The Baseball Buffet for 7/17/2025

Issue #337

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 112th day of the season didn’t have any games, as we are still getting through the All-Star break.

Today’s Trivia Question

We did this a little while ago, but time for a level set before we come out of the All-Star Break. If the playoffs were today, who would be the six division winners and who would be the six wild-card teams?

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

• HOU LF Chas McCormick

🤕 Placed on the IL

• TEX 1B Jake Burger - 10-day IL (left quadriceps injury)

➡️ Traded

• The Pirates traded 2B Adam Frazier back to the Royals for 28-year old minor league SS Cam Devanney. The 33-year old Frazier was batting .255 with 3 HR and 7 SB for the Pirates, and will provide the Royals with INF/OF position versatility. Devanney last year hit 19 HR and 77 RBI in 136 games at AAA, and so far this year has 18 HR with 55 RBI and a .272 average in 69 games at AAA. Should the Pirates trade Isiah Kiner-Falefa before the deadline as is expected, Devanney might see his first major league action.

League Leaders

As I did yesterday for batting leaders, today I thought I’d dig a bit deeper than usual, and share some abbreviated pitching league-leader lists that I found interesting.

Bases On Balls per 9 IP

• 1.190 - DET Tarik Skubal

• 1.315 - TBR Zack Littell

• 1.464 - ATL Spencer Schwellenbach

• 1.583 - STL Sonny Gray

• 1.648 - SEA Bryan Woo

Strikeouts per 9 IP (qualified starting pitchers)

• 11.38 - DET Tarik Skubal

• 11.36 - PHI Zack Wheeler

• 11.25 - WAS MacKenzie Gore

• 11.23 - SDP Dylan Cease

• 11.13 - BOS Garrett Crochet

Strikeouts / Base On Balls

• 9.56 - DET Tarik Skubal - leads both BB/9 and SO/9, so naturally leads this ratio… and by a lot!

• 6.21 - STL Sonny Gray

• 6.00 - ATL Spencer Schwellenbach

• 5.92 - PHI Zack Wheeler

• 5.26 - MIN Joe Ryan

Home Runs Allowed

• 24 - TBR Zack Littell - 2nd in above list for fewest BB/9, but tops this list for most HR allowed

• 22 - WAS Jake Irvin

• 22 - CHC Jameson Taillon

• 21 - MIN Bailey Ober

• 21 - AZ Zac Gallen

Wild Pitches

• 10 - KCR Michael Lorenzen

• 8 - BAL Seranthony Dominguez... a relief pitcher!

• 8 - COL Antonio Senzatela

• 7 - TEX Jack Leiter

• 7 - CHW Shane Smith

Hit By Pitch

• 11 - ATH Luis Severino

• 11 - CIN Nick Lodolo

• 10 - MIN Joe Ryan

• 10 - CHW Shane Smith - tied for 4th for wild pitches above, so has some control issues to work on!

• 10 - WAS Michael Soroka

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 17…

• 1924: Jesse Haines throws a no-hitter. As described by baseball-reference.com, “On Tuberculosis Day at Sportsman's Park, the Cards' Jesse Haines hurls his only shutout in two years, a 5-0 no-hitter over the Braves. It is the first no-hitter by a St. Louis hurler since 1876, and the first-ever National League no-hitter in St. Louis.”

• 1941: Joe DiMaggio’s famous hitting streak ends. As described by baseball-reference.com, “In front of more than 60,000 fans at Cleveland, Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak is ended at 56 games. Indians P Al Smith and Jim Bagby Jr., plus sensational plays by 3B Ken Keltner, stop the Yankee Clipper, but New York edges the Indians, 6-5.”

• 1961: Ty Cobb dies at age 74. As described by baseball-reference.com, “Following a year-long illness, Ty Cobb succumbs to cancer at age 74 at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.”

• 1974: Bob Gibson becomes the second to strikeout 3,000 batters. As described by baseball-reference.com, “Cardinals pitching great Bob Gibson fans the Reds' Cesar Geronimo to become the second hurler after Walter Johnson to strike out 3,000 batters. Geronimo will become Nolan Ryan's 3,000th strikeout victim six years later. The Reds shrug it off, scoring six runs in the 1st inning and three in the 2nd on their way to a 12-7 win.”

• 1990: The Twins turn two triple plays. As described by baseball-reference.com, “Minnesota becomes the first team in history to turn two triple plays in the same game. Both are started on grounders to 3B Gary Gaetti, who has started five of the Twins' last six triple killings. The Twins' triple killings aren't enough as the team loses to the Red Sox at Fenway Park, 1-0.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Lou Boudreau (1917) had a 15-year major league career, spanning from 1938-1952, mostly with the Indians as a SS and player-manager. A 7-time All-Star, Boudreau received at least some MVP votes in ten consecutive seasons, winning the award in 1948 after hitting 18 HR with 106 RBI, 116 runs, and a .355 average while leading the Indians as manager to a World Series championship. An excellent defender at SS, Boudreau led the AL in doubles with 45 in 1941, 1944, and 1947, and also won the AL batting title in 1944 with a .327 average. Overall he had a career .295/.380/.415 slash line, and a 120 OPS+.

• Roy McMillan (1929) had a 16-year career as a defense-first SS with the Reds, Braves, and Mets. He was an All-Star in both 1956 and 1957, and earned three Gold Glove Awards. He had 10 HR in 1960 and 12 HR in 1962, but retired with only a .243 career average and 72 OPS+.

• Don Kessinger (1942) similarly had a 16-year major league career as a SS. He spent most of that time with the Cubs, and was an All-Star six times. A two-time Gold Glove Award winner, he had virtually no power with 14 career HR in 2,078 games. He had 38 doubles with 109 runs in 1969 and 14 triples with 100 runs in 1970, but retired with only a .252 average and 73 OPS+.

• Bobby Thigpen (1963) had a nine-year major league career as a reliever, mostly with the Chicago White Sox. Drafted in the fourth round in 1985, and tried as a starter in the minors, he was quickly promoted to the major leagues to be a late inning reliever and quickly became the team’s closer. He posted 34 saves in both 1988 and 1989, and then in 1990 he was an All-Star and broke the record for most saves in a season with 57, to go along with a tidy 1.83 ERA (Francisco Rodríguez later topped Thigpen’s total with 62 saves in 2008). Injuries including a back problem developed after the 1990 season, limiting Thigpen to 30 and 22 saves the next two years with his ERA climbing. Overall, he retired with 201 saves, a 3.01 ERA, and a 119 ERA+.

Currently active players who were born on July 17 include KCR Noah Cameron, AZ Jordan Lawlar, and MIN Cole Sands,
 

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

If the playoffs started today, the AL division winners would be the Blue Jays, Tigers, and Astros, and the three AL wild card teams would be the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mariners. The Rays are the only other team over .500 in the AL, and they are 1.5 games behind Seattle for the final WC spot. The Twins, Royals, Guardians, Rangers, and Angels are all just under .500, so a run by any of them could put them in the picture too.

In the NL, the divisions leaders right now are the Phillies (by half a game over the Mets), the Cubs (one game over the Brewers), and the Dodgers. The Wild Card teams as of today would be the Mets, Brewers, and Padres. The Giants, Cardinals, and Reds are all over .500, so are in the hunt, and the Diamondbacks are just under that bar so could make a run as well.

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.

• 6 All-Stars who could be on the move before Deadline, by Mark Feinsand at MLB, 7/16/2025

• Power Rankings: Where things stand for all 30 teams coming out of All-Star break, by Will Leitch at MLB, 7/16/2025

• Buy? Sell? How the Trade Deadline bubble looks coming out of the break, by Thomas Harrigan at MLB, 7/16/2025

• 1 key player for each team as second half begins, by MLB writers, 7/16/2025

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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