The Baseball Buffet for 8/15/2025

Issue #367

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! ⚾

The 141st day of the season featured a partial slate of seven Thursday games:

• SEA 3, BAL 5 - The Mariners outhit the Orioles 8-4, but went 0-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 8 on the bases. Tomoyuki Sugano pitched well (5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) and the Orioles bunched their five runs together in the fourth and fifth innings. Julio Rodriguez hit a 2-run HR, his 24th of the year, in the losing effort.

• CHC 1, TOR 2 - Similarly, the Cubs outhit the Blue Jays 6-3, but went 0-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded 7 on the bases. Max Scherzer pitched well (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K), finally allowing a HR to Michael Busch in the sixth. Matthew Boyd had a good game too (7 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K), but he allowed a 2-run HR to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the seventh and that was the difference in this one. Jeff Hoffman eventually came in to close it out for Toronto and struck out three in the ninth to earn his 27th save.

• PHI 2, WAS 3 - Then here yet again, the Phillies outhit the Nationals 10-6, but were only 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left 8 guys on base. Brad Lord pitched well for Washington (6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) and four Nats relievers combined for three shutout innings.

• ATL 4, NYM 3 - Francisco Lindor hit his 22nd HR, and Kodai Senga pitched pretty well (5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K). But Ozzie Albies went 3-4 with a HR, a double and 3 RBI, and Michael Harris II went 3-4 with a double and stolen base. Bryce Elder had a good game (7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) and Raisel Iglesias notched his 17th save.

• MIA 4, CLE 9 - Both teams scored three runs in the first inning, but then Cleveland went on to do a lot more damage from there. The Guardians had timely hitting, going 5 for 13 with runners in scoring position, Austin Hedges was 2-3 with a double and an RBI, and José Ramírez went 3-4 with 2 SB, 3 runs and an RBI.

• DET 4, MIN 3 - Tarik Skubal allowed three runs in the third inning, including a HR by Edouard Julien, but otherwise pitched well through seven (7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB 3 K). Riley Greene hit a 2-run HR in the fourth, and then the Tigers scored one more in the sixth to tie the game 3-3. It remained that way through nine, forcing extras. Neither team scored in the tenth, and then in the top of the 11th inning a wild pitch by Erasmo Ramirez allowed Colt Keith, the ghost-running Manfred Man, to advance to third with no outs. Gleyber Torres hit a sacrifice fly to drive him in, and then Rafael Montero struck out two in the bottom of the inning to secure the win.

• AZ 8, COL 2 - The D-Backs jumped on Bradley Blalock early (3.2 IP, 6 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 0 K), including a 3-run HR by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the first inning, and then a 2-run HR by Jose Herrera in the second. Kyle Farmer hit a HR in the fifth inning, but otherwise Arizona starter Eduardo Rodriguez had a strong outing (7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K).

Standings

I am providing current standings as part of The Baseball Buffet, with the image being a modified version of the text-based standings at Plain Text Sports. Here also is a link to the official standings at MLB.com.

Notes:

• Current Wild Card Leaders: In the AL it is SEA/BOS/NYY; in the NL it is CHC/LAD/NYM

Today’s Trivia Question

The last two days I've covered the all-time franchise HR leaders who are either below 300 HR (like Pete Alonso for the Mets), or those above 500 HR (like Babe Ruth for the Yankees). Some of the leaders for teams not yet covered are fairly easy to guess: Cal Ripken leads the Browns/Orioles with 431 career HR, Mike Trout (378) for the Angels, Frank Thomas (448) for the White Sox, Ken Griffey Jr. (417) for the Mariners, Willie Stargell (475) for the Pirates, and a few others.

But can you name the all-time HR leaders for these six franchises: Tigers, Dodgers, Senators/Rangers, Brewers, Cleveland Indians/Guardians, and Blue Jays? (Hint: The leader in each case had between 300-400 HR for that franchise.)

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

• LAA RP Robert Stephenson

• LAD SP Roki Sasaki

• TOR RF George Springer

• LAD RP Michael Kopech

• MIL LF Jake Bauers

• NYY RP Fernando Cruz

• NYY RP Ryan Yarbrough

• DET SP Alex Cobb

• TEX RP Jacob Webb

• AZ C Gabriel Moreno

🤕 Placed on the IL

• SDP SP Michael King - 15-day IL (left knee inflammation)

• CHC C Miguel Amaya - 10-day IL (left ankle sprain)

⬇️ Designated for Assignment

• WAS 1B Nathaniel Lowe - He was hitting .216 with 16 HR and 68 RBI. Lowe is 30 years old, and is a 7-year major league veteran who had a career high of 27 HR in 2022 with the Rangers.

MLB Debut

• CHC OF Owen Caissie - The 23-year old batted fifth as the DH and went 0-4 with one strikeout in the Cubs 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays. Before the call-up, Caissie had 22 HR, 3 SB, and a .289 average at AAA Iowa.

League Leaders

Who will be the first to reach 100 RBI this year? It is about to happen:

• 99 - NYM Pete Alonso

• 98 - SEA Cal Raleigh

• 98 - PHI Kyle Schwarber

• 92 - AZ Eugenio Suárez

• 90 - LAA Taylor Ward

• 89 - DET Riley Greene

• 88 - NYY Aaron Judge

• 85 - CHC Seiya Suzuki

• 84 - TBR Junior Caminero

• 81 - SFG Rafael Devers

• 81 - MIL Christian Yelich

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. Unless otherwise noted, the descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.

📅 On August 15…

• 1889: Larry Twitchell hits for the cycle and goes 6-6 to lead the Spiders over the Beaneaters. “The Cleveland Spiders defeat the Boston Beaneaters, 19-8, behind a great hitting performance by Larry Twitchell, who goes 6-for-6 with a walk. He hits for the cycle and accumulates a then-record 16 total bases, thanks to a single, a double, three triples and a homer, and scores five runs. Kid Madden pitches the whole game for Boston, surrendering 27 hits, but Twitchell also takes the mound, relieving Jersey Bakely in the 2nd inning after he has started the frame with four walks and a hit batsman. He then goes back to playing left field in the 3rd and Henry Gruber finishes the game on the mound.”

• 1905: Rube Waddell throws a no-hitter. “The A's Rube Waddell is the whole show today as he hurls a five-inning no-hitter over the Browns. The A's are ahead, 2-0, when the rain starts pouring after the A's bat in the 5th. Waddell strikes out nine batters, and three more bounce out to Waddell. The one runner reaches on Rube's error.”

• 1916: Babe Ruth outduels Walter Johnson… again. “At Fenway Park, Boston's Babe Ruth outduels Nationals ace Walter Johnson, winning, 1-0, in 13 innings. Johnson allows just five hits through 12 innings, while, from the 7th inning on, Ruth surrenders just an infield single by Clyde Milan in the 11th. Milan also robs Ruth of a homer in the 12th by grabbing a ball heading into the right field stands. Ruth is now 3-0 in his meetings with Johnson.”

• 1922: The White Sox and Red Sox combined for 35 singles. “In a game between Chicago and Boston, 35 singles are hit - 21 by the White Sox, 14 by the Red Sox - an American League record. Chicago wins the hit parade, 19-11.”

• 1975: Earl Weaver is thrown out twice. “Earl Weaver is ejected twice by umpire Ron Luciano. The fiery Baltimore manager is thrown out in the first game of a doubleheader and is tossed again before the start of the second game.”

• 1989: Cancer survivor Dave Dravecky breaks his arm while pitching. “In his second start after coming back from cancer surgery, Giant Dave Dravecky suffers a broken arm beating the Expos, 3-2. The Youngstown, Ohio native collapses to the ground and clutches his left arm in severe pain after throwing a wild pitch to Tim Raines. The bone will heal but Dravecky will break it again during the Giants on-field celebration when they clinch the pennant later that season. Dravecky will not pitch again in the major leagues.”

• 1990: Terry Mulholland throws a no-hitter. “The Phillies' Terry Mulholland spins the major leagues' eighth no-hitter of the season. Mulholland faces the minimum 27 batters in blanking the Giants, 6-0, as just one runner reaches base on a throwing error by Charlie Hayes. But Hayes makes the last putout by grabbing a Gary Carter line drive. John Kruk also makes a crucial play by reaching into the stands to pull back a one-out pop-up by Matt Williams in the 8th.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

• Charlie Comiskey (1859) played 13 years in the major leagues, spanning from 1882-1894, mostly with St. Louis in the American Association but then his final three seasons with Cincinnati in the National League. The data from his earliest seasons is incomplete, but he stole 30+ SB at least seven times, including a high of 117 SB in 1887. He had 100+ RBI twice, and scored 100+ runs three times. Comiskey was a player-manager throughout his career, leading his St. Louis Browns team to four league championships. Further, as described at Wikipedia, “He was a key person in the formation of the American League and was also founding owner of the Chicago White Sox. Comiskey Park, the White Sox's storied baseball stadium, was built under his guidance and named for him. Comiskey's reputation was permanently tarnished by his team's involvement in the Black Sox Scandal, although he was inducted as an executive into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.”

• Bill Sherdel (1896) had a 15-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1918-1932, and mostly spent with the St. Louis Cardinals. He posted 15+ wins six times, including a 21-10 record with a 2.86 ERA in 1928. Sherdel was an above average hitter for a pitcher, posting a .223 average with 9 HR in 960 at-bats. Overall, he had a 165-146 (.531) record, 3.72 ERA, and a 104 ERA+.

• Scott Brosius (1966) had an 11-year major league career from 1991-2001, playing for the A’s and Yankees. He mostly played 3B, but was versatile and so also got into games at the other infield positions and all three outfield spots. He had modest power, hitting between 13-22 HR in seven seasons. He was often an important post-season contributor for the Yankees, most notably in his one All-Star season in 1998 when he was World Series MVP after going 8-17 with 2 HR and 6 RBI in the four games. He also earned an AL Gold Glove Award in 1999 and overall had 141 HR for his career.

Currently active players who were born on August 15 include MIN Luke Keaschall, WAS Robert Hassell III, COL Zach Agnos, CHW Jordan Leasure, CHW Brooks Baldwin, TEX Jacob Webb, and BOS Isaiah Campbell.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have a full slate of Friday games (15), so there are lots of possibilities. Some games and pitchers that jump out to me are:

• PHI vs. WAS features two good strikeout pitchers in Zack Wheeler (2.68 ERA, 189 K in 144.2 IP) and MacKenzie Gore (4.09 ERA, 158 K in 132 IP).

• TEX vs. TOR is game one of an important challenge for the Rangers, who are at .500 and need to make a run now if they are going to make the playoffs. Pitching today are Jacob deGrom (2.86 ERA, 143 K In 135.1 IP) and Chris Bassitt (4.17 ERA, 128 K in 133.2 IP).

• SEA vs. NYM is game one of an interleague series between two teams in their respective playoff hunts. Luis Castillo (3.19 ERA, 120 K in 138.1 IP) is up against Sean Manaea (4.33 ERA, 30 K in 27 IP in six starts).

Also on the bump today are HOU Framber Valdez, KCR Noah Cameron, and LAD Clayton Kershaw.

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:

• SDP Fernando Tatis Jr., 7-23 with 4 HR vs. LAD Clayton Kershaw

• SDP Manny Machado, 13-42 with 4 HR and a double vs. LAD Clayton Kershaw

• WAS Josh Bell, 15-51 with 4 HR and 2 doubles vs. PHI Zack Wheeler

• WAS Paul DeJong, 4-14 with 2 HR and a double vs. PHI Zack Wheeler

• WAS Luis Garcia Jr., 8-35 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. PHI Zack Wheeler

• LAD Andy Pages, small samples but is 3-4 with 2 HR vs. SDP Randy Vasquez

• NYM Jeff McNeil, 5-11 with 2 HR and a double vs. SEA Luis Castillo

• TEX Joc Pederson, 5-11 with 2 HR and a double vs. TOR Chris Bassitt

• PHI Nick Castellanos, 7-25 with 2 HR and a double vs. WAS MacKenzie Gore

• PIT Bryan Reynolds, 8-17 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. CHC Colin Rea

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:

• PHI Trea Turner, 9-22 with 3 doubles vs. WAS MacKenzie Gore

• COL Brenton Doyle, 6-12 with a double vs. AZ Brandon Pfaadt

• BAL Adley Rutschman, 6-13 with a HR and a double vs. HOU Framber Valdez

• BAL Ryan Mountcastle, 5-12 with a HR vs. HOU Framber Valdez

• SDP Elias Díaz, 6-15 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. LAD Clayton Kershaw

• SDP Jose Iglesias, 5-13 vs. LAD Clayton Kershaw

• PIT Nick Gonzalez, 5-11 with a HR vs. CHC Colin Rea

• NYM Francisco Lindor, 5-12 with 3 doubles vs. SEA Luis Castillo

Who is streaking?

Active hit streaks

• 13 - ATH Tyler Soderstrom

• 12 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

• 11 - AZ Geraldo Perdomo

• 9 - MIA Xavier Edwards

• 8 - LAD Mookie Betts

• 8 - ATH Gio Urshela

• 7 - ATL Michael Harris II

• 7 - WAS James Wood

• 7 - NYM Juan Soto

• 7 - BAL Gunnar Henderson

Active HR Streaks

• 2 - CHC Michael Busch

• 2 - CIN Miguel Andujar

• 2 - KCR Vinnie Pasquantino

• 2 - LAA Taylor Ward

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:

• WAS James Wood, 1-10 with 6 K though the hit was a HR vs. PHI Zack Wheeler

• NYM Starling Marte, 1-15 with 5 K vs. SEA Luis Castillo

• NYM Pete Alonso, 1-11 with 4 K vs. SEA Luis Castillo

• KCR Kyle Isbel, 1-13 with 4 K though the hit was a HR vs. CHW Aaron Civale

• KCR Adam Frazier, 2-14 with 3 K vs. CHW Aaron Civale

• KCR Maikel Garcia, 1-10 though only 1 K vs. CHW Aaron Civale

• TEX Jonah Heim, 1-12 with 4 K vs. TOR Chris Bassitt

• TEX Marcus Semien, 1-11 with 3 K vs. TOR Chris Bassitt

• MIL Brice Turang, 1-11 with 3 K though the hit was a HR vs. CIN Nick Martinez

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

The all-time HR leaders for these six franchises are:

• 399 - Detroit, Al Kaline

• 389 - Dodgers, Duke Snider

• 372 - Senators/Rangers, Juan Gonzalez

• 352 - Brewers, Ryan Braun

• 337 - Cleveland Indians/Guardians, Jim Thome

• 336 - Blue Jays, Carlos Delgado

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.

• Raleigh Erases Backstop Slugging Records, by Nate Kosher at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 8/15/2025

• These 2025 Deadline sellers could become buyers in 2026, by Theo DeRosa at MLB, 8/14/2025

• Stats of the Week: Walk-off throw, 17-pitch ABs and more!, by Sarah Langs at MLB, 8/14/2025

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.

This newsletter was produced with beehiiv, an outstanding platform for creating email newsletters and blogs. If this might be of interest for your own creative work, get a 30-day trial and 30% off your first three months!