The Baseball Buffet for 7/16/2025

Issue #336

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 111th day of the season had just one game of course, the annual All-Star Game. Here are a few notes on the exhibition:

• NL starter Paul Skenes (PIT) retired all three batters he faced in the top of the first inning, with two strikeouts.

• AL starter Tarik Skubal (DET) got into trouble in the first inning by allowing Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. to reach base and then allowing a double by Ketel Marte.

• Clayton Kershaw (LAD), selected to the NL All-Star team as a “Legends” pick, pitched in the top of the second and recorded two outs.

• There wasn’t any more scoring until the bottom of the sixth when Pete Alonso (NYM) hit a 3-run HR, and Corbin Carroll (AZ) followed with a solo HR.

• The AL came back with four runs of their own in the top of the seventh, including Brent Rooker (ATH) hitting a 2-run HR.

• NL rookie Jacob Misiorowski (MIL), included on the All-Star team as a replacement even though he had only played five games in the majors so far this year, didn’t disappoint by pitching a scoreless 8th inning and hitting 102.3 mph with his fastball.

• In the top of the ninth the AL scored two to tie the game. Bobby Witt (KCR), MLB’s leader in doubles this year, hit a double to drive in Byron Buxton. NL 1B Matt Olson (ATL) made a great defensive play to keep the AL from going ahead, but then Steven Kwan (CLE) singled on a soft ground ball to drive in Witt.

• Veteran reliever Aroldis Chapman (BOS) worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth.

• With the game tied 6-6, it did not proceed to extra innings. This is understandable as managers in the All-Star game try to use as many, if not all, of the pitchers on their rosters to allow as many as possible to participate in the exhibition contest. So instead of extra innings the game was decided, for the first time ever, by a Home Run Swing Off contest in which each team put up three hitters, who each got three swings apiece. The AL had Brent Rooker (A’s) who hit 2, Randy Arozarena (SEA) who hit 1, and Jonathan Aranda (TBR) who didn’t hit any. The NL had Kyle Stowers (MIA) with 1, and then Kyle Schwarber (PHI) hit a HR on all three of his swings, giving the NL the win (the Mets’ Pete Alonso would have been their third hitter, if necessary).

• Based largely on that final performance, Kyle Schwarber was named the All-Star Game MVP.

Today’s Trivia Question

You can quibble with Clayton Kershaw being named as an All-Star for the 11th time, as he this year was chosen not based on his 2025 numbers, but rather by being honored as a “Legends” pick. That said, as noted above, he entered the game in the second inning and retired both batters he faced. Today’s question: Which four other pitchers have been named All-Stars in 11 or more seasons?

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

• LAD SP Blake Snell

• NYM RP José Buttó

• CLE SP Shane Bieber

🤕 Placed on the IL

• CLE RP Paul Sewald - 15-day IL (right shoulder strain)

League Leaders

Today I thought I’d dig a bit deeper than usual, and share some abbreviated batting league-leader lists that surprised me a bit.

Batter Strikeouts

• 125 - DET Riley Greene - surprised he is at the top of this list. All-Star player, how good could he be if he could cut his K-rate?

• 121 - COL Ryan McMahon

• 116 - COL Michael Toglia

• 116 - PIT Oneil Cruz

• 116 - WAS James Wood

Intentional Walks

• 24 - NYY Aaron Judge - not surprised he is leading, but he has twice as many as anyone else!

• 12 - CLE José Ramírez

• 12 - SEA Cal Raleigh

• 11 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

Double Plays Grounded Into

• 25 - TBR Junior Caminero - what is going on here? 10 more than anyone else?

• 15 - ATH Jacob Wilson

• 14 - NYM Pete Alonso

• 14 - NYM Juan Soto

AB per SO

• 33.2 - SDP Luis Arraez - again, not surprised he is the leader here, but by this much? He has only 11 strikeouts in 393 plate appearances over 90 games.

• 12.5 - CHC Nico Hoerner

• 12.1 - ATH Jacob Wilson

• 10.6 - CLE Steven Kwan

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 16…

• 1853: Possibly the first published baseball boxscore. As described at baseball-reference.com, “The New York Clipper publishes what is believed to be the first tabulated boxscore of a baseball game. The Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York defeated the Gotham Club, 21-12, on July 5th.”

• 1920: Babe Ruth is the first to hit 30 HR in a season. Babe Ruth hit his 30th HR of the year, and will end the 1920 season with 54, by far the most ever at that point.

• 1941: Joe DiMaggio extends his hitting streak to 56. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Joe DiMaggio singles off Al Milnar in the 1st inning to extend his hitting streak to 56 games. He has three hits in the game as the Yankees beat the Indians, 10-3 in Cleveland. DiMaggio's streak will be snapped tomorrow night.”

• 1993: Darren Lewis sets record for consecutive error-less OF games. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Giants OF Darren Lewis sets a major league record by playing his 267th consecutive game without an error. He snaps Don Demeter's record. The Giants defeat the Mets, 4-2.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Shoeless Joe Jackson (1887) had a 13-year major league career spanning from 1908-1920, with nine full seasons with the Indians and White Sox. One of the best hitters of his era, Jackson hit .408 in 1911, then led the AL with 226 hits and 26 triples while batting .395 the following season. He led the league in triples two more times, including his age-32 season in 1920. That was of course his final year, as he was permanently banned from playing due to his participation in the infamous Black Sox Scandal of the 1919 World Series. Recently MB commissioner Rob Manfred removed Jackson (along with Pete Rose and other deceased players) from MLB’s permanently ineligible list—with the primary impact being that he can now be included in the Baseball Hall of Fame at some point. Over his career, Jackson had 168 triples, 202 SB, a .356/.423/.517 slash line, and a 170 OPS+.

• Terry Pendleton (1960) had a 15-year major league career, primarily with the Cardinals and Braves. He had some speed early on, stealing between 17-24 bases in each of his first four seasons. He later developed some power, hitting 22 HR with 86 RBI while leading the NL with 187 hits and a .319 average earning him 1991 NL MVP honors. The following year he was an All-Star with 21 HR and career highs of 98 runs, 39 doubles, and 105 RBI. Pendleton was a good defender at the hot corner, winning three NL Gold Glove Awards at 3B. Overall, he hit 140 HR, with 127 SB, and a .270 average.

• Larry Jansen (1920) had a 9-year major league pitching career, mostly with the New York Giants. He had some impressive minor league seasons first, including going 30-6 with a 1.57 ERA for AAA San Francisco in the Pacific Coast League in 1946. That of course earned him a call-up to the majors for 1947, and he went 21-5 with a 3.16 ERA coming in second in the NL Rookie of the Year vote (since that was Jackie Robinson’s rookie season of course.) He was later an All-Star in both 1950 when he was 19-13 with a 3.01 ERA and in 1951 when he led the NL in wins with a 23-11 record with a 3.04 ERA. Arm issues arose by the mid-1950s, and he finished his professional career pitching at AAA Portland from 1958-1960. Overall in the majors his career record was 122-89 (.578), with a 3.58 ERA, and a 112 ERA+.

Currently active players who were born on July 16 include AZ Ildemaro Vargas, ATL Jarred Kelenic, and STL Michael Siani.
 

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

Clayton Kershaw was named as an All-Star for the 11th time this year, as a “Legends” pick in this case. The four other pitchers who have been named an All-Star in 11 or more seasons are:

• 14 - Warren Spahn

• 13 - Mariano Rivera

• 12 - Tom Seaver

• 11 - Roger Clemens

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.

• Here's a team-by-team breakdown from 2025 All-Star Game, by MLB writers, 7/16/2025

• 8 best moments from an All-Star Game with a first-of-its kind finish, by Daniel Kramer at MLB, 7/16/2025

• 5 Baseball Cards of All-Stars in Disguise, at Wax Pack Gods Newsletter, 7/13/2025

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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