The Baseball Buffet for 7/9/2025

Issue #330

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 104th day of the season had a partial slate of Tuesday games:

• TBR 2, DET 4 - The Rays out hit the Tigers 8-4 today, but they were only 1-8 with runners in scoring position. Jonathan Aranda went 2-4 with a HR and a double, but otherwise Tampa couldn’t get much going against Jack Flaherty (6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K) and the three Detroit relievers who succeeded him, including Will Vest who struck out three in the ninth for this 15th save. The two Tigers stars on offense were DH Colt Keith who went 2-3 with a walk, a HR, and 3 RBI, and 1B Spencer Torkelson who was 1-2 with two walks and solo HR.

• PIT 3, KCR 4 - Both starting pitchers allowed two HR, but otherwise did fairly well: Mitch Keller (6.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) and Seth Lugo (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). The homers were hit by Jac Caglianone and Nick Loftin for the Royals, and Nick Gonzalez and Oneil Cruz for the Pirates. The game was tied 3-3 through eight innings, and Carlos Estévez kept Pittsburgh off the board in the top of the ninth. In the bottom of the frame, a series of singles by Maikel Garcia, Salvador Perez, and Nick Loftin led to the winning run coming across.

• SEA 3, NYY 10 - MLB’s HR leader Cal Raleigh hit a two-run HR late in this one, his 36th of the year, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Will Warren pitched well for New York (5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), and the Yankees had 13 hits, including HR by Giancarlo Stanton, Austin Wells, and Aaron Judge—his 34th of the year keeping him only two behind Raleigh. Cody Bellinger went 3-4 with 2 runs, and Paul Goldschmidt was 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI.

• NYM 7, BAL 6 - Ronny Mauricio hit a HR in the sixth and the Mets went up 2-1 until the bottom of the frame when the Orioles scored four. Jackson Holliday hit a solo shot in the seventh to give them a 6-2 lead. Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso each hit 2-run HR in the 8th inning to tie game at 6-6. Felix Bautista struck out three in the top of the ninth, so the Orioles brought in Yennier Cano when it went into extras. Juan Soto singled to drive in Lindor, who was on second as the ghost-running Manfred Man. With Edwin Diaz having already pitched the ninth, the Mets turned to 35-year old Huascar Brazobán and he kept the Orioles off the board to earn his second save of 2025.

• COL 2, BOS 10 - Brayan Bello pitched a 5-hit complete game (9 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K), not allowing any runs until the ninth when Hunter Goodman hit a 2-run HR. Meanwhile the Red Sox tallied 11 hits, with Romy Gonzalez going 3-4 with a triple, Trevor Story going 2-4 with a HR and 4 RBI, and Jarren Duran 2also -4 with a HR.

• MIA 12, CIN 2 - Matt McLain hit a HR in the first inning, but then Marlins starter Eury Perez settled in and struck out 8 in 5 innings (5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K). Miami hit Nick Martinez to the tune of 7 hits and 10 runs in just five innings. Xavier Edwards was 2-4 with a double and 3 RBI, and Agustín Ramírez was 2-4 with two doubles.

• CHC 1, MIN 8 - Simeon Woods Richardson pitched well (5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K), and five Twins relievers kept the shutout going until veteran Justin Turner finally had a pinch-hit HR in the ninth. Although Shota Imanaga pitched pretty well (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K), Minnesota tallied 12 hits on the day, including three HR off Porter Hodge in the eighth inning by Ryan Jeffers, Willi Castro, and Harrison Bader.

• LAD 1, MIL 3 - Shohei Ohtani greeted Milwaukee’s rookie pitcher Jacob Misiorowski by hitting a HR to leadoff the game, his 31st on the season. But Misiorowski recovered and had a great game otherwise (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 12 K). Three Brewers relievers pitched scoreless innings, including Trevor Megill who struck out two in the ninth for his 21st save. Clayton Kershaw did fairly well (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K), but the two runs he allowed plus a late HR by Sal Frelick is all it took given the Brewers pitching dominance.

• TOR 6, CHW 1 - This game was called after six innings after a rain delay of nearly an hour and a half. Chris Bassitt did well (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K), and the Jays had 12 hits in those six innings. George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk, and Joey Loperfido had two hits apiece, while Davis Schneider hit his fourth HR of the year.

• CLE 10, HOU 6 - Hunter Brown had been the MLB-leader in ERA coming into this game, but he struggled (6 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) including giving up homers to José Ramírez and Brayan Rocchio. The Astros battled back though, with Cam Smith going 3-6 with a double, Jose Altuve going 2-3 with a walk, a double, and 4 RBI, and Mauricio Dubón hitting 3-5 with two doubles. The game was tied 6-6 after nine innings, and the Astros sent Josh Hader back out for the tenth after he had held the Guardians in the ninth. He loaded up the bases, and with two outs let up a grand slam to Angel Martinez. Cleveland had used six pitchers thus far, but not yet their closer Emmanuel Clase, who came in and kept the Astros off the board in the bottom of the tenth.

• WAS 2, STL 4 - Sonny Gray pitched fairly well (5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), improving his record on the year to 9-3. Four Cardinals relievers each pitched scoreless innings, ending with closer Ryan Helsley notching his 18th save. On offense, St. Louis got homers from Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar.

• TEX 13, LAA 1 - Nathan Eovaldi pitched a good game (6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K), and two Rangers relievers kept the Angels off the board the rest of the way. Meanwhile the Texas hitters were equal opportunity mashers, getting plenty of hits, walks, and runs against all three Angels pitchers used. Corey Seager went 2-3 with a walk and a HR, Wyatt Langford was 2-4 with a HR, a double, and 4 RBI, and Jake Burger was 3-5 with a HR and 4 RBI.

• AZ 0, SDP 1 - As I noted yesterday, this game featured two starters having good seasons so far, and both did well in this one: Nick Pivetta (5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K) and Merrill Kelly (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K). The lone run was a HR in the seventh inning by Luis Arraez. Four Padres relievers combined with Pivetta for the 3-hit shutout, including closer Robert Suarez who pitched the ninth for his MLB-leading 26th save.

• PHI 3, SFG 4 - Robbie Ray pitched pretty well (5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K), then Kyle Schwarber hit a 2-run HR of Spencer Bivens, his 28th of the year, giving the Phillies a 3-1 lead. That was the score going into the bottom of the ninth, when Casey Schmitt doubled, Wilmer Flores advanced him to third with a single, and then catcher Patrick Bailey hit a walk-off, inside-the-park HR on a fly to right field. To learn more about this rare feat, and see a video of how it happened, see the write-up by Maria Guardado at MLB.com.

• ATL 1, ATH 10 - Jeffrey Springs pitched well 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K), with the only run he allowed being a solo HR to Eli White in the fifth inning. The Athletics’ hitters on the other hand jumped all over Braves rookie Didier Fuentes (1 IP, 5 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 2 K), starting with Lawrence Butler hitting a leadoff inside-the-park HR, followed by additional first-inning homers by Brent Rooker and Max Muncy. Nick Kurtz hit his 14th HR of the year in the second inning, and then Lawrence Butler connected for his second HR of the game in the third inning.

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. For now, here are some substantial streaks that teams are on:

• W10 - Blue Jays - now have a 3.5 game lead on the Yankees

• W5 - Red Sox - they remain in fourth in the AL East, but might they be buyers at the deadline?

• W5 - Tigers - the only team in the AL central with a winning record at present, and they have the best record in all of MLB

• L5 - Dodgers - this streak combined with the Giants winning four in a row… still leaves LA up five games in the NL West

• L5 - Braves - any hopes for a turnaround with the return of Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. seem to have faded

• L5 - Pirates - their winning streak quickly reversed course

Today’s Trivia Question

The All-Star break is approaching, so how many of the playoff race leaders can you name? There are 12 teams that make the playoffs, the six division winners plus three wild-card teams from each league.

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

• WAS RP Orlando Ribalta

• TBR RP Manuel Rodriguez

• NYM SP Sean Manaea

• TBR SP Shane McClanahan

• CIN SP Carson Spiers

• CIN RF Jake Fraley

• PIT RP Ryan Borucki

• AZ RP Kendall Graveman

• CHW RP Cam Booser

🤕 Placed on the IL

• WAS C Keibert Ruiz - 7-day IL (concussion)

• PIT RP Chase Shugart - 15-day IL (left knee inflammation)

• TOR RP Nick Sandlin - 15-day IL (right elbow inflammation)

• NYM LF Starling Marte - 10-day IL (right knee bruise)

• KCR LF Mark Canha - 10-day IL (left elbow epicondylitis)

• NYY RP Mark Leiter Jr. - 15-day IL (left fibular head stress fracture)

MLB Debut Yesterday

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

• NYM RP Alex Carrillo - The 28-year old came into the game with the Mets down 5-2 to the Orioles, and pitched a little over an inning (1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K), allowing a solo HR to Jackson Holliday. Before the call-up, Carrillo had pitched 19 games in relief this year between AA and AAA, with a 3.24 ERA, with 40 K and only 15 hits allowed in 25 innings.

League Leaders

Checking in on the pitcher strikeouts leaderboard there is a close, 3-way race at the top:

• 151 - BOS Garrett Crochet

• 148 - DET Tarik Skubal

• 148 - PHI Zack Wheeler

• 133 - SFG Logan Webb

• 131 - WAS MacKenzie Gore

• 129 - HOU Hunter Brown

• 127 - NYY Carlos Rodón

• 125 - PIT Paul Skenes

• 122 - SFG Robbie Ray

• 121 - SDP Dylan Cease

• 118 - ATL Grant Holmes

• 117 - DET Jack Flaherty

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 9…

• 1937: Joe DiMaggio hits for the cycle plus a second HR. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Joe DiMaggio hits for the cycle as he delivers two home runs, a triple, a double and a single helping the Yankees maul the Senators, 16-2. The ‘Yankee Clipper’ will accomplish this feat only once again, in 1948.”

• 1946: Ted Williams dominates in the All-Star game. As described at baseball-reference.com, “With seven Red Sox teammates on the American League squad, Ted Williams stages a power show with two homers, two singles, a walk, four runs scored, and four RBI to lead the AL to a 12-0 laugher over the National League at Fenway Park. The highlight of the 1946 All-Star Game is Williams's home run off a Rip Sewell blooper pitch.”

• 1963: Willie Mays only hits a single, but still dominates the All-Star game. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Willie Mays is held to a single, but dominates a 5-3 National League win in the All-Star Game. He also walks, steals twice, scores twice, bats in a pair, and makes a great catch. It is Stan Musial's 24th All-Star appearance, a record. Musial's teammates comprise the starting infield for the NL: 1B Bill White, 2B Julian Javier, SS Dick Groat and 3B Ken Boyer. Javier was chosen as the replacement for Pittsburgh's injured 2B, Bill Mazeroski.”

• 1966: Felipe Alou hits two HR off Sandy Koufax. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Felipe Alou hits two home runs off Sandy Koufax, the third and last time that Sandy gives up two homers to one batter in a game. Atlanta beats the Dodgers, 5-2.”

• 1968: In the year of the pitcher, pitching dominates the All-Star game. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Appropriately, pitching dominates the All-Star Game in the first All-Star Game played indoors, at Houston's Astrodome. Willie Mays, playing in place of the injured Pete Rose, tallies an unearned run in the 1st inning against American League starter Luis Tiant to complete the scoring for the day - the first All-Star effort to end 1-0. Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Ron Reed and Jerry Koosman hold the American League to three hits.”

• 1976: Larry Dierker throws a no-hitter. As described at baseball-reference.com, “In Houston, the Astros' Larry Dierker no-hits the Montreal Expos, 6-0, to even his record at 8-8. Dierker, who had previously thrown two one-hitters, strikes out eight, including the first two in the 9th.”

• 1988: 38-year old Chris Speier hits for the cycle. As described at baseball-reference.com, "Chris Speier hits for the cycle and Ernest Riles hits the 10,000th home run in Giants history to lead San Francisco to a 21-2 rout of the Cardinals. The 21 runs are a San Francisco record. Speier also cycled as an Expo in 1978, just the fourth major leaguer to do so for two teams. He joins Joe Cronin (Washington, 1929; Red Sox, 1940), Babe Herman (Dodgers, 1931; Cubs, 1933) and Bob Watson (Astros, 1977; Boston, 1979)."

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Willie Wilson (1955) was drafted in the first round (18th overall) in 1974 by the Kansas City Royals. It didn’t take him long to start surfacing in the majors, and because of his elite base-stealing abilities in 1978 he was used 42 times as a pinch-runner, swiping an impressive 46 bases even though he only had 223 plate appearances. He became a regular OF for the Royals in 1979, and promptly led the AL with 83 SB, while batting .315 with 13 triples and 113 runs. In 1980 he won a Gold Glove Award for his work in LF and CF, stole 79 bases, and led the AL with 133 runs, 230 hits, and 15 triples. Two years later he led the AL with a .332 batting average and again with 15 triples. That was the first of Wilson’s two All-Star seasons, and he would go on to lead the AL in triples three more times, including with a career high 21 in 1985. Overall he had 11 seasons with 30+ SB and retired after 19 seasons with 1,169 runs, 147 triples, 668 SB, and a .285 average.

• Jack Powell (1874) had a 16-year major league career as a pitcher, spanning from 1897-1912. He started out with Cleveland and St. Louis in the National League, but then played the majority of his seasons with the St. Louis Browns of the American League. He won 20+ games four times, He pitched 4,389 innings overall, with a 2.97 ERA and 106 ERA+, though his career record was below .500 at 245 wins, 255 losses.

• Wally Post (1929) was a slugging RF who had a 15-year major league career spanning from 1949-1964, though he saw only minimal major league time until he finally stuck as a starter with the Reds in 1954. The following season Post busted out with 40 HR, 116 runs, 109 RBI, and .309 average. He never reached those highs again, but he did have five seasons with 20+ HR and overall had 210 HR, a .266/.323/.485 slash line, and a 110 OPS+.

A currently active player who was born on July 9 is HOU Steven Okert.

Today’s Matchups

A full slate of Wednesday games (15), so we have lots of possibilities. Some games that jump out to me are:

• LAD vs. MIL has Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow making his first MLB start since late April, with the Brewers countering with Jose Quintana (3.44 ERA, 44 K in 65.1 IP)

• SEA vs. NYY features Seattle rookie Logan Evans making his ninth start of the season (2.96 ERA, 33 K in 45.2 IP) and the Yankees debuting rookie 24-year old Cam Schlittler, their 7th round draft pick in 2022.

Also on the hill today are KCR Kris Bubic, DET Reese Olson, LAD Tyler Glasnow, PHI Jesús Luzardo, SFG Justin Verlander, NYM David Peterson, CIN Andrew Abbott, WAS MacKenzie Gore, and SDP Dylan Cease.

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:

• DET Parker Meadows, small sample but is 3-8 with 2 HR vs. TBR Zack Littell

• TEX Marcus Semien, small sample but is 4-8 with 2 HR vs. LAA Kyle Hendricks

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:

• SDP Luis Arraez, 10-16 with 2 doubles vs. AZ Brandon Pfaadt

• SDP Jake Cronenworth, 7-16 vs. AZ Brandon Pfaadt

• SDP Elias Díaz, small sample but is 4-7 with a double vs. AZ Brandon Pfaadt

• STL Willson Contreras, 8-13 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. WAS MacKenzie Gore

• STL Nolan Arenado, small sample but is 4-9 with a HR and a double vs. WAS MacKenzie Gore

• TOR Alejandro Kirk, small sample but is 6-9 vs. CHW Adrian Houser

• DET Riley Greene, small sample but is 5-9 with 2 doubles vs. TBR Zack Littell

• PHI Bryce Harper, 6-14 with a double vs. SFG Justin Verlander

• SFG Wilmer Flores, 5-12 vs. PHI Jesús Luzardo

• CHW Austin Slater, 5-12 with a HR vs. TOR Eric Lauer

• LAD Michael Conforto, 4-9 with a HR vs. MIL Jose Quintana

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:

• 14 - WAS Daylen Lile

• 13 - NYY Cody Bellinger

• 12 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

• 12 - TBR Chandler Simpson

• 9 - BOS Jarren Duran

• 9 - SEA J.P. Crawford

• 8 - HOU Mauricio Dubón

• 8 - BOS Romy Gonzalez

• 8 - PHI Trea Turner

• 8 - COL Brenton Doyle

• 7 - COL Tyler Freeman

• 7 - CHC Dansby Swanson

• 7 - MIL Jackson Chourio

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:

• PHI Max Kepler, 3-28 with 11 K vs. SFG Justin Verlander

• PHI Bryson Stott, 1-10 with 2 K vs. SFG Justin Verlander

• MIL Christian Yelich, small sample but is 0-9 with 5 K vs. LAD Tyler Glasnow

• CHW Josh Rojas, small sample but is 0-9 with 5 K vs. TOR Eric Lauer

• DET Colt Keith, small sample but is 0-8 with 5 K vs. TBR Zack Littell

• DET Spencer Torkelson, small sample but is 0-9 with 4 K vs. TBR Zack Littell

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾

Today’s Trivia Answer

In the AL, the current division leaders are the Blue Jays, Tigers, and Astros. The three other teams with the best records are the Yankees, Rays, and Mariners, so currently they are the wildcard leaders, with the Red Sox close behind.

In the NL, the Cubs and Dodgers are leading their divisions, but we have a tie between the Mets and Phillies in the NL East. As of now either of those teams would also make it as a wildcard, leaving the final two spots to the Brewers and Giants, with the Padres and Cardinals close behind.

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.

• 10 All-Stars who no one saw coming in Spring Training, by Jared Greenspan at MLB, 7/8/2025

• These are the top 9 storylines heading into the MLB Draft, by Joe Trezza at MLB, 7/8/2025

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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