The Baseball Buffet for 6/25/2025

Issue #316

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 90th day of the season had a partial slate of Tuesday games:

• TOR 10, CLE 6 - Blue Jays starter Eric Lauer pitched pretty well (5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K), with the Guardians scoring all of their runs late in this one, including from three HR by Carlos Santana, Lane Thomas, and Kyle Manzardo. That wasn’t enough as the Blue Jays tallied 14 hits, including an eighth inning grand slam by George Springer who was 3-5 on the day.

• TEX 6, BAL 5 - Rangers starter Jacob Latz (6 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 k) had a no-hitter going through six innings before Ramon Laureano hit a single in the seventh. The normally reliable Chris Martin relieved him and that didn’t go well as he promptly allowed back-to-back-to-back HR to Gary Sánchez, Ramón Urías, and Ryan O’Hearn. That put the Orioles up 5-4, but then the Rangers scored in the top of the eighth and the game eventually went into extras. In the top of the tenth, with the ghost-running Manfred Man, Evan Carter, having advanced to third, Sam Haggerty hit a grounder to second. Jackson Holliday threw home, and Carter was called out. But upon review, it was found his head-first slide got his hand onto home plate before the tag was applied. The Rangers’ Robert Garcia then pitched a scoreless bottom of the tenth for his sixth save on the year.

• TBR 5, KCR 1 - Kris Bubic struck out 8 in 6 innings, but also allowed 8 hits and 4 runs (2 earned), including a 2-run HR by Danny Jansen. Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda were both 3-4 with a run scored, while Rays’ starter Taj Bradley had a good game (6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K).

• SEA 6, MIN 5 - No homers for Cal Raleigh in this one, though he did go 2-4 with a double. Kody Clemens had his 8th HR of the year for the Twins, and the game was tied 5-5 through eight innings. In the top of the ninth, Twins reliever Jhoan Duran loaded the bases with only one out, and Julio Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to right to drive in Dylan Moore. With Andrés Muñoz already having pitched the eighth inning, Matt Brash came in for the ninth and notched his first save on the year while keeping his ERA a perfect 0.00 over 14.1 innings.

• AZ 4, CHW 1 - Luis Robert Jr. hit a solo HR in the second inning, but otherwise Ryne Nelson pitched very well (5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K). Five Arizona relievers held the White Sox scoreless the rest of the way. Ketel Marte had hit a solo HR in the first inning, and then the D-Backs scored three in the seventh to pull away.

• CHC 7, STL 8 - The Cardinals scored all eight of their runs off Jameson Taillon (4 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 3 K), leveraging three HR by Lars Nootbaar, Masyn Winn, and Nolan Gorman. The Cubs actually outhit the Cards 13-10 and had homers of their own by Seiya Suzuki and Nico Hoerner, but it wasn’t enough as three St. Louis relievers shut things down over the last three innings, including Ryan Helsley recording his 15th save.

• PHI 0, HOU 1 - As I had suggested could happen yesterday, this one was a nice pitching duel with good work by both Ranger Suárez (7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) and Framber Valdez (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 3 K). The lone run came from a solo HR by Cooper Hummel off Suárez in the bottom of the eighth. Bryan Abreu threw a scoreless 8th, and Josh Hader did the same in the ninth for his 20th save. Both of those relievers now have identical 1.78 ERA in 35.1 IP this season.

• PIT 3, MIL 9 - Nick Gonzalez hit a 3-run HR in the sixth to force Freddy Peralta from the game, but he had otherwise done pretty well (5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 8 K). Four Milwaukee relievers pitched one inning each and didn’t allow any further damage. Meanwhile, the Brewers had hit three HR early off Andrew Heaney (4 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3 K), including two from Joey Ortiz, and one by Caleb Durbin.

• ATH 4, DET 11 - The Athletics managed to get two, 2-run HR early off Tarik Skubal (6 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K), one by Brent Rooker and the other from Denzel Clarke. But the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner settled in after that, and three Detroit relievers held the Athletics scoreless for the final three innings. Meanwhile Detroit also scored early, gaining a 7-4 lead through three innings and adding four more runs late in the game. Riley Greene went 4-5 with a double, and Kerry Carpenter and Dillon Dingler each hit homers as the Tigers became the first team with 50 wins this year.

• ATL 7, NYM 4 - Frankie Montas pitched well in his 2025 debut (5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K), but the Braves did damage against the Mets bullpen, including Matt Olson going 2-4 with a double and 3 RBI and Nick Allen going 3-4 out of the ninth spot in the lineup. Spencer Strider let up three runs, but struck out 8 in only 5 innings (5 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 8 K).

• NYY 4, CIN 5 - 22-year old prospect Chase Burns, the overall #2 pick in last year’s draft, had an electric start hitting 99 and 100 mph and striking out the first five Yankees he faced, and six in the first two innings (5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 8 K). He later gave up a few runs, including a HR to Ben Rice, while Carlos Rodón pitched six scoreless innings (6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). The Reds tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the seventh, and it remained 3-3 through nine and then ten innings. The Yankees scored one in the top of the 11th, but then in the bottom of the frame Mark Leiter Jr. let up a walk and three hits, with Gavin Lux hitting a single with the bases loaded to drive in Elly De La Cruz for the winning run.

• LAD 9, COL 7 - Each team had 14 hits in this one, including six Dodgers with two hits each. Michael Conforto hit a 3-run HR, and Shohei Ohtani hit a 2-run HR, his NL-leading 27th of the year. In the end, Dodgers closer Tanner Scott pitched a four-out save, his 16th of the season.

• BOS 2, LAA 3 - Both starters did well: Tyler Anderson in a relatively short outing (4.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) and of course Garrett Crochet was dominant as usual (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 K). Rookie 2B Christian Moore, hitting out of the ninth spot, was the hero for the Angels as he hit a solo HR in the 8th inning to eventually force extra innings, then hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of the 10th for the walk-off win.

• WAS 3, SDP 4 - The Nationals scored three runs in the first three innings, but then four Padres relievers held them scoreless for the rest of the game, with Robert Suarez pitching the ninth and recording his 22nd save. Light-hitting (.189) catcher Martin Maldonado hit his fourth HR of the year in the fifth inning to tie the game, and then San Diego scored what would be the decisive run the following inning.

• MIA 4, SFG 2 - Rookie Christian Koss hit a 2-run HR in the fifth, the second HR of his career. Justin Verlander struck out five in five innings, but also let up three runs. The Marlins bullpen held the Giants scoreless, with Calvin Faucher pitching the ninth inning for his 8th save.

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 trivia series, who has played the most career games as a CF? Bonus points for each of the others in 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).

➕ Sent on a Rehab Assignment

• KCR 2B Michael Massey

• CLE RP Paul Sewald

• COL SP Tanner Gordon

• CIN LF Austin Hays

• BAL RF Tyler O’Neill

• CHW SP Jonathan Cannon

🤕 Placed on the IL

• AZ RF Corbin Carroll - 10-day IL (left wrist fracture)

• WAS C Keibert Ruiz - 10-day IL (head contusion)

• HOU RP Shawn Dubin - 15-day IL (right forearm strain)

⬆️ Called Back Up

• TBR OF Chandler Simpson - After hitting .282 with 19 SB earlier this year the 25-year old Simpson was sent to AAA because of roster congestion (and it was a level he frankly had skipped on his rise through the minors). He proceeded to hit .333 with 19 SB in 33 AAA games, and so is now back up. He lacks any power, but he can get on-base and steal them bigtime: in 2023 he had 94 SB in 115 games across A and A+, and then in 2024 he had 104 SB in 110 games at A+ and AA.

📝 Signed as Free Agent

• The Baltimore Orioles, suffering multiple catcher injuries, have signed veteran 35-year old Jacob Stallings. Earlier this year Stallings was playing for the Rockies, but struggled offensively batting .143 with 0 HR in 84 at-bats.

• The Houston Astros have signed veteran 33-year old 1B Jon Singleton to a minor league contract. He played at AAA Syracuse (Mets) earlier this year, and had 12 HR but only a .213 average in 183 AB. He played for the Astros last year, hitting 13 HR with a .234 average in 355 AB.

• The Chicago White Sox have signed veteran 32-year old pitcher Noah Syndergaard to a minor league deal. He didn’t pitch at all in 2024, including in the minors, and last pitched in 2023 with 12 starts for the Dodgers and 6 starts for Cleveland.

MLB Debut Yesterday

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

• CIN SP Chase Burns - Last year’s #2 overall draft pick was called up and didn’t disappoint early, striking out the first five batters he faced: Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Paul Goldschmidt. He then let up a single to Jazz Chisholm Jr., before striking out Anthony Volpe for six strikeouts in his first two major league innings. While he later let up a triple to Volpe, and a solo HR to Rice, he didn’t walk anyone and struck out eight so there is no denying his stuff is ready for the big leagues. Before the call-up, the 22-year old Burns had a 1.77 ERA in 13 starts across three minor league levels.

League Leaders

Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge continue to have healthy leads in their respective leagues on the Runs scored leaderboard:

• 77 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

• 70 - NYY Aaron Judge

• 63 - CIN Elly De La Cruz

• 58 - CHC Pete Crow-Armstrong

• 58 - SEA Cal Raleigh

• 57 - AZ Corbin Carroll

• 57 - PHI Kyle Schwarber

• 57 - SDP Fernando Tatis Jr.

• 56 - NYM Juan Soto

• 56 - CHC Kyle Tucker

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 25…

• 1903: Wiley Piatt loses two complete games in one day. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Boston Beaneater Wiley Piatt becomes the only 20th century pitcher to lose two complete games in one day, falling to Pittsburgh, 1-0 and 5-3. Piatt allows 14 hits in the two games while striking out 12.”

• 1950: Ralph Kiner hits for the cycle, plus a second HR. Ralph Kiner drove in 8 runs by hitting for the cycle and adding a second HR, as the Pirates beat Brooklyn 16-11.

• 1968: Bobby Bonds enters the big leagues in grand fashion. As described at baseball-reference.com, “San Francisco rookie Bobby Bonds becomes the second player to hit a grand slam in his first major league game, as Ray Sadecki blanks the Dodgers, 9-0. Bonds does it on his third at-bat, facing John Purdin. The only other player to hit a grand slam in his first major league game was Bill Duggleby of the Philadelphia Phillies, who achieved the feat in 1898.”

• 1976: Shortstop Toby Harrah doesn’t get any fielding chances in a double-header. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Ranger Toby Harrah becomes the only shortstop in major league history to go through an entire doubleheader without a fielding chance. At the plate, Harrah makes up for the inactivity, collecting six hits, including a grand slam in the opener and another round-tripper in the second game. The Rangers beat the White Sox in the first game 8-4, but lose the nightcap, 14-9.”

• 1989: The Mets don’t record any assists for an entire game. As described at baseball-reference.com, “In a first in the National League, the Mets' defense does not record a single assist in a 5-1 win over Philadelphia, tying the major-league record set by the Yanks on July 4, 1945. New York pitchers retire the Phillies on 13 strikeouts, 12 fly outs, and two ground balls to 1B.”

• 1995: Andres Galarraga hits a HR in three consecutive innings. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Colorado 1B Andres Galarraga hits home runs in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings against the Padres to tie the major league record: he's the fourth major leaguer to clout four-baggers in three consecutive innings. Galarraga's seven RBIs lead the Rockies to an 11-3 win.”

• 1999: Rookie Jose Jimenez threw a no-hitter. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Entering the game with an ERA above 6.00, Jose Jimenez faces only 28 batters and no-hits the Diamondbacks, 1-0. The Cardinal hurler is the first National League rookie since 1972 and the first Cardinal since 1983 to throw a hitless game.”

• 2010: Edwin Jackson threw a no-hitter. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Edwin Jackson throws the fourth no-hitter of the season as the Diamondbacks defeat their brethren from the 1998 expansion, the Tampa Bay Rays, 1-0. Jackson needs 149 pitches to complete the game, after struggling with his control early on and walking seven in the first three innings, but manager A.J. Hinch decides to leave him in the game to grab his chance at history.”

• 2014: Tim Lincecum threw a no-hitter. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants no-hits the San Diego Padres for the second time of his career, 4-0. He had already turned the trick against the Friars on July 13, 2013. He is the second pitcher following Hall of Famer Addie Joss to no-hit the same team twice.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Carlos Delgado (1972) had a 17-year major league career from 1993-2009, mostly with the Blue Jays, but with one year for the Marlins and his final four with the Mets. A powerful slugger, he hit 30+ in eleven seasons, with a high of 44 in 1999. He led the AL with 57 doubles in 2000 and 145 RBI in 2003. In a crowded field of 1B talent, Delgado was only an All-Star twice, even though he scored 100+ runs five times and 100+ RBI nine times. Overall, he had 473 HR, 1,241 runs, 1,512 RBI, a .280/.383/.546 slash line, and a 138 OPS+.

• Aramis Ramírez (1978) had an 18-year major league career from 1998-2015, playing with the Pirates, Cubs, and Brewers. A three-time All-Star, Ramírez hit 25+ HR ten times and had 100+ RBI seven times. He hit over .300 in seven seasons, and led the NL in doubles with 50 in 2012. Overall for his career he had 386 HR, 1,417 RBI, a .283/.341/.492 slash line, and a 115 OPS+.

• Aaron Sele (1970) was the first round (23rd overall) draft pick out of college by the Red Sox in 1991. He was in the majors by 1993 and pitched for Boston for five years, before spending the rest of his 15-year career with the Mariners, Angels, Rangers, Mets, and Dodgers. A two-time All-Star, Sele was 19-11 in 1998, 18-9 in 1999, and 17-10 in 2000. Overall for his career he had a 148-112 (.569) record, a 4.61 ERA, and an even 100 ERA+.

Today’s Matchups

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

• PIT vs. MIL is an exciting one with two of the best young pitchers in baseball. Paul Skenes (1.85 ERA, 106 K in 102 IP) has already proven himself, while Jacob Misiorowski is just getting started (1.84 ERA, 11 K in 11 IP in his first two major league starts). 

• WAS vs. SDP features two pitchers having pretty good seasons in MacKenzie Gore (3.19 ERA, 123 K in 93 IP) vs. Nick Pivetta (3.64 ERA, 91 K in 84 IP).

Also on the hill today are TEX Jacob deGrom, TOR Max Scherzer, NYM Clay Holmes, NYY Max Fried, TBR Drew Rasmussen, MIN Joe Ryan, PHI Zack Wheeler, LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and SFG Logan Webb.

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 Cody Bellinger, small sample but is 2-4 with 2 HR vs. CIN Brady Singer

• BOS Ceddanne Rafaela, small sample but is 4-7 with 2 HR and a double vs. LAA Yusei Kikuchi

• MIN Willi Castro, 3-9 with a HR and 2 triples vs. SEA George Kirby

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:

• HOU Christian Walker, 10-24 with a HR and 4 doubles vs. PHI Zack Wheeler

• CHC Dansby Swanson, 9-24 vs. STL Erick Fedde

• BOS Rob Refsnyder, 6-13 vs. lefty LAA Yusei Kikuchi, and as I always say, Refsnyder hits LHP well

• NYY Aaron Judge, 5-13 vs. CIN Brady Singer

• COL Ezequiel Tovar, small sample but is 6-7 with a HR and a double vs. LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto

• SEA Dylan Moore, small sample but is 4-7 with a HR and a triple 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:

• 14 - TBR Yandy Diaz

• 12 - AZ Josh Naylor

• 11 - TBR Brandon Lowe

• 11 - COL Tyler Freeman

• 11 - SDP Luis Arraez

• 9 - TBR Jonathan Aranda

• 9 - MIL Brice Turang

• 8 - MIL Joey Ortiz

• 8 - MIL Christian Yelich

• 8 - MIL Isaac Collins

• 8 - SDP Jackson Merrill

• 7 - SEA Cal Raleigh

• 7 - MIA Eric Wagaman

• 7 - LAA Jo Adell

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:

• CLE Carlos Santana, 4-52 with 14 K vs. TOR Max Scherzer… that is a lot of history, though this is Scherzer first game back from the IL

• CHC Ian Happ, 1-11 with 3 K vs. STL Erick Fedde

• TBR Brandon Lowe, 1-10 with 3 K vs. KCR Michael Wacha

• BOS Abraham Toro, 1-10 with 3 K vs. LAA Yusei Kikuchi

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

The player who played the most career games in CF is Willie Mays. Here are the top five in CF games played:

• 2,829 - Willie Mays

• 2,691 - Tris Speaker

• 2,314 - Steve Finley

• 2,239 - Willie Davis

• 2,193 - Ty Cobb

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.

• Which teams will rise -- or fall -- in the second half?, by Will Leitch at MLB, 6/25/2025

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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