The Baseball Buffet for 6/22/2025

Issue #313

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 87th day of the season had a full slate of Saturday games:

• TEX 3, PIT 2 - Neither offense got many hits in this one (TEX 4, PIT 5… all singles), with both Mitch Keller (5.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) and Kumar Rocker (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) pitching fairly well. Three Texas relievers held Pittsburgh hitless and scoreless, with Chris Martin getting his second save of the year.

• DET 3, TBR 8 - Ryan Pepiot pitched well (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K), and the Rays got homers from Danny Jansen, Christopher Morel, and Junior Caminero, his 18th on the season.

• BAL 0, NYY 9 - The big story in this one was Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt throwing seven innings of no-hit ball (7 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K). Reliever JT Brubaker let up a single to Gary Sánchez, but finished the game for a combined 1-hit shutout. Meanwhile the Yankees jumped on Zach Eflin early (3 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), with four HR coming from Trent Grisham, J.C. Escarra, Ben Rice, and Anthony Volpe.

• MIL 9, MIN 0 - Veteran lefty Jose Quintana pitched well (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 1 K) and two Milwaukee relievers combined for a four-hit shutout. Meanwhile five Brewers had two hits each, including Sal Frelick, Christian Yelich, Brice Turang, Isaac Collins, and Joey Ortiz.

• CIN 5, STL 6 - Sonny Gray pitched well (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), and Alec Burleson got the Cardinals on the board early with a 2-run, first-inning HR. Elly De La Cruz went 2-5 with a HR and a triple, and the Reds had a 5-4 lead when Nolan Arenado hit a solo HR in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings. Neither team scored in the tenth, and Phil Maton had three strikeouts in the top of the eleventh. The Reds brought in rookie Chase Petty, their eighth pitcher of the game, to throw in the bottom of the 11th. After inducing two pop-outs, Petty let up a single to Yohel Pozo which drove in Jordan Walker, who was the pinch runner on second as the extra-innings freebie Manfred Man.

• SEA 7, CHC 10 - Seattle out hit Chicago 14-9 in this one, with Luke Raley and Donovan Solano each having three hits, and Cal Raleigh hitting his MLB-leading 30th HR of the year. But the Mariners left nine guys on base, making it hard to catch up with the runs the Cubs scored out of the gate off Emerson Hancock (4 IP, 6 H, 9 ER, 3 BB, 5 K). Chicago slugged five HR in this one, including two by Ian Happ, and one each by Kyle Tucker, Michael Busch, and Pete Crow-Armstrong, his 21st on the year.

• CHW 1, TOR 7 - José Berríos pitched very well (7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K), and the Blue Jays tallied 12 hits with HR from Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

• BOS 2, SFG 3 - Brayan Bello pitched fairly well (6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), but let up homers to Heliot Ramos and former teammate Rafael Devers. Landen Roupp was excellent (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K), and although the Red Sox mounted a comeback with three hits and two runs off Camilo Doval in the top of the ninth, it wouldn’t be enough.

• ATL 7, MIA 0 - Grant Holmes let up quite a few baserunners but no runs (5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 5 K), and three Atlanta relievers held the Marlins scoreless the rest of the way. Ronald Acuña Jr. continued his really hot hitting, going 2-3 with two walks, a double, and three runs scored. He now has 8 HR with a .391 average and .504 OBP in 92 at-bats. Rookie catcher Drake Baldwin hit a 3-run HR late in the game, his eighth on the season.

• KCR 1, SDP 5 - Dylan Cease pitched well (6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K), and the Padres already had a 2-1 lead when Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a 3-run HR in the seventh to give them a healthier cushion (and end a 21-game homerless drought for him).

• NYM 11, PHI 4 - The Mets had 15 hits and 11 runs to even this important series at one game each. Phillies rookie Mick Abel let up four HR and the Mets had a total of seven homers (all solo) in all: two each from Brandon Nimmo and Juan Soto, and one each from Francisco Lindor, Jared Young, and Francisco Alvarez.

• AZ 5, COL 3 - Jordan Beck hit a HR in the first inning, but otherwise Merrill Kelly pitched well (6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K). Meanwhile, Ketel Marte went 4-4 with a walk and two doubles, and Eugenio Suárez and Geraldo Perdomo each hit a HR. Shelby Miller came in and struck out three in the ninth for his 8th save on the year.

• HOU 1, LAA 9 - Luis Rengifo hit a 2-run HR, and catcher Logan O’Hoppe hit two, 2-run HR, giving him 16 on the season. Meanwhile Jose Soriano struck out (6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K) and two Angels relievers blanked the Astros the rest of the way.

• CLE 4, ATH 2 - Steven Kwan went 3-5 with two doubles, and José Ramírez went 3-4 with a walk. Luis Ortiz struck out 10 (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K), and Emmanuel Clase recorded his 17th save.

• WAS 7, LAD 3 - The Dodgers got three solo HR from Andy Pages, Will Smith, and Teoscar Hernández. But the Nationals had five HR, with two from Nathaniel Lowe, and one each from James Wood, Luis Garcia Jr., and CJ Abrams.

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.

Today’s Trivia Question

Continuing my recent series, who is the all-time leader in games played at shortstop? Again, bonus points for each of the rest of the top five that you can name.

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).

🤕 Placed on the IL

• PIT RP Ryan Borucki - 15-day IL (low back inflammation)

• BAL C Adley Rutschman - 10-day IL (left oblique strain)

• ATL SP Chris Sale - 15-day IL (fractured left ribcage)

• TEX 1B Jake Burger - 10-day IL (left oblique strain)

MLB Debut Yesterday

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

• TBR RP Paul Gervase - The 25-year old pitched two solid innings of relief in the Rays 8-3 win over the Tigers (2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K). Before the call-up he had a 3.78 ERA at AAA, with 50 K in 33.1 IP.

• MIA RP Josh Simpson - The 27-year old struggled in his debut, pitching the final two innings of the Marlins 7-0 loss to the Braves (2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K). Before the call-up he had a 3.41 ERA at AAA with 25 K In 31.2 IP.

• CHW RP Jake Palisch - The 26-year old struggled in one inning of relief work, pitching the final inning of the White Sox 7-1 loss to the Blue Jays (1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K). Before the call up he had a 1.87 ERA at AA as a mixed starter/reliever, with 35 K in 53 IP.

League Leaders

It has been over ten days since we checked in on the saves, and the new leader is Carlos Estévez of the Royals:

• 22 - KCR Carlos Estévez

• 21 - SDP Robert Suarez

• 18 - WAS Kyle Finnegan

• 18 - HOU Josh Hader

• 18 - SEA Andrés Muñoz

• 17 - CLE Emmanuel Clase

• 17 - TOR Jeff Hoffman

• 17 - CIN Emilio Pagán

• 16 - BAL Félix Bautista

• 16 - MIL Trevor Megill

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 22…

• 1932: NL players will start to wear numbers. As described at baseball-reference.com, “The National League, at a meeting of club presidents, finally approves players wearing numbers. The American League had started the practice in 1929.”

• 1976: Randy Jones finally walks a guy. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Randy Jones pitches the Padres to a 4-2 win over the Giants, and ties Christy Mathewson's 63-year-old National League record by going 68 innings without a base on balls. He receives a standing ovation from the home crowd after striking out Darrell Evans to end the 7th. His streak ends when he walks C Marc Hill leading off the 8th.”

• 1990: The Braves make Bobby Cox their manager. As described at baseball-reference.com, “The last-place Braves fire manager Russ Nixon and replace him with GM Bobby Cox, who last managed Toronto in 1985. Cox will turn the franchise's fortunes completely around, starting with a surprise pennant in 1991.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Carl Hubbell (1903) is a Hall of Famer who had a 16-year major league career from 1928-1943, all with the New York Giants. He led the NL in wins three times and ERA three times, with his best two seasons arguably being in 1933 when he was 23-12 with a 1.66 ERA and in 1936 when he was 26-6 with a 2.31 ERA—good enough to win the NL MVP Award in both seasons. King Carl was an All-Star nine times, though he would have been chosen several more times had the ASG existed before 1933. Hubbell also did well in the postseason, with a 4-2 record and 1.79 ERA across three different World Series. Hubbell’s primary pitch was a screwball, and he is famed for having struck out five future Hall of Famers in a row in the 1934 All-Star Game (Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin). Overall he posted a 253-154 (.622) record, 2.98 ERA, and 130 ERA+.

• Ian Kinsler (1982) had a 14-year career as a 2B, playing the first half with the Rangers, and the remainder with the Tigers, Angels, Red Sox, and Padres. A four-time All-Star, Kinsler was a good all-around player, taking home two Gold Glove Awards and having a nice combination of power and speed. He had 20+ HR five times, with highs of 31 in 2009 and 32 in 2011, and also had 20+ SB five times, again with highs of 31 in 2009 and 30 in 2011. He only batted over .300 once, with a .319 mark in 2008, but hit 40+ doubles three times and scored 100+ runs six times. He retired with 257 HR, 243 SB, a .269/.337/.440 slash line, and a 107 OPS+.

• Josh Naylor (1997) is the current 1B for the Arizona Diamondbacks, having come over from the Cleveland Guardians during the offseason in a trade for pitcher Slade Cecconi. Naylor was the first round draft pick (12th overall) of the Miami Marlins in 2015, and has thus far had 93 HR in his career, including a high of 31 HR and 108 RBI last season. He is doing well so far this year, with 9 HR, 49 RBI, and a .302 average in 73 games.

• Tyler O’Neill (1995) was drafted out of high school in Canada in the third round by the Mariners in 2013. He hit for power at each level of the minor leagues and was traded to the Cardinals for whom he debuted in 2018. A good defensive LF, he earned Gold Glove Awards in both 2020 and 2021, and had his best season offensively in 2021 when he slugged 34 HR with 80 RBI, 15 SB, and a .286 average. O’Neill has hit for a lower batting average since then, though he had 31 HR in only 113 games in 2024 for the Red Sox. Signed as a free agent by the Orioles, he has struggled both with injury and at the plate so far this year.

Today’s Matchups

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

• WAS vs. LAD will be much watched simply because Shohei Ohtani is starting for the Dodgers. It remains to be seen what his pitch count limit will be as he works his way back to full pitching strength. The Nationals will counter with Michael Soroka (5.06 ERA, 49 K in 48 IP).

• NYM vs. PHI is the third game of this important NL East leaders matchup (which is split 1-1 so far), with David Peterson (2.60 ERA, 74 K in 86.2 IP) facing off against Jesús Luzardo (4.41 ERA, 97 K in 83.2 IP).

Also taking the mound today are DET Casey Mize, TOR Chris Bassitt, CIN Andrew Abbott, SEA Logan Gilbert, SFG Robbie Ray, and KCR Seth Lugo.

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:

• NYY Aaron Judge, 5-15 with 4 HR vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• BOS Trevor Story, 9-34 (.265) with 4 HR vs. SFG Robbie Ray

• WAS Nathaniel Lowe, 8-19 with 2 HR, a triple, and 2 doubles vs. LAD Shohei Ohtani

• ATL Ronald Acuña Jr., 10-32 with 2 HR, a triple, and 3 doubles vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara

• ATL Ozzie Albies, 11-39 with 2 HR and 3 doubles vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara

• PHI Alec Bohm, 9-26 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. NYM David Peterson

• STL Nolan Arenado, 7-15 with 2 HR vs. CIN Andrew Abbott

• AZ Eugenio Suárez, 3-9 with 2 HR and a double vs. COL Antonio Senzatela

• DET Parker Meadows, small sample but is 3-6 with 2 HR vs. TBR Zack Littell

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:

• ATL Marcell Ozuna, 9-22 with 2 doubles vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara

• PHI Nick Castellanos, 6-15 with a double vs. NYM David Peterson

• CHW Andrew Benintendi, 5-13 with a HR vs. TOR Chris Bassitt

• CIN Spencer Steer, 6-14 with a HR and a double vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• CIN TJ Friedl, 6-17 with a HR, a triple, and a double vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• CIN Elly De La Cruz, 5-13 with a triple and a double vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• CIN Will Benson, 7-10 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• NYM Jeff McNeil, 5-12 vs. PHI Jesús Luzardo

• NYM Juan Soto, 5-13 with a HR and a double vs. PHI Jesús Luzardo

• TOR Alejandro Kirk, small sample but is 6-6 vs. CHW Adrian Houser … impressive!

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:

• 12 - TBR Yandy Diaz

• 12 - SDP Gavin Sheets

• 10 - AZ Josh Naylor

• 10 - TBR Brandon Lowe

• 10 - WAS Luis Garcia Jr.

• 9 - TBR Jake Mangum

• 9 - TEX Josh Smith

• 9 - STL Alec Burleson

• 9 - HOU Jake Meyers

• 9 - CIN Matt McLain

• 9 - COL Tyler Freeman

• 8 - SDP Luis Arraez

• 7 - PHI Alec Bohm

• 7 - TBR Jonathan Aranda

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:

• PHI Kyle Schwarber, 2-21 with 11 K vs. NYM David Peterson

• J.T. Realmuto, 3-21 with 4 K vs. NYM David Peterson

• NYM Pete Alonso, 2-22 with 10 K though one hit was a HR vs. PHI Jesús Luzardo

• ATL Matt Olson, 2-18 with 6 K vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara

• CIN Jake Fraley, 0-12 with 5 K vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• CIN Tyler Stephenson, 1-11 though only 1 K vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• NYY Anthony Volpe, 1-11 with 4 K vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• STL Masyn Winn, 1-11 though only 1 K vs. CIN Andrew Abbott

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

The all-time leader in games played at SS is Omar Vizquel. Here is the top-five list:

• 2,709 - Omar Vizquel

• 2,674 - Derek Jeter

• 2,581 - Luis Aparicio

• 2,511 - Ozzie Smith

• 2,302 - Cal Ripken Jr.

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.

• 10 intriguing trade candidates from teams on playoff bubble, by Thomas Harrigan at MLB, 6/21/2025

• 5 Baseball Cards that Celebrated in the Wrong Place, at Wax Pack Gods Newsletter, 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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