The Baseball Buffet for 6/19/2025

Issue #310

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 84th day of the season had a full slate of Wednesday games, though several were postponed due to weather:

• BOS 3, SEA 1 - The Red Sox only had three hits, but two were HR by Marcelo Mayer and Trevor Story and that is all it took for the win in this one. Garrett Crochet was excellent once again (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) and three Boston relievers held the Mariners scoreless the rest of the way, with Greg Weissert recording his 3rd save.

• PHI 4, MIA 2 - Connor Norby hit a HR, but Ranger Suárez otherwise pitched really well (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K). The Phillies scored all four of their runs in fourth inning, primarily from a 3-run HR by Bryson Stott.

• LAA 3, NYY 2 - The Yankees offensive struggles continued, as they only managed three hits. Two were solo HR by Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr., but that wouldn’t be enough as the Angels also had two solo HR from Nolan Schanuel and Jo Adell. Jack Kockanowicz did well (5.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K), setting a career high with eight strikeouts. The Angels eventually broke the 2-2 tie in the top of the 8th: with the bases loaded, Anthony Volpe made a throwing error on a ball hit by Jo Adell that allowed Mike Trout to score. Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth for his 15th save of the year.

• AZ 1, TOR 8 - Bo Bichette led off the bottom of the first with his 10th HR of the season, and Toronto would go on to tally 13 hits in all, with Bichette, Addison Barger, and Ernie Clement having three each, and Vladimir Guerrero going 2-2 with 3 walks and 3 RBI. Eric Lauer pitched well (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K), and three Jays relievers pitched scoreless ball the rest of the way.

• NYM 0, ATL 5 - Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the bottom of the first with already his 8th HR of the year (in only 82 AB), and then Matt Olson added his 15th HR later in the seventh. Meanwhile Chris Sale almost pitched a complete game (8.2 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K), with Raisel Iglesias coming on to get the final out.

• BAL 8, TBR 12 - The Orioles jumped on Taj Bradley (1.1 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) in the second inning, with HR by Colton Cowser and Cedric Mullins forcing him out, and then Ramon Laureano hitting an additional HR off Kevin Kelly as well. Five Rays relievers quieted the Baltimore lineup after that, while the Rays hitters came alive, recording 18 hits including a HR by Brandon Lowe, and triples by Curtis Mead and Taylor Walls.

• COL 3, WAS 1 - Michael Toglia hit a HR, his third in three games since being called back up. But Washington starter Mitchell Parker did well otherwise (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K). Jordan Beck added a HR late, Germán Márquez pitched well (5.2 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K), and Seth Halvorsen struck out two in the ninth to notch his fifth save and give the Rockies their fourth consecutive victory.

• MIN 2, CIN 4 - This game was called in the sixth inning, so it was a rain-shortened victory for Cincinnati. Byron Buxton had a HR for the Twins, but Nick Lodolo otherwise did well (6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), and Spencer Steer was 2-3 with a HR and a double.

• KCR 6, TEX 3 - The Rangers out hit the Royals 12-7, including three hits each by Sam Haggerty and Wyatt Langford, but they left nine runners on base making it hard to score much. Maikel Garcia had a big game, going 3-4 with a triple and a 3-run HR, and Carlos Estévez recorded his 20th save.

• CLE 4, SFG 2 - Justin Verlander struck out six in 4.2 innings, but also allowed seven hits including two doubles by Kyle Manzardo and a 3-run HR by Daniel Schneemann. Heliot Ramos hit his 12th HR of the year, but the Giants were held scoreless by the Cleveland bullpen, including Emmanual Clase pitching the ninth for his 16th save.

• HOU 11, ATH 4 - Nick Kurtz went 3-4 with a HR and a double, but the Athletics pitchers let up 20 hits and 11 runs, including seven in the sixth inning alone. Five Astros hitters had three hits each (Jeremy Peña, Jose Altuve, Cam Smith, Victor Caratini, Jake Meyers), with Altuve, Caratini, and Mauricio Dubon each hitting a HR.

• SDP 3, LAD 4 - Emmet Sheehan pitched well in a short start for his 2025 debut (4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K). Justin Wrobleski came in and did well the rest of the way, giving the Dodgers; bullpen a break. He allowed the Padres to tie the game with two runs in the top of the ninth, but then Will Smith hit a pinch-hit, walk-off HR in the bottom of the frame to give the Dodgers their third win in this four-game NL West series.

• PIT vs. DET - postponed

• STL vs. CHW - postponed

• MIL vs CHC - postponed

I plan to start including the current standings in some form here, but until then… here is a link to the official standings at MLB.com. I’ll note there are some lengthy W/L streaks going right now:

• L11 - Nationals… including three losses to the Rockies

• L6 - Yankees… really struggling on offense, scoring only six total runs in six games

• L6 - Twins… though the last four have been lost by a combined five runs only

• L6 - White Sox

• L5 - Mets

• W5 - Dodgers

• W4 - Reds

• L4 - Giants

• W4 - Rockies… amazing!

Today’s Trivia Question

Continuing with my recent trivia series… who has played the most games all-time at 2B? And again, bonus points if you can name some of the others in the top five.

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

• TOR RF Nathan Lukes

• BOS SP Tanner Houck

🤕 Placed on the IL

• HOU 2B Brendan Rodgers - 10-day IL (left oblique strain)

🚼 Placed on the Paternity List

• PIT RF Bryan Reynolds

League Leaders

The D-Backs lost 8-1 to the Jays yesterday, but Corbin Carroll hit another triple, giving him nine on the season:

• 9 - AZ Corbin Carroll

• 8 - BOS Jarren Duran

• 7 - DET Zach McKinstry

• 5 - SFG Jung Hoo Lee

• 5 - COL Mickey Moniak

• 5 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

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 19…

• 1900: Clark Griffith and Rube Waddell have an epic duel. As described at baseball-reference.com, “In a great pitching duel, Clark Griffith of the Chicago Orphans and Rube Waddell of the Pittsburgh Pirates match shutouts during 13 innings, before Griffith's double in the bottom of the 14th drives in the only run. Waddell strikes out 12.”

• 1927: Jack Scott pitches two complete games in a doubleheader. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Jack Scott of the Philadelphia Phillies performs an ironman feat by pitching two complete games in a doubleheader, beating the Cincinnati Reds, 3 - 1, before losing, 3-0. Scott is the last pitcher in major league history to complete two games on the same day.”

• 1952: Carl Erskine threw a no-hitter. Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitches a 5-0 no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs at Ebbets Field.

• 1974: Steve Busby threw his second no-hitter. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Steve Busby of the Kansas City Royals pitches his second no-hitter in 14 months, a 2-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Busby strikes out three batters and walks George Scott to lead off the 2nd inning for the Brewers' only baserunner.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Lou Gehrig (1903) is a Hall of Famer and often considered the greatest 1B of all time. He played all of his 17-year career with the New York Yankees, and would have played longer if not for the progressive neurodegenerative disease named Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which came to be known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Nicknamed the Iron Horse, he famously had the longest consecutive games played streak (2,130), only broken decades later by Cal Ripken. A power hitter who batted cleanup behind Babe Ruth for the “Murderers Row” Yankees of the late 20s and early 30s, Gehrig led the AL in HR three times and RBI five times, including a still AL-record high of 185 RBI in 1931. He won the AL Triple Crown in 1934 when he hit 49 HR with 166 RBI and a .363 average. He also led the AL in runs scored four times, doubles twice, triples once, and walks three times. He was AL MVP twice, in 1927 and 1936, and came in the top five another seven times. Overall for his career Gehrig had 493 HR, 1,888 runs, 1,995 RBI, a .340/.447/.632 slash line, and a 179 OPS+. He starred in the postseason also, hitting 10 HR in 34 World Series games, with an impressive .361/.483/.731 slash line in 150 plate appearances.

• Jacob deGrom (1988) has been the most effective pitcher of his generation… when he’s been on the field. Injuries have been an issue over the years, but deGrom has also managed to take home the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 2014, and consecutive NL Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019. A 4-time All-Star thus far, he led the NL with a 1.70 ERA in 2018, then led the NL in strikeouts in both 2019 and the shortened 2020 season. In his age-37 year he is so far doing well, with a 2.19 ERA, 0.911 WHIP, and 80 strikeouts in 82.1 IP. Overall for his career thus far he has a 90-59 (.604) record, 2.50 ERA, and 156 ERA+.

• Eddie Cicotte (1884) was an above average pitcher early in his career with the Red Sox, but then blossomed into a star when he joined the White Sox. A knuckleball specialist, Cicotte was 18-11 with a 1.58 ERA in 1913, and then went 28-12 with a 1.53 ERA in 1917. He was again outstanding in 2019 going 29-7 with a 1.82 ERA, but then his career was forever tarnished by his being one of the eight alleged participants in the Black Sox gambling scandal in the 2019 World Series, in which the heavily favored White Sox lost to the Cincinnati Reds. In 2020 he posted a 20-10 record and 3.26 ERA, but then Cicotte was banned along with many of his teammates from ever participating in major league baseball again (or having a chance to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame). His career ended with a 209-148 (.585) record, a 2.38 ERA, and a 123 ERA+.

• Jerry Reuss (1949) was drafted out of High School in the second round in 1967 by the St. Louis Cardinals. He had a 22-year career in the majors, spending nine years with the Dodgers, six with the Pirates, and the rest spread across six other clubs. A two-time All-Star, he had eight seasons with 14-18 wins each, and came in second in the NL Cy Young Award vote in 1980 with an 18-6 record and 2.51 ERA. Overall, he had a 220-191 record, 3.64 ERA, and an even 100 ERA+.

In addition to Jacob deGrom, currently active players who were born on June 19 include TOR Tyler Heineman and SEA Casey Legumina.

Today’s Matchups

A nearly full slate of Thursday games (16), with some make-game doubleheaders included. Some games that jump out to me are:

• NYM vs. ATL should be a good one, as the Braves have won the first two games of this three-game series, and we have a nice pitching matchup in Clay Holmes (2.87 ERA, 68 K in 78.1 IP) and Spencer Strider (4.35 ERA, 37 K in 31 IP).

• SDP vs. LAD is the fourth and final game of this series, where LA has won the first three. For this one we have rookie Ryan Berget (2.33 ERA, 16 K in 19.1 IP) who has done well in three starts, up again Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.64 ERA, 90 K in 78.1 IP) who has been generally good this season, but has struggled in two of his last three games.

• MIL vs. CHC was rained out yesterday, and as of the time of this writing it is not clear who will be starting for Milwaukee. But either way it should be interesting: flamethrowing rookie Jacob Misiorowski making his second start, or veteran Freddy Peralta who is having a good season. The Cubs I presume will still counter with Jameson Taillon (3.48 ERA, 65 K in 82.2 IP).

Also on the bump today are DET Tarik Skubal, PIT Paul Skenes, NYY Carlos Rodón, TOR Kevin Gausman, SFG Logan Webb, PHI Cristopher Sanchez, and TBR Drew Rasmussen.

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:

• MIN Carlos Correa, 9-14 with 3 HR and 3 doubles vs. CIN Nick Martinez - wow, that is a .643 average and 1.500 SLG!

• NYM Brandon Nimmo, 8-16 with 2 HR, a triple, and a double vs. ATL Spencer Strider

• SDP Manny Machado, small sample but is 2-6 with 2 HR vs. LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto

• MIL Rhys Hoskins, 4-11 with 2 HR vs. CHC Jameson Taillon

• MIL Christian Yellich, 10-33 with 2 HR and a double vs. CHC Jameson Taillon

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 Jackson Chourio, 5-10 with a HR and a double vs. CHC Jameson Taillon

• TEX Corey Seager, 7-17 with 2 doubles vs. KCR Michael Wacha

• NYM Francisco Lindor, 6-16 with a triple vs. ATL Spencer Strider

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:

• 17 - MIN Brooks Lee

• 12 - BAL Gunnar Henderson

• 10 - TEX Marcus Semien

• 9 - TBR Yandy Diaz

• 9 - TOR Ernie Clement

• 9 - ATL Matt Olson

• 9 - PHI Brandon Marsh

• 9 - SDP Gavin Sheets

• 8 - MIL Jackson Chourio

• 8 - SFG Mike Yastrzemski

• 8 - AZ Josh Naylor

• 8 - ATL Ronald Acuña Jr.

• 7 - TEX Josh Smith

• 7 - TBR Brandon Lowe

• 7 - TBR Jake Mangum

• 7 - SFG Matt Chapman

• 7 - WAS Luis Garcia Jr.

• 7 - STL Nolan Arenado

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:

• MIL William Contreras, 2-19 with 4 K vs. CHC Jameson Taillon

• BAL Cedric Mullins, 0-12 with 4 K vs. TBR Drew Rasmussen

• BAL Ramón Urías, 0-10 though only 1 K vs. TBR Drew Rasmussen

• NYY Giancarlo Stanton, 1-14 with 4 K vs. LAA Tyler Anderson

• AZ Ketel Marte, 2-22 with 4 K vs. TOR Kevin Gausman

• LAA Mike Trout, small sample but is 0-8 with 6 K vs. NYY Carlos Rodón

• CHC Ian Happ, 2-29 with 13 K though one hit was a HR vs. MIL Freddy Peralta (if pitching today, TBD)

• CHC Seiya Suzuki, 2-17 with 10 K though one hit was a HR vs. MIL Freddy Peralta (if pitching today, TBD)

• CHC Dansby Swanson, 1-18 with 8 K vs. MIL Freddy Peralta (if pitching today, TBD)

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

The all-time leader in games played at 2B is Hall of Famer Eddie Collins. Here is the top-five list:

• 2,650 - Eddie Collins

• 2,527 - Joe Morgan

• 2,320 - Roberto Alomar

• 2,308 - Lou Whitaker

• 2,295 - Nellie Fox

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.

• 1st-time HR Derby sluggers we want to see, by MLB and Yahoo! Sports writers, 6/18/2025

• One prospect from each team pushing for a promotion, by Sam Dykstra, Jonathan Mayo, and Jim Callis at MLB, 6/18/2025

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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