mullins, 2-17 with 6 K though one hit was a triple vs. LAA Yusei Kikuchi

• MIL Brice Turang, 1-12 though with 0 K and the hit was a HR vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• SDP Xander Bogaerts, 1-10 with 2 K vs. AZ Merrill Kelly

• PHI Kyle Schwarber, 1-10 with 4 K vs. TOR José Berríos

• NYY Aaron Judge, 2-14 with 4 K vs. BOS Brayan Bello

• CHC Michael Busch, small sample but is 0-8 with 5 K vs. PIT Mitch Keller

• TEX Adolis García, small sample but is 1-9 with 5 K vs. CHW Aaron Civale

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

The leader in the AL in intentional walks each year from 1987-1992 was today’s Birthday Boy, Wade Boggs. Although not a power hitter, he had great plate discipline and was intimidating enough as a high-average batsman that sometimes giving him a free pass to first was the wise move.

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.

• Ranking which former MVPs are most likely to win award again, by Jeffrey Lutz at MLB, 6/14/2025

• 8 Father's Day stories that make us thankful for dads, by MLB.com writers, 6/15/2025

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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