The Baseball Buffet for 8/19/2025

Issue #371

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 145th day of the season featured a nearly full slate of Monday games:

• MIL 7, CHC 0 (Gm 1) - After just one loss, the Brewers got back to winning yesterday. Freddy Peralta did very well (6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K) and three Milwaukee’ relievers combined for a 2-hit shutout. Brice Turang was 2-5 with a HR and 2 RBI; Caleb Durbin was 2-5 with a HR and a double; and Sal Frelick was 2-3 with a double, 2 walks, and 2 runs.

• MIL vs. CHC (Gm 2) - postponed

• TOR 2, PIT 5 - Paul Skenes allowed two runs in the third, but otherwise did well again (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K), and three Pirates’ relievers pitched scoreless innings, with Dennis Santana earning his 8th save. The game was tied 2-2 through six, but the Bucs scored one in the seventh and two more in the eighth as added insurance.

• HOU 0, DET 10 - Jack Flaherty was excellent (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) and two Tigers’ relievers combined for the 5-hit shutout. Detroit tallied 13 hits including four HR by Wenceel Pérez, Riley Greene, Trey Sweeney, and Colt Keith.

• STL 8, MIA 3 - Eric Wagaman had his 8th HR of the year in the fourth inning, and his second in as many days. But the Marlins couldn’t get much else going, while the Cardinals tallied 10 hits and went 5-13 with runners in scoring position. Already ahead 5-3, they added three more in the top of the ninth, including a 2-run HR by Nolan Gorman, to pull away.

• SEA 7, PHI 12 - Mitch Garver hit a HR in the seventh, but Ranger Suárez otherwise did well, striking out 10 in 6.2 innings (6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 10 K). Cole Young added a 3-run HR later in the seventh, and the Mariners scored three more in the ninth, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Phillies had jumped on Logan Gilbert early (2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 1 K), and then added six more runs late in the game. Overall they pounded out 21 hits, with Trea Turner 4-6 with a HR, a double, and 5 RBI; Bryce Harper 3-6 with 2 HR and 3 RBI; and J.T. Realmuto 3-5 with a HR and a double.

• BAL 6, BOS 3 - Trevor Rogers was once again solid (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K), keeping his ERA at a tidy 1.41 over 76.1 innings on the year. Gunnar Henderson went 2-4 with a HR, a triple, 3 runs, and 2 RBI; Ryan Mountcastle was 3-5; and rookie Samuel Basallo was 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI in his second game.

• CHW 13, ATL 9 - There were 34 total hits in this one, 19 for the White Sox and 15 for the Braves. Atlanta was led by Jurickson Profar who was 3-5 with 2 HR and 5 RBI; Michael Harris II 4-4 with a 2-run HR; and Matt Olson 3-5 with a double. But Spencer Strider had a rough day (3 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) and so did the first two Braves relievers who succeeded him. Chicago got homers from Brooks Baldwin, Luis Robert Jr., Lenyn Sosa, and Kyle Teel, who was 4-5 on the day overall.

• TEX 3, KCR 4 - The Rangers outhit the Royals 11-8, but 10 of those hits were singles, whereas Kansas City had HR by Mike Yastrzemski, Vinnie Pasquantino, and Maikel Garcia. Royals’ closer Carlos Estévez pitched a scoreless ninth for this 32nd save of the year.

• LAD 3, COL 4 - The Dodgers had a 3-2 lead and Yoshinobu Yamamoto had been doing fairly well (7 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 Bb=B, 6 K), but then Ezequiel Tovar hit a solo HR to tie the game in the seventh. Tovar got things going in the bottom of the ninth as well, hitting a double to right and then rookie Warming Bernabel hit a walk-off single to drive him in.

• CIN 4, LAA 1 - Gavin Lux hit a 2-run HR in the first inning, and Brady Singer pitched well through six (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). Three Cincy relievers kept the Angels off the board, including Scott Barlow who struck out four to close out the game and earn his first save of the year.

• CLE 3, AZ 1 - C.J. Kayfus and Brayan Rocchio hit homers off Arizona’s starter Zac Gallen (6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K). That is all it took as Gavin Williams was good through five (5.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and Cleveland’s bullpen limited the D-Backs to just one run in the ninth.

• SFG 4, SDP 3 - The Giants hit three HR in the first inning off Nestor Cortes (5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 5 K)), with Heliot Ramos, Rafael Devers, and Wilmer Flores providing the outburst. Robbie Ray pitched well (6.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), finally giving up a HR to Ryan O’Hearn in the seventh. Ryan Walker and Randy Rodriguez kept the Padres from scoring after that, with the latter picking up his 4th save.

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:

• With their recent hot streak, the Brewers have by far the best record in baseball, and are currently the only team on pace to win 100 or more games. That would be a first for their franchise.

• Current Wild Card Leaders: In the AL NYY, BOS, and SEA all have a .540 winning percentage, though NYY has played two less games; in the NL it is unchanged with CHC/SDP/NYM.

Today’s Trivia Question

Which team has the lowest batting average, at .227, in all of baseball so far this year? (Hint: they have a winning record.)

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).

🤕 Placed on the IL

• MIA 3B Graham Pauley - 10-day IL (right oblique strain)

• BOS RF Rob Refsnyder - 10-day IL (left oblique strain)

• STL 2B Brendan Donovan - 10-day IL (left groin strain)

• TEX 1B Jake Burger - 10-day IL (left wrist sprain)

📝 Signed as Free Agent

• BOS 1B Nathaniel Lowe

MLB Debut

• MIA IF Maximo Acosta - The 22-year old played 2B and batted eighth, going 0-3 with two strikeouts in the Marlins 8-3 loss to St. Louis. Before the call-up, Acosta had 12 HR, 28 SB, and a .232 average at AAA Jacksonville.

• PHI RP Nolan Hoffman - The 28-year old entered in the ninth with a 12-4 lead and struck out two, but otherwise struggled (1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). Before the call-up, Hoffman had a 5.00 ERA with 73 K in 54 innings of mostly relief work across AA/AAA this year.

League Leaders

Royals’ closer Carlos Estévez is now just one behind the Padres’ Robert Suarez on the MLB leaderboard:

• 33 - SDP Robert Suarez

• 32 - KCR Carlos Estévez

• 29 - MIL Trevor Megill

• 29 - SEA Andrés Muñoz

• 28 - HOU Josh Hader

• 27 - TOR Jeff Hoffman

• 25 - CIN Emilio Pagán

• 24 - CLE Emmanuel Clase

• 24 - NYM Edwin Díaz

• 24 - DET Kyle Finnegan

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 19…

• 1921: Ty Cobb collects his 3,000th hit. “At the age of 34, Ty Cobb becomes the youngest player to collect 3000 hits when he singles off Red Sox hurler Elmer Myers.”

• 1931: Lefty Grove wins his 16th consecutive game. “At Chicago, Lefty Grove (25-2) wins his 16th consecutive game, 4-2, tying the American League record set by Walter Johnson and Joe Wood in 1912. Grove holds the Sox scoreless till the 9th, while the A's score in the 2nd, 3rd and 8th off Red Faber. Grove has completed all but one of the wins.”

• 1941: The inspiration for a famous painting. “Pittsburgh Pirates manager Frankie Frisch is ejected by umpire Jocko Conlan from the second game of a doubleheader when he appears on the field with an umbrella to protest the playing conditions at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field. The rainy argument is later portrayed in a famous oil painting by artist Norman Rockwell.”

• 1945: Jimmie Foxx… starting pitcher? “In the second game of a doubleheader against the Reds, 37-year-old slugger Jimmie Foxx makes his first major league start, pitching the first seven innings for the Philadelphia Phillies. He leaves with a 4-1 lead, and Andy Karl saves Foxx's only decision, a 6-2 final. Double X's ERA in ten appearances is 1.52.”

• 1951: Eddie Gaedel draws a walk. “Wearing uniform number 1/8, forty-three-inch-tall Eddie Gaedel walks on four pitches from Bob Cain in his only major league appearance. Bill Veeck's idea of playing the midget was legal at the time but is later outlawed.”

• 1965: Jim Maloney throws a no-hitter. “At Wrigley Field, Reds hurler Jim Maloney no-hits the Cubs, 1-0, with the only run scoring on a Leo Cardenas homer in the 10th inning. Earlier in the season, Maloney had also no-hit the Mets for ten innings, but lost the game in the 11th when Johnny Lewis homered off him.”

• 1969: Ken Holtzman throws a no-hitter. “At Wrigley Field, Ken Holtzman no-hits the Braves, 3-0, with Ron Santo's 1st-inning homer providing all of the Cubs' runs.”

• 1992: Three generations of Boone major leaguers. “Mariners 2B Bret Boone makes his major league debut against the Orioles. By doing so, he becomes the first third-generation player in the major leagues, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Ray, and his father Bob. Boone goes 1 for 4 and drives in a run in Seattle's 10-8 victory.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

• Bobby Richardson (1935) started his pro career in the Yankees farm system at age 17 in 1953, got brief tastes of the majors in 1955-56, and then was in New York to stay in 1957. An All-Star in seven seasons, Richardson didn’t have much power (34 HR in 5,783 plate appearances) but did hit .301 in 1959 and then .302 in 1962 when he led the AL with 209 hits. He was a good fielder at 2B, earning five consecutive AL Gold Glove Awards. He also had three very strong World Series performances, including in 1960 when—even though the Yankees lost the series to the Pirates—he was named World Series MVP after hitting .367 with a HR, 2 triples, 2 doubles, 12 RBI, and 8 runs. Though only 31 after the 1966 season, Richardson retired to spend more time with his family.

• Gary Gaetti (1958) had a 20-year major league career, spanning from 1981-2000, with the first half spent with the Twins and the second half spread across five other clubs. Minnesota’s first-round draft pick (11th overall) in 1979, Gaetti was a full-time player in the majors starting in 1982 when he hit 25 HR with 84 RBI. A two-time All-Star, he had eight seasons with 20+ HR and two with 100+ RBI. Gaetti was good defensively at the hot corner too, earning four AL Gold Glove Awards. He was ALCS MVP for the Twins in 1987, and overall had 360 HR, 1,341 RBI, and a .255/.308/.434 slash line.

• Ron Darling (1960) had a 13-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1983-1995, and mostly spent with the Mets and A’s. Drafted by the Rangers in the first round (9th overall) in 1981, he was traded the following year along with pitcher Walt Terrell to the Mets for OF Lee Mazzilli. After a short stint with New York in 1983, Darling had a solid rookie season going 12-9 with a 3.81 ERA in 1984, and then was an All-Star in 1985 when he posted a 16-6 record and 2.90 ERA. He came in fifth in the NL Cy Young Award vote in 1986 when he went 15-6 with a 2.81 ERA and was a critical to the Mets’ World Series Championship, as he started three games and posted a 1.53 ERA over 17.2 innings. Overall, Darling had a 136-116 (.540) record and a 3.87 ERA. Since 2006 he has been a color commentator for Mets broadcasts on SNY, and has co-hosted several MLB Network programs.

• J.J. Hardy (1982) was drafted in the second round by the Brewers in 2001. By 2005 he was in the majors, and by 2007 he was an All-Star with 26 HR, 80 RBI, and a .277 average. He had five seasons with 20+ HR, including his other All-Star season in 2013 with Baltimore. A good fielder at SS, Hardy won three consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 2012-2014. Over a 13-year major league career he had 188 HR and a .256/.305/.408 slash line.

Currently active players who were born on August 19 include KCR Kris Bubic, BAL Brandon Young, MIA Josh Simpson, and AZ Yilber Díaz.

Today’s Matchups

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

• HOU vs. DET is game two of a series between two AL division leaders, and this one features two top-notch pitchers in Hunter Brown (2.45 ERA, 164 K in 143 IP) and Tarik Skubal (2.42 ERA, 190 K in 152.1 IP).

• MIL vs. CHC face off again after the Brewers won game 1 yesterday and the second game was rained out and shifted to today. So now today we have a split double-header with apparently Chad Patrick (3.52 ERA, 95 K in 94.2 IP) and Matthew Boyd (2.46 ERA, 126 K in 142.2 IP) going in the early afternoon game, and Brandon Woodruff (2.06 ERA, 49 K in 39.1 IP in 7 starts) and Jameson Taillon (4.44 ERA, 74 K in 95.1 IP) set for the evening.

Also on the bump today are TOR Max Scherzer, NYM David Peterson, PHI Cristopher Sánchez, NYY Carlos Rodón, TEX Merrill Kelly, MIN Joe Ryan, CIN Hunter Greene, and SDP Nick Pivetta.

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:

• KCR Mike Yastrzemski, only 10-46 (.217) but with 4 HR, a triple, and 3 doubles vs. TEX Merrill Kelly

• CLE José Ramírez, 7-27 with 3 HR vs. AZ Eduardo Rodriguez

• CHC Ian Happ, only 8-34 (.235) but with 3 HR and a double vs. MIL Brandon Woodruff

• MIL Christian Yelich, 12-35 with 2 HR and a double vs. CHC Jameson Taillon

• LAD Shohei Ohtani, 4-13 with 2 HR and a triple vs. COL Austin Gomber

• LAD Freddie Freeman, 6-16 with 2 HR and a double vs. COL Austin Gomber

• NYM Brandon Nimmo, 5-17 with 2 HR vs. WAS Jake Irvin

• CIN Ke’Bryan Hayes, 9-21 with 2 HR and a 2 doubles vs. LAA Kyle Hendricks

• BAL Dylan Carlson, small sample but is 3-5 with 2 HR vs. BOS Walker Buehler

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:

• NYM Francisco Lindor, 6-16 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. WAS Jake Irvin

• CLE Carlos Santana, 5-13 vs. AZ Eduardo Rodriguez

• CIN Miguel Andujar, small sample but is 5-6 with 3 doubles vs. LAA Kyle Hendricks

• CHC Seiya Suzuki, small sample but is 5-8 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. MIL Brandon Woodruff

• PIT Isiah Kiner-Falefa, small sample but is 4-8 with 2 doubles vs. TOR Max Scherzer

• SFG Jung Hoo Lee, small sample but is 4-9 with a triple and 2 doubles vs. SDP Nick Pivetta

• LAD Mookie Betts, small sample but is 4-9 with a HR and a double vs. COL Austin Gomber

Who is streaking?

Active hit streaks

• 16 - ATH Tyler Soderstrom

• 11 - ATL Michael Harris II - is batting .500 (23-46) with 5 HR

• 9 - CIN Noelvi Marte

• 8 - PHI Trea Turner - is batting .472 (17-36)

• 8 - STL Pedro Pagés - is batting .500 (13-26) with 2 HR

• 7 - TBR Yandy Díaz

• 7 -WAS Paul DeJong

• 7 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

• 7 - SFG Jung Hoo Lee

• 7 - SFG Rafael Devers

Active HR Streaks

• 2 - ATL Jurickson Profar

• 2 - CHW Lenyn Sosa

• 2 - MIA Eric Wagaman

• 2 - ATH Colby Thomas

• 2 - SEA Mitch Garver

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:

• PIT Tommy Pham, 4-27 with 12 K vs. TOR Max Scherzer

• CHC Nico Hoerner, 2-18 with 3 K vs. MIL Brandon Woodruff

• NYM Francisco Alvarez, 2-14 with 7 K vs. WAS Jake Irvin

• NYM Pete Alonso, 2-15 with 5 K vs. WAS Jake Irvin

• NYM Mark Vientos, 1-12 with 2 K vs. WAS Jake Irvin

• TEX Joc Pederson, 1-16 with 6 K vs. KCR Seth Lugo

• HOU Carlos Correa, 1-13 with 6 K vs. DET Tarik Skubal

• KCR Randal Grichuk, 1-13 with 3 K vs. TEX Merrill Kelly

• CLE Steven Kwan, 1-10 with 2 K vs. AZ Eduardo Rodriguez

• LAD Will Smith, 0-14 with 4 K vs. COL Austin Gomber

• TBR Christopher Morel, 0-10 with 5 K vs. NYY Carlos Rodón

• TBR Ha-Seong Kim, 0-10 though only 1 K vs. NYY Carlos Rodón

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

I was a bit surprised to learn that the Cleveland Guardians are batting only .227 on the season, the lowest across both leagues:

• .227 - CLE

• .231 - CHW

• .232 - PIT

• .233 - TEX

• .233 - SFG

• .233 - LAA

The Blue Jays have by far the highest team batting average at .268, nine points ahead of the Brewers at .259.

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.

• How the division title races have shifted since the break, by Thomas Harrigan at MLB, 8/18/2025

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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