The Baseball Buffet for 7/2/2025

Issue #323

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 97th day of the season had a full slate of Tuesday games, though lots of lousy weather led to three games being postponed and one being suspended early:

• NYY 5, TOR 12 - The Yankees actually out hit the Blue Jays 9-8 in this one, but they were only 2-17 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base. They scored two runs in the top of the first, but then Kevin Gausman settled in and otherwise pitched well (5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K). Aaron Judge was 2-2 with 3 walks and a double, but the story was Toronto’s offense led by George Springer who went 3-4 with a solo HR, and grand slam, and 7 total RBI. Andrés Giménez also hit well, going 2-3 with a walk, a 3-run HR, and scored 3 runs too.

• MIN 0, MIA 2 - Kyle Stowers hit his 14th HR of the year, but Joe Ryan otherwise pitched well (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K). But Edward Cabrera was even better (7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), and two Marlins relievers combined for the two-hit shutout.

• ATH 4, TBR 3 - The Rays had three solo HR from Christopher Morel, Brandon Lowe, and Danny Jansen. But their offense otherwise struggled by going 0-9 with runners in scoring position and stranding 10 runners overall. Shane Baz struck out 11 in 7 innings, but also let up homers to Max Muncy and Shea Langeliers. The game was tied 3-3 through nine innings, and in the top of the ninth, with Mason Montgomery pitching and a runner on a third, Austin Wynns hit a sacrifice fly to give the A’s the lead. Athletics closer Mason Miller then entered for the bottom of the tenth, hit 103 and even 104 on the radar gun, and struck out two in recording his 17th save.

• STL 0, PIT 1 - This was a pitchers duel, as Paul Skenes was solid as usual (5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K), but Andre Pallante was outstanding throwing one-hit ball for seven innings (7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K). With his pitch count having reached 88, the Cardinals brought in the usually reliable Phil Maton (1.91 ERA) for the bottom of the eighth. The Pirates had three hits that inning, with Henry Davis hitting a sacrifice fly to drive in Ke’Bryan Hayes for the lone run of the game. David Bednar allowed some baserunners but escaped the ninth with his 12th save. The scoring in this one was very different than the Pirates last four games, but it nonetheless was their fifth straight win of this homestand.

• LAA 4, ATL 0 - Grant Holmes pitched very well (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 K), but the Braves offense struggled to get anything going as Tyler Anderson also was effective (6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K). Three Angels relievers combined with him for the shutout, while LA scored all four of their runs in the eighth inning in part from a flurry of doubles by Mike Trout, Jo Adell, and Jorge Soler.

• CLE 2, CHC 5 - Matthew Boyd pitched well (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) and Daniel Palencia struck out two in the ninth for his 9th save. Offensively, the Cubs were led by Seiya Suzuki who hit his 23rd HR of the year, Michael Busch who went 3-3 with a walk, and Carson Kelly who was 2-2 with a walk, two doubles, and 3 RBI.

• BAL 2, TEX 10 - It seems catchers in Baltimore are getting hurt left and right these days, but veteran Gary Sánchez not only persevered, but managed to hit a 2-run HR off none other than Jacob deGrom who otherwise was doing well per usual (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K). That was all the scoring the Orioles would get in this one, while Texas tallied 14 hits, including OF Alejandro Osuna hitting his first major league HR. All nine Rangers in the starting lineup had hits, including Corey Seager who was 2-4 with two doubles, and Adolis Garcia who was 3-5 with a double and 4 RBI.

• HOU 6, COL 5 - Houston jumped on Rockies rookie Chase Dollander early (2.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 K), including a grand slam by Victor Caratini. Five Colorado relievers held Houston scoreless the rest of the way, but the damage was done. The Rockies scored runs in five separate innings, including Hunter Goodman hitting a HR in the first, and then another HR in the ninth, but Josh Hader settled in and struck out the final two batters for his now MLB-leading 24th save.

• KCR 6, SEA 3 - Randy Arozarena had the only HR of the game, his 10th of the year in the second inning. But the Royals had six doubles, including Salvador Perez going 3-5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI, and Bobby Witt Jr. going 2-5 with his MLB-leading 30th double of the season. Five Royals relievers pitched 4+ innings of shut out ball, including Carlos Estévez locking down the ninth for his 23rd save.

• SFG 2, AZ 8 - Willy Adames hit a HR in the second inning, but Zac Gallen otherwise pitched quite well (7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K). Arizona hit four HR in the middle three innings, including dingers by Jake McCarthy, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Randal Grichuk, and James McCann.

• CHW 1, LAD 6 - The Dodgers scored four in the first inning and six overall against White Sox starter Shane Smith (4.2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 6 K), including Shohei Ohtani hitting his NL-leading 30th HR. Meanwhile Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a great game (7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K) and two LA relievers held the White Sox scoreless in the final two innings.

• CIN 1, BOS 2 - suspended after three innings

• SDP vs. PHI - postponed

• DET vs. WAS - postponed

• MIL vs. NYM - postponed

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

What six-time All-Star, who played in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, had 287 career HR, came in second in the NL MVP vote in 1990 and third in the 1991 voting?

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

• DET SP Alex Faedo

• BOS LF Masataka Yoshida

• PIT RP Colin Holderman

• CIN 3B Noelvi Marte

• TEX 1B Jake Burger

• BAL RF Tyler O’Neill

• NYM LF Jesse Winker

• NYM SP Sean Manaea

🤕 Placed on the IL

• CLE SS Gabriel Arias - 10-day IL (sprained left ankle)

• BAL C Chadwick Tromp - 10-day IL (lower back strain)

• SFG 2B Christian Koss - 10-day IL (left hamstring strain)

• MIL RP Rob Zastryzny - 15-day IL (ribs stress reaction)

• LAD RP Michael Kopech - 15-day IL (right knee inflammation)

➡️ Traded

• The Pirates have traded RP Hunter Stratton to the Braves for minor league OF Titus Dumitru.

MLB Debut Yesterday

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

• SEA RP Juan Burgos - The 25-year old pitched the final two innings of Seattle’s 6-3 loss to the Royals yesterday (2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). Before the call-up Burgos had pitched one inning at AAA, but mostly was throwing quite effectively at AA Arkansas (1.29 ERA, 29 K in 28 IP with only 10 hits allowed).

League Leaders

As noted above, Josh Hader is now alone atop of the saves leaderboard:

• 24 - HOU Josh Hader

• 23 - KCR Carlos Estévez

• 23 - SDP Robert Suarez

• 19 - TOR Jeff Hoffman

• 18 - CLE Emmanuel Clase

• 18 - WAS Kyle Finnegan

• 18 - MIL Trevor Megill

• 18 - SEA Andrés Muñoz

• 18 - CIN Emilio Pagán

• 18 - LAD Tanner Scott

• 17 - ATH Mason Miller

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 2…

• 1903: Hall of Famer Ed Delahanty dies mysteriously. Although there are varying accounts of the series of events that led to Ed Delahanty’s death at the age of 35, baseball-reference.com describes it as follows: “Seeing that George Davis is playing for the Giants, Ed Delahanty decides to jump to New York too. Leaving the Nationals in Detroit, he boards an eastbound train. He is put off the train for rowdy, and possibly drunken, behavior at Niagara Falls. When he tries to walk across the railroad bridge over the Niagara River, he falls to his death. He had a 16-year career with a .346 batting average.” See also the account at Delahanty’s Wikipedia page.

• 1933: Carl Hubbell pitches an 18-inning shutout. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Carl Hubbell pitches an entire 18-inning shutout for the Giants over the Cardinals to tie a record for the longest 1-0 game. He strikes out 12 and walks none, allowing only six hits in a duel with Tex Carleton, who goes the first 16 innings.”

• 1941: Joe DiMaggio breaks the all-time hitting streak. As described at baseball-reference.com, “On a sweltering day in front of 52,832 fans at Yankee Stadium, Joe DiMaggio breaks Wee Willie Keeler's 1897 major league record hitting streak of 45 with a three-run homer off Red Sox hurler Dick Newsome.”

• 1963: Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn have a great pitching duel. As described at baseball-reference.com, “In one of baseball's most memorable pitching duels, the Giants' Juan Marichal and the Braves' Warren Spahn both hurl 15 scoreless innings before Willie Mays ends the marathon with a homer off Spahnie in the bottom of the 16th, giving San Francisco a 1-0 win.”

• 1970: Horace Clarke breaks up a no-hitter… for the third time in a month. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Detroit's Joe Niekro no-hits the Yankees until Horace Clarke singles in the 9th inning. The Tigers win, 5-0. This is the third time in a month in which Clarke has broken up a no-hitter, having spoiled bids by Kansas City's Jim Rooker (June 4th) and Boston's Sonny Siebert (June 19th).”

• 2013: Homer Bailey throws his second no-hitter. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Homer Bailey of the Reds throws the first no-hitter of the season, defeating the Giants, 3-0; Bailey also pitched the last no-hitter of 2012. He strikes out nine while only a 7th-inning walk to Gregor Blanco keeps him from a perfect game. 1B Joey Votto makes a heads-up play to save the bid, however: one batter after Blanco's walk, he fields a soft liner off the bat of Buster Posey, but realizes he has no play at first base, as Bailey is late in coming to cover; instead he throws to third base, where Todd Frazier tags out Blanco, turning Posey's potential hit into a fielder's choice.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• José Canseco (1964) was a major league outfielder for 17 seasons from 1985-2001, playing nine seasons with the Athletics, and the rest spread between six different clubs. He earned the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1986 after hitting 33 HR with 117 RBI, 15 SB, though only a .240 average with 175 strikeouts. He had similar HR and RBI numbers the following year, and then was AL MVP in 1988 when he led the AL with 42 HR and 124 RBI, along with 120 runs, 40 SB, and a .307/.391/.569 slash line. That 42/40 HR/SB combination was the first 40/40 season in major league history. A six-time All-Star, Canseco hit 30+ HR eight times and posted 100+ RBI six times. Overall Canseco had 462 HR, 200 SB, a .266/.353/.515 slash line, and a 132 OPS+. His career numbers are of course tainted in many fans’ minds by his admission to having use performance-enhancing drugs.

• Sean Casey (1974) was drafted in the second round by the Indians in 1995, worked his way up to the majors, but then was traded to the Reds for pitcher Dave Burba just before the 1998 season started. A three-time All-Star, Casey had some power with three 20+ HR seasons. He also scored 100+ runs twice, and hit 40+ doubles three times. Overall in his 12-year career Casey had 130 HR, a .302/.367/.447 slash line, and a 109 OPS+.

• Tony Armas (1953) came to the US from Venezuela as a teenager (the oldest of 13 brothers!) in the Pirates organization, and developed more power as he rose through the minor leagues. After a brief 4-game call-up in 1976, Armas was part of a massive nine-player trade that sent him and five other players to the Athletics for Phil Garner and two others. Armas had a few partial seasons for the A’s, and then in 1980 slugged 35 HR with 109 RBI and a .279 average. He led the AL with 22 HR in the strike-shortened 1981 season, and then after being traded to Boston after the 1982 season, Armas led the AL with 43 HR and 123 RBI in 1984. A free-swinger, Armas led the AL in strikeouts twice, and very rarely took walks. A two-time All-Star, overall he had 251 HR, a .252/.287/.453 slash line, and 103 OPS+. His son, Tony Armas Jr., was a major league pitcher for 10 years, mostly with the Expos/Nationals.

Currently active players who were born on July 2 include TOR Daulton Varsho and PIT Caleb Ferguson.

Today’s Matchups

Four double-headers due to postponed games and one suspended contest yesterday, on top of an already full slate of Wednesday games (19), so we have lots of possibilities. Some games that jump out to me are:

• NYY vs. TOR is game three of this four game series, with the Blue Jays having one the first two. This one features Will Warren (4.37 ERA, 103 K in 80.1 IP) up against José Berríos (3.26 ERA, 89 K in 102 IP) who hasn’t allowed any runs in his past two starts.

• SDP vs. PHI is now a double-header, with Nick Pivetta (3.36 ERA, 101 K in 91 IP) facing rookie Mick Abel (3.47 ERA, 18 K in 23.1 IP) in game 1, and Dylan Cease (4.53 ERA, 117 K in 91.1 IP) vs. Cristopher Sánchez (2.79 ERA, 103 K in 93.2 IP) in game 2.

• MIL vs. NYM is also now a double-header with Freddy Peralta (2.90 ERA, 98 K in 93 IP) taking on Clay Holmes (2.97 ERA, 75 K in 88 IP) in game 1, and rookie Jacob Misiorowski (1.13 ERA, 19 K in 16 IP) going against rookie Blade Tidwell (10.13 ERA, 7 K in 10.2 IP).

Also on the bump today are STL Sonny Gray, WAS MacKenzie Gore, CHC Shota Imanaga, TEX Nathan Eovaldi, HOU Hunter Brown, SEA Logan Gilbert, AZ Merrill Kelly, and LAD Clayton Kershaw—who is only three strikeouts short of reaching the 3,000 K milestone.

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, 14-37 (.378) with 5 HR and 2 doubles vs. TOR José Berríos

• PHI Max Kepler, only 6-25 but with 3 HR vs. SDP Dylan Cease

• CHW Austin Slater, 7-27 with 3 HR and a double vs. LAD Clayton Kershaw

• PIT Bryan Reynolds, 7-24 with 3 HR and 2 doubles vs. STL Sonny Gray

• SFG Mike Yastrzemski, only 9-43 (.209) but with 3 HR, a triple, and 3 doubles vs. AZ Merrill Kelly

• NYY Trent Grisham, only 2-10 but with 2 HR vs. TOR José Berríos

• PHI Kyle Schwarber, small sample but is 3-7 with 2 HR and a double vs. SDP Dylan Cease

• PHI Trea Turner, only 4-18 (.222) but with 2 HR vs. SDP Nick Pivetta

• PHI Bryce Harper 4-13 with 2 HR and a double vs. SDP Nick Pivetta

• STL Nolan Gorman, 5-19 with 2 HR and a double vs. PIT Mitch Keller

• KCR Salvador Perez, 5-14 with a 2 HR and a double vs. SEA Logan Gilbert

• HOU Christian Walker, 7-17 with 2 HR and a double vs. COL Austin Gomber

• SFG Willy Adames, 8-22 with 2 HR and a double vs. AZ Merrill Kelly

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:

• BAL Gunnar Henderson, small sample but is 7-8 with a double vs. TEX Nathan Eovaldi… which will be interesting since Eovaldi is having a good season (1.87 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in 72.1 IP)

• KCR Bobby Witt Jr., 5-11 with a HR vs. SEA Logan Gilbert

• HOU Jake Meyers, small sample but is 4-6 with 2 doubles vs. COL Austin Gomber

• HOU Jose Altuve, small sample but is 4-6 with a HR vs. COL Austin Gomber

• HOU Isaac Paredes, small sample but is 4-7 with a HR vs. COL Austin Gomber

• NYY Cody Bellinger, small sample but is 4-6 with a HR vs. TOR José Berríos

• SDP Jose Iglesias, small sample but is 4-8 with a HR and a double vs. PHI Cristopher Sánchez

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:

• 17 - TBR Brandon Lowe

• 13 - MIL Brice Turang

• 12 - MIL Christian Yelich

• 12 - LAA Jo Adell

• 10 - PIT Ke’Bryan Hayes

• 8 - WAS Daylen Lile

• 8 - COL Hunter Goodman

• 8 - MIA Kyle Stowers

• 8 - ATL Matt Olson

• 7 - MIL Caleb Durbin

• 7 - NYY Cody Bellinger

• 7 - TEX Marcus Semien

• 7 - TEX Evan Carter

• 7 - TEX Corey Seager

• 7 - DET Gleyber Torres

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:

• NYY Giancarlo Stanton, 2-15 with 8 K vs. TOR José Berríos

• NYY Paul Goldschmidt, 2-15 with 6 K vs. TOR José Berríos

• PHI Nick Castellanos, 1-9 with 7 K vs. SDP Dylan Cease

• BAL Gary Sánchez, 2-17 with 7 K, though one hit was a HR vs. TEX Nathan Eovaldi

• ATL Sean Murphy, 1-10 with 5 K vs. LAA Yusei Kikuchi

• NYM Brandon Nimmo, 0-10 with 4 K vs. MIL Freddy Peralta

• PIT Adam Frazier, 3-23 though only 3 K vs. STL Sonny Gray

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

Yesterday, July 1st, was Bobby Bonilla Day! That is the day each year that the Mets continue to pay $1.2 million to the former six-time All-Star as part of a deferred contract arrangement. That will continue every year until 2035 when he will be 72 years old. For a great write-up on how this came about, see the Yahoo! Sports article “Happy Bobby Bonilla Day! Why former Mets star and his contract are celebrated every July 1”.

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.

• DeGrom’s Unfinished Legacy Appreciating his greatness, acknowledging his unfinished business, by Allen Settle at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 7/2/2025

• Check out the freshly updated Top 100 Prospects list, by Sam Dykstra at MLB, 7/1/2025

• Answering the NL's biggest questions as Trade Deadline looms, by Mark Feinsand at MLB, 7/1/2025

• "Bet" — On Dave Parker, and THAT Throw, by Joe Posnanski at JoeBlogs, 6/30/2025

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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