The Baseball Buffet for 7/15/2025

Issue #335

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 110th day of the season didn’t have any games of course, but did feature the HR Derby. Here are a few key notes on that spectacle:

Round 1:

• 21 - Oneil Cruz

• 21 - Junior Caminero

• 20 - Byron Buxton

• 17 - Cal Raleigh - won the tie-breaker for longest HR, just barely

• 17 - Brent Rooker (eliminated)

• 16 - James Wood (eliminated)

• 15 - Matt Olson (eliminated)

• 3 - Jazz Chisholm Jr. (eliminated)

Semifinals Round:

• 8-7, Junior Caminero defeats Byron Buxton

• 19-13, Cal Raleigh defeats Oneil Cruz

Finals Round:

• 18-15, Cal Raleigh defeats Junior Caminero

Longest HR hit: Oneil Cruz had a 513-foot shot, which tied a record (Aaron Judge, 2017) for the longest Home Run Derby homer (not at Coors Field) since Statcast began tracking in 2016.

Cal Raleigh highlights:

• He became the first catcher to win the HR Derby.

• He joins Ken Griffey Jr. (1994, 1998, 1999) as the only HR Derby winners in Mariners history.

• He is only the second player (Adley Rutschman) to hit from both sides of the plate in the HR Derby, which he did in the first round last night.

Up next this evening is of course the All-Star Game. See this article at MLB.com for key info, presented in an easy to read FAQ format. And here is a link to the full ASG rosters.

Today’s Trivia Question

Which five players have won two All-Star Game MVP Awards?

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

• SFG RF Jerar Encarnacion

• TOR SP Alek Manoah

• LAD RP Blake Treinen

• DET RP Alex Faedo

🤕 Placed on the IL

• KCR SP Michael Lorenzen - 15-day IL (left oblique strain)

League Leaders

I’ve commented on this before, but it keeps getting more extreme. I’m talking about the Runs leaderboard, and the respective leads that Shohei Ohtani (19) has in the NL, and Aaron Judge (20) has in the AL.

• 91 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

• 85 - NYY Aaron Judge

• 72 - CIN Elly De La Cruz

• 70 - NYM Juan Soto

• 68 - CHC Kyle Tucker

• 67 - CHC Pete Crow-Armstrong

• 66 - PHI Kyle Schwarber

• 65 - MIL Jackson Chourio

• 65 - SEA Cal Raleigh

• 65 - SDP Fernando Tatis Jr.

• 64 - MIN Byron Buxton

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 July 15…

• 1901: Christy Mathewson throws a no-hitter. As described by baseball-reference.com, “Christy Mathewson, 22 years old, of the New York Giants pitches a no-hitter, blanking the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-0, at League Park. Matty saves his own no-hitter in the 6th when an Otto Krueger hit caroms off 1B John Ganzel's glove to Mathewson, who throws back to first base for a 3-1-3 putout.”

• 1973: Nolan Ryan throws his second no-hitter. As described by baseball-reference.com, “Before 41,411 in Detroit, California Angels ace Nolan Ryan hurls his second no-hitter of the season in taming the Detroit Tigers, 6-0. Ryan fans 17 batters, the most ever in a nine-inning no-hitter, including eight straight, but only one over the last two innings. Nolan's arm stiffens while watching his team rally for five runs in the top of the 8th. With two outs in the 9th, Norm Cash, who struck out his three other times at bat, comes to bat wielding a piano leg. Umpire Ron Luciano points out the illegality and Cash then pops out using a regulation bat. Ryan's eight strikeouts in a row ties the American League record he set last year. Jim Perry of the Tigers becomes the only starting pitcher to be on the losing end of three no-hitters with today's loss to Ryan. Perry was the losing pitcher in no-hitters thrown by Vida Blue on September 21, 1970 and by Steve Busby on April 27th of this year.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Bill Byrd (1907) had a 15-year major league pitching career in the Negro Leagues, spanning from 1933-1948. According to the data available at baseball-reference.com, Byrd was an All-Star in six seasons, including in 1941 when he led his league with a 2.23 ERA. He also led his league in wins three times and strikeouts twice. Byrd was also a relatively capable hitter, and would sometimes play in the outfield, especially early in his career, and overall had 16 HR and a .262 average in 783 at-bats. For his pitching career he had a 102-67 (.604) record, with a 3.39 ERA and a 128 ERA+.

• Dan McGann (1871) had a 12-year major league career as a 1B which spanned from 1896-1908. He spent six years with the New York Giants, and the rest was spread across six different clubs. He didn’t have much power, but could run the bases well with 25+ SB in eight seasons and a high of 42 SB in 1904. Overall he had 842 runs scored, 282 SB, a .284/.364/.381 slash line, and a 117 OPS+..

• Donn Clendenon (1935) also had a 12-year major league career, largely as a 1B, from 1961-1972. He had some power, hitting 28 HR with 98 RBI in 1966 with the Pirates, and then 22 HR with 97 RBI in 1970 with the Mets. He struck out quite a bit, leading the NL with 136 strikeouts in 1963 and 163 in 1968. But overall he had 159 HR in his career, along with a .274/.328/.442 slash line, and a 117 OPS+.

• Bubbles Hargrave (1892) had a 12-year major league career as a catcher which spanned from 1913-1930, with a gap between 1916-1920 when he was in the minors. His best seasons came playing for the Reds, as he regularly hit over .300, including in 1926 when he paced the NL with .353 average. Overall, he had a .310/.372/.452 slash line and a 118 OPS+. His full name was Eugene Franklin Hargrave, with the nickname “Bubbles” coming from the fact that he stuttered when making “B” sounds (according to Wikipedia). His younger brother, William McKinley Hargrave, nicknamed “Pinky”, was also a major league catcher for 10 seasons.

Currently active players who were born on July 15 include BAL Ramón Laureano, BOS Masataka Yoshida, CLE Jhonkensy Noel, WAS Cole Henry, and LAD Landon Knack.
 

NOTE: Several newsletter sections including HR Watch, Hits Watch, Who is streaking?, and Who might struggle today? will return after the All-Star Break!

⚾ Enjoy the All-Star Break!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

The five players who have won two All-Star Game MVP Awards are:

• Mike Trout (2014, 2015)

• Cal Ripken, Jr. (1991, 2001)

• Gary Carter (1981, 1984)

• Steve Garvey (1974, 1978)

• Willie Mays (1963, 1968)

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.

• What to know about All-Star Game: Lineups, pitchers, more, by MLB writers, 7/15/2025

• Every No. 1 overall Draft pick in MLB history, by Matt Kelly at MLB, 7/13/2025

• First Half Red Sox Takeaways, at the Ballpark Buzz Newsletter, 7/14/2025

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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