Issue #706
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!
⚾ Welcome! ⚾
We had a full scheduled slate of games yesterday (15), though two were rained out and will be made up as doubleheaders today. Here are the results of the 13 contests we did have (link to all game box scores):
SDP 8, ATL 3 - ATL SP Reynaldo López allowed a lot of baserunners (4.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 K), and also solo home runs to Jackson Merrill in the fourth and Manny Machado in the fifth. J.R. Ritchie succeeded him and pitched 3.2 innings, but also gave up two home runs, one to Machado in the sixth, and a long 474-foot bomb by Fernando Tatis Jr. in eighth. Meanwhile, SDP SP Walker Buehler had some control issues in allowing 5 walks, but only gave up 2 hits in 5.2 innings (2 ER, 3 K). Adrian Morejon eventually came in for a scoreless eighth, and Mason Miller came in for the ninth. He allowed a single, threw a wild pitch, and then walked a batter, but eventually tallied three strikeouts in the inning to close out the game. He now has a 0.86 ERA with 78 K over 41.2 innings for the season.
MIA 3, HOU 5 - Jeremy Peña led off the bottom of the first with a HR off MIA SP Tyler Phillips (4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). Isaac Paredes hit a 3-run HR in the fifth which put the Astros up 5-1, backing the strong performance of HOU SP Tatsuya Imai (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K). Marlins catcher Joe Mack hit a 2-run HR in the seventh, but then Bennett Sousa threw a scoreless eighth, and closer Josh Hader did the same in the ninth to earn his 11th save. Paredes and Yordan Alvarez had two hits each for Houston, while Kyle Stowers, Heriberto Hernández, and Javier Sanoja had two hits apiece for Miami in the loss. Also of note, the Marlins had a triple play (5-4-3) in the eighth inning, the first of the year.
TBR 12, TOR 2 - TOR SP Kevin Gausman was roughed up for 9 hits in just 3.1 innings (5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K), and the Blue Jays bullpen didn't do much better with the Rays scoring in bunches and collecting 21 hits in total. Eight of nine hitters in their starting lineup had multiple hits, with Chandler Simpson and Ben Williamson each going 4-5. Nick Fortes was 3-5 with a HR and 4 RBI, and Yandy Díaz was 2-6 with a 3-run HR. Meanwhile, TBR SP Drew Rasmussen did well enough (5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K), and three Rays relievers pitched four scoreless innings.
ATH 5, ARI 6 - Max Kepler hit a 3-run HR in the first inning off ATH SP Jack Perkins (5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). 26-year old rookie ARI SP Kohl Drake did well in this major league debut (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), and the D-Backs had a 4-1 lead through seven innings. Shea Langeliers hit a solo HR in the eighth, and then Jacob Wilson hit a 2-run, game-tying HR in the top of the ninth off Arizona closer Paul Sewald. The Athletics scored one in the top of the tenth, and brought in Luis Medina for the bottom of the inning. He walked Gabriel Moreno, walked Shea Langeliers to load the bases, and then gave up a single to Nolan Arenado which tied the game and kept the bases loaded. He struck out Tim Tawa, but then gave up a walk-off single to Ildemaro Vargas. The loss means the Athletics have a 3-16 record in their last 19 games.
MIN 2, CLE 5
LAD 2, PHI 1
SFG 2, KCR 3
NYM 4, MIL 0
DET 2, CHC 11
CWS 0, TEX 10
WSH 7, COL 8
STL 1, LAA 5
CIN 4, SEA 2
PIT vs. NYY - postponed due to rain, makeup is today in a doubleheader
BAL vs. BOS - postponed due to rain, makeup is today in a doubleheader
Don’t miss out on the full Baseball Buffet each day!
What you see in this issue of The Baseball Buffet is an abridged version. All-Star subscribers receive the following, every day of the week:
Game summaries for every game
Current MLB standings
Notable player transactions… injuries, call-ups, free agent signings, trades, etc.
Rotating statistical leader lists
Current hitting streaks of seven or more games
On this day in baseball history…
Career summaries for each of The Birthday Boys
Daily Hitter Watch and Pitcher Watch lists - who has historically done well or poorly against their matchup today?
Good Reads… my favorite recent baseball articles from other writers
… and the answers to the daily trivia questions!
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Today’s Trivia Question
One of today's Birthday Boys (see below) is Dave Stieb. He was one of the best pitchers of the 1980s, and certainly was one of the most durable. He had 331 starts from 1980-1989, which is the second most of anyone that decade. Can you name the pitcher who had 332 starts? For bonus points, how many of the other five can you name who made 300+ starts during the 1980s?
(Trivia answers are provided for paid All-Star subscribers of the Baseball Buffet.)
BONUS SECTION TODAY!
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 mostly focus on the biggest, most impactful trades, free-agent signings, and injury-list changes (for a full list, see all the latest MLB transactions).
🤕 Injured Lists
TEX RP Jose Corniell - 15-day IL (flexor tendon issue)
DET SP Jack Flaherty - 15-day IL (right flexor inflammation)
PHI C Garrett Stubbs - 10-day IL (left wrist inflammation)
ATH RP Mark Leiter Jr. - 15-day IL (right hip impingement)
CWS C Kyle Teel - 10-day IL (left ankle sprain) - expected to be out 6-12 weeks
SFG SP Trevor McDonald - 15-day IL (right elbow strain)
ARI RP Drey Jameson - 15-day IL (right hip inflammation)
ATH 3B Joshua Kuroda-Grauer - 10-day IL (ruptured testicle surgery)
Yes, dear readers, you read that correctly. During Monday's game Joshua Kuroda-Grauer fouled a ball directly into his groin. He lay on the ground in obvious pain for a while, and one of the announcers said "I don't know what the protocol for this would be..." and the other announcer said "Catch your breath?" and then later "Walk it off!"
To his credit, and not knowing the extent of the injury, Kuroda-Grauer got up and continued the at-bat... with the announcer saying "He is back up with... no balls, and one strike." He managed to line a single to center, continuing his hot rookie season. This at-bat came after he had hit his first major league HR earlier in the game. The 2024 third-round draft pick is batting .417 (25-60) on the season, after doing well in the minors this year with a .323 average (and actually .352 in 193 AB at AAA).
For video of the incident, see the article "Kuroda-Grauer resting comfortably after emergency surgery" by MLB.
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Row 1: Dave Stieb, Jesse Haines, Sparky Lyle
Row 2: Jack Glasscock, Doc Cramer, Mike Sweeney
Currently active players who were born on July 22 include LAA Jose Siri, KCR Isaac Collins, LAD Tanner Scott, and COL Sean Sullivan.
Today’s Matchups
We already had a full slate of Wednesday games scheduled for today, but now we have 17 in all because of the two rainouts yesterday (BAL/BOS and PIT/NYY). Here are some interesting matchups (and here is a link to the full schedule):
NYM Christian Scott vs. MIL Logan Henderson - Here we have two pitchers doing well this year in limited action thus far, with Scott having a 3-1 record and 2.87 ERA over 13 starts, and Henderson with a 3-1 record and 2.97 ERA over 7 starts
PIT Mitch Keller vs. Gerrit Cole (Gm1) and PIT Bubba Chandler vs. NYY Max Fried (Gm2) - this doubleheader will be a test for the Pirates much-improved offense in having to face both Cole, and Fried who is coming off the IL to make his first major league start since May 13th
BAL Dean Kremer vs. BOS Jake Bennett (Gm1) and BAL Kyle Bradish vs. BOS SP TBD (Gm2) - The Red Sox 14-game winning streak was frozen for a day by the rainout, so it will be interesting to see what happens today with this doubleheader
Additional starting pitchers who are throwing today include SDP Michael King, BOS Jake Bennett, and MIA Sandy Alcantara.
Baseball Quote of the Day
One of today's Birthday Boys (see above) is Sparky Lyle, so here are a few good quotes from him:
"When I walk across that white line, I have no friends, only enemies. I throw a slider, fastball, curve and letup, and don't finesse them. I'm cool and I guess I'm calculating. And I don't think I ever lost a night's sleep over a ball game or an unpaid bill."
"Why pitch nine innings when you can get just as famous pitching two?"
"Munson's not moody, he's just mean. When you’re moody, you’re nice sometimes."
See also: Yankees Magazine: 1977 Revisited, and interview with Sparky Lyle from 2017 by Alfred Santasiere III
⚾ Enjoy the games today! ⚾
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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