The Baseball Buffet for 8/23/2025

Issue #375

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 149th day of the season featured a full slate of Friday games:

• COL 0, PIT 9 - I noted yesterday that this game featured the Pirates’ offense which is last in all of baseball in runs per game, up against a Rockies pitcher in Antonio Senzatela who had an ERA of 7.00 in over 100 innings. Well, the Pirates came out swinging and scored five runs in the first two innings, tallying 14 total hits including seven doubles and three HR by Spencer Horwitz, Tommy Pham, and Alexander Canario. The Bucs pitching was exciting too, as Braxton Ashcraft did well as the starter (5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and baseball’s #1 pitching prospect Bubba Chandler, who was just called up, was outstanding in his MLB debut earning a four-inning save (4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K). Chandler topped 100mph with his fastball, and for the time being will be used in a bulk relief role as he acclimates to the majors.

• WAS 5, PHI 4 - Riley Adams gave Washington an early lead with a 3-run HR in the top of the first inning. Nationals’ starter Cade Cavalli was doing pretty well (6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) until he allowed a 2-run HR to Bryson Stott in the sixth inning. J.T. Realmuto added a solo HR in the seventh, and the Phillies had a 4-3 lead at that point. But then in the top of the ninth, Phillies’ closer Jhoan Duran gave up a double to Dylan Crews, and then a single by Daylen Lile drove him in to tie it up. Lile stole third and a throwing error by Realmuto allowed him to score. Having already pitched the eighth, PJ Poulin came back out for the ninth and closed it out.

• HOU 10, BAL 7 - The Orioles outhit the Astros 13-10, but they were 3-14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 guys overall. They got homers from Colton Cowser and Vimael Machín, but Houston had two, 3-run HR by Jeremy Peña and Christian Walker. Bryan Abreu retired the last four batters, all by strikeout, to earn his 2nd save and lower his ERA to 1.54.

• BOS 1, NYY 0 - This one was a pitchers’ duel, with both starters doing well: Max Fried (6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K) and Brayan Bello (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). Garrett Whitlock struck out two in the 8th and Aroldis Chapman did the same in the ninth to combine for the 3-hit shutout, with Chapman earning his 24th save. The lone Boston run came in the seventh when Nathaniel Lowe hit a double, and then Connor Wong did the same to drive him in.

• KCR 5, DET 7 - Zach McKinstry hit a HR in the third inning and Riley Greene hit a 2-run HR in the sixth which tied the game at 3-3. Bailey Falter entered for the seventh and the Tigers got a string of hits and scored four. Vinnie Pasquantino hit a 2-run HR in the top of the ninth, his 27th of the year, and extended his HR streak to an impressive five games.

• TOR 5, MIA 2 - Javier Sanoja hit a solo HR in the second, and Maximo Acosta added one in the eighth, but that would be all the Marlins could muster. Shane Bieber was excellent in his first start back from the IL and his first start for the Blue Jays, striking out nine in six innings of work (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K). Daulton Varsho went 2-4 with a HR and a double, and Jeff Hoffman secured his 28th save.

• NYM 12, ATL 7 - Ronald Acuña Jr. hit his 15th HR in the fourth inning, but otherwise Mets’ rookie starter Nolan McLean did well in his second game (7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K). New York meanwhile pounded out 21 hits, beating up on both Joey Wentz (3.1 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) and Erick Fedde (4.1 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 K). They had just one HR, from Juan Soto who was 3-4 with 2 BB and 4 RBI on the day. Other standouts were Francisco Lindor 3-5 with a double and 2 runs; Brett Baty 4-6 with a double and 4 runs; Tyrone Taylor 3-5 with a double; and Cedric Mullins 3-4 with a triple, a double, a walk, and 2 RBI.

• STL 6, TBR 10 - Adrian Houser had been pitching pretty well through six, but then Nathan Church hit his first major league HR in the seventh, and Willson Contreras hit a 2-run HR off Griffin Jax. That four-run inning wouldn’t be enough though, as the Rays spread ten runs across six different innings, including lighting up Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas early (2.1 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K). Top prospect SS Carson Williams had a big MLB debut going 2-4 with a 2-run HR and 3 RBI. Tampa had additional HR from Brandon Lowe, Tristan Gray, and Junior Caminero, his 36th on the year. Josh Lowe went 3-4 with a double and 2 runs, and Jake Mangum was 4-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI.

• MIN 9, CHW 7 - Colson Montgomery went 2-5 with a 2-run HR and a double, and the White Sox tallied 12 hits in all. But the Twins also collected 12 hits, including a grand slam by Royce Lewis in the fourth inning.

• CLE 3, TEX 4 - Slade Cecconi was doing pretty well (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) but allowed solo homers to Rowdy Tellez in the fifth and Wyatt Langford in the sixth. Nathan Eovaldi was outstanding once again (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K), lowering his now MLB-leading ERA to 1.73. Cleveland scored two in the top of eighth to take the lead, but then in the bottom of the ninth Langford doubled, Corey Seager singled to drive him in, and with still no outs Joc Pederson hit a double to drive in Seager for the win.

• SFG 4, MIL 5 - Jose Quintana allowed solo homers early on to Willy Adames and Luis Matos, but then settled in and didn’t allow any further hits (5.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K). Against his former team at his former home park, Adames hit a second HR in the eighth inning, and the Giants scored again in the top of the ninth to tie the game 4-4. But then with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Randy Rodríguez gave up a HR to William Contreras, the first walk-off HR of his career, and his 14th dinger of the year.

• CHC 3, LAA 2 - Kyle Tucker hit a HR in the first inning, and Javier Assad pitched well for the Cubs (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). Yoán Moncada had two HR on the day, but the Angels couldn’t get much else going. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit his 28th HR in the top of the ninth to give Chicago the lead, and then Daniel Palencia struck out two in locking down his 19th save.

• CIN 5, AZ 6 - Just off the IL, and in his first game since June 14th, Arizona catcher Gabriel Moreno hit a 3-run HR in the third inning, giving them a 4-2 lead. The Reds would tie the game later, leading to extras, and both teams scored a run in the 10th to extend the game further. Jalen Beeks was the D-Backs seventh pitcher and he kept the Reds off the board in the top of the 11th. Scott Barlow, Cincy’s eighth hurler, came in and gave up a single to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. driving in Corbin Carroll, who was on base as the ghost-running Manfred Man.

• LAD 1, SDP 2 - Rookie Alex Freeland hit a HR in the third inning, but that was the only hit Yu Darvish allowed over six innings (6 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). Three Padres relievers pitched scoreless innings, with Robert Suarez recording his MLB-leading 34th save. Blake Snell pitched fairly well (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), but the two runs he allowed was all it took.

• ATH 2, SEA 3 - Brent Rooker was 2-3 with a walk and a first-inning solo HR, the only hit that Bryan Woo would give up (7 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K). Luis Morales also pitched well (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K), giving up a HR to Eugenio Suárez, his 40th of the year. Josh Naylor and Jorge Polanco also hit solo HR, both in the seventh inning, which would end up being decisive.

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 Boston winning the first two in New York, they are now a half-game ahead of the Yankees.

• The Padres have won four in a row, including against the Dodgers yesterday, so the two teams are now tied as their weekend series continues today.

• Current Wild Card Leaders: In the AL it is BOS/NYY/SEA are tied; in the NL it is CHC, then either LAD/SDP, then NYM.

Today’s Trivia Question

Cleveland’s José Ramírez is once again having a solid season, hitting .291 with 26 HR and 36 SB. He currently ranks second in franchise history in both HR and SB — can you name their leaders in each category? He is also second in all-time franchise total bases, so bonus points if you can name that leader (who also leads Cleveland in all-time runs and RBI).

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 a Rehab Assignment

• MIL CF Jackson Chourio

• NYM SP Tylor Megill

• CHW RP Dan Altavilla

🤕 Placed on the IL

• SFG SP Landen Roupp - 15-day IL (left knee inflammation)

• HOU RP Bennett Sousa - 15-day IL (left elbow inflammation)

• CHC RP Ryan Brasier - 15-day IL (left groin strain)

• COL RP Dugan Darnell - 15-day IL (left hip inflammation)

• MIL SS Joey Ortiz - 10-day IL (strained left hamstring)

• TEX CF Evan Carter - 10-day IL (right wrist fracture)

• ATH RP Ben Bowden - 15-day IL (strained left lat)

• ATH SP Jack Perkins - 15-day IL (strained right shoulder)

• BAL SP Brandon Young - 15-day IL (left hamstring strain)

• BAL 3B Jordan Westburg - 10-day IL (right ankle sprain)

📝 Signed as a Free Agent

• HOU RP Craig Kimbrel

League Leaders

As noted above, Nathan Eovaldi had another fine game yesterday, and that gives him just enough innings to now qualify for the ERA leaderboard:

• 1.73 - TEX Nathan Eovaldi

• 2.16 - PIT Paul Skenes

• 2.28 - CIN Andrew Abbott

• 2.32 - DET Tarik Skubal

• 2.36 - HOU Hunter Brown

• 2.43 - BOS Garrett Crochet

• 2.46 - PHI Christopher Sánchez

• 2.61 - CHC Matthew Boyd

• 2.71 - PHI Zack Wheeler

• 2.76 - TEX Jacob deGrom

• 2.77 - MIN Joe Ryan

• 2.78 - MIL Freddy Peralta

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 23…

• 1907: Howie Camnitz throws a no-hitter. “The Pirates top the Giants, 4-2 in ten innings, then win the second game, 1-0, when Howie Camnitz spins a five-inning no-hitter. The Bucs score when Ed Abbaticchio singles home Honus Wagner, who had singled and stolen second base. The Giants also lose Frank Bowerman, hit on the head by a Camnitz pitch. The doctors predict that the burly catcher will miss the season, but he is back in action in three days.”

• 1936: 17-year old Bob Feller strikes out 15 in his first start. “Seventeen-year-old Bob Feller makes his first start after six relief outings to begin his career and strikes out 15, one shy of the American League record, as Cleveland beats St. Louis, 4-1.”

• 1970: Roberto Clemente goes 5-5 for the second game in a row. “Roberto Clemente compiles his second straight five-hit game during an 11-0 pasting of Los Angeles. He is the first major leaguer this century to collect ten hits in two consecutive games. Quoth Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh: ‘Ten hits in two games! When I was playing, that was my quota for a month.’”

• 1993: Joe Carter hits 3 HR in a game… again. “Toronto OF Joe Carter slugs three home runs in the Blue Jays' 9-8 loss to the Indians. It is the fifth time in his career that he has homered three times in a game, setting an American League record.”

• 1998: Barry Bonds becomes the first (an so far only) member of the 400/400 club. Giants OF Barry Bonds hits his 26th homer, the 400th of his career, off Kirt Ojala of the Marlins in the Giants' 10-5 victory. He thus becomes the first player in major league history with more than 400 career home runs and 400 career steals.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

• George Davis (1870) is a Hall of Famer who had a 20-year major league career, spanning from 1890-1909, mostly spent with the New York Giants and Chicago White Sox. He started out as an OF and then 3B before becoming one of the best defensive SS of his era. Davis had 100+ runs five times, including 125 in 1894, and 100+ RBI three times, including an NL-leading 135 in 1897. He was a high-average hitter, with nine consecutive .300+ seasons, including three years over .350. He also stole a lot of bases, with 11 seasons of 30+ SB. Overall, he had 2,665 hits, 1,545 runs, 1,440 RBI, 619 SB, a .295/.362/.405 slash line, and a 121 OPS+.

• George Kell (1922) is a Hall of Famer who had a 15-year career spanning from 1943-1957, with about half that spent with the Tigers, and the rest with the Athletics, Red Sox, White Sox, and Orioles. An All-Star in 10 of his 15 seasons, Kell was a high-average hitter who led the AL with a .343 mark in 1949, and then led the AL in hits and doubles the following two seasons. He didn’t have much power or speed, with only 78 HR and 51 SB over his career, but he retired with a .306/.367/.414 slash line and a 112 OPS+.

• Sherm Lollar (1924) had an 18-year major league career as a catcher spanning from 1946-1963, mostly spent with the White Sox, but with some time early on with the Indians, Yankees, and Browns. An All-Star in seven seasons, Lollar had a little power, hitting 15+ HR three times. A good defender, he earned three AL Gold Glove Awards. Overall, Lollar had 155 HR, a .264/.357/.402 slash line, and a 104 OPS+.

• Julio Franco (1958) had an impressive and interesting career that included 23 years in the majors, spanning from 1982-2007 with a few gaps along the way and finally ending in his age-48 campaign. First playing in the Phillies farm system starting in 1978 as a 19-year old, Franco hit over .300 at five levels in the minors. After a brief stint in Philadelphia he was traded after the 1982 season with four others to the Indians for young star Von Hayes. Franco quickly became Cleveland’s everyday shortstop and had 32 SB in his first full season in 1983. His hitting improved and he became a regular .300+ batsman and had modest power with 10+ HR in eight seasons. He continued to run well on the bases until his early 30s, with six seasons of 20+ SB. He led the AL with a .341 average in 1991, one of his three All-Star seasons. Franco had an unorthodox batting stance, but his hitting ability, and versatility in the field (over 500 games each at SS, 2B, and 1B) led him to play for eight major-league teams and continue to be productive well into his 40s. Franco also mixed in complete seasons in Japan (1995 and 1998), Mexico (1999), and Korea (2000).

Currently active players who were born on August 23 include LAD Tyler Glasnow, STL Miles Mikolas, SEA Bryce Miller, KCR Mike Yastrzemski, and CLE Lane Thomas.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have a nearly full slate of Saturday games (14 - only Tampa and St. Louis have the day off), so there are lots of possibilities. Some games and pitchers that jump out to me are:

• BOS vs. NYY is game three of this four-game rivalry set in New York. Boston has won the first two, and they have their ace today in Garrett Crochet (2.43 ERA, 196 K in 159.1 IP) with the Yankees countering with Will Warren (4.25 ERA, 143 K in 127 IP).

• SFG vs. MIL features two strong pitchers in Logan Webb (3.19 ERA, 175 K in 160.2 IP) and Freddy Peralta (2.78 ERA, 154 K in 142.2 IP).

• LAD vs. SDP is game two of this important series in deciding the NL West crown. LA will have Tyler Glasnow (3.12 ERA, 72 K in 57.2 IP) throwing, and San Diego will counter with Nestor Cortes (5.87 ERA, 22 K in 23 IP).

Also on the bump today are HOU Cristian Javier, NYM Clay Holmes, CIN Andrew Abbott, and SEA George Kirby.

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:

• SEA Julio Rodríguez, 4-12 with 2 HR vs. ATH Jeffrey Springs

• KCR Mike Yastrzemski, 7-18 with 2 HR and 3 doubles vs. DET Chris Paddack

• PHI Alec Bohm, small sample but is 2-7 with 2 HR vs. WAS Mitchell Parker

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:

• HOU Jose Altuve, 8-17 with a HR and 3 doubles vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• CHW Andrew Benintendi, 8-19 with a HR, a triple, and 2 doubles vs. MIN Joe Ryan (if pitching, TBD)

• DET Colt Keith, 6-14 with a double vs. KCR Michael Wacha

• LAD Teoscar Hernández, 6-16 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. SDP Nestor Cortes

• ATH JJ Bleday, 5-9 with a HR and a double vs. SEA George Kirby

• ATH Brent Rooker, 5-12 with a HR and a double vs. SEA George Kirby

• NYY Cody Bellinger, small sample but is 4-8 with a HR vs. BOS Garrett Crochet

• WAS Dylan Crews, small sample but is 4-7 with a triple and a double vs. PHI Aaron Nola

Who is streaking?

Active hit streaks

• 20 - ATH Tyler Soderstrom

• 11 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

• 10 - NYM Francisco Lindor - is 22-43 (.512) with 4 HR

• 9 - AZ Corbin Carroll

• 9 - COL Ryan Ritter

• 8 - AZ Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

• 8 - BAL Ryan Mountcastle

• 7 - LAD Freddie Freeman

• 7 - TOR Bo Bichette

• 7 - HOU Carlos Correa

Active HR streaks

• 5 - KCR Vinnie Pasquantino

• 3 - STL Willson Contreras

• 2 - MIA Maximo Acosta

• 2 - SFG Willy Adames

• 2 - LAA Yoán Moncada

• 2 - SEA Eugenio Suárez

• 2 - HOU Christian Walker

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:

• HOU Jeremy Peña, 1-13 with 3 K vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• DET Spencer Torkelson, 1-12 with 2 K vs. KCR Michael Wacha

• NYY Paul Goldschmidt, 0-10 with 4 K vs. BOS Garrett Crochet

• CHW Luis Robert Jr., 0-9 with 6 K vs. MIN Joe Ryan (if pitching, TBD)

• ATL Marcell Ozuna, 1-10 with 4 K vs. NYM Clay Holmes

• MIL Christian Yelich, 1-10 with 4 K vs. SFG Logan Webb

• SEA J.P. Crawford, 1-11 though only 1 K vs. ATH Jeffrey Springs

• SEA Jorge Polanco, 1-10 with 4 K vs. ATH Jeffrey Springs

• BAL Gunnar Henderson, 1-9 with 6 K vs. HOU Cristian Javier

• SDP Fernando Tatis Jr., 1-9 with 5 K vs. LAD Tyler Glasnow

• SDP Jake Cronenworth, 1-9 with 4 K vs. LAD Tyler Glasnow

• SDP Jackson Merrill, 0-9 with 4 K vs. LAD Tyler Glasnow

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

José Ramírez is currently second or third all-time on several Cleveland franchise leaderboards, including:

• HR: Jim Thome 337, José Ramírez 281

• SB: Kenny Lofton 452, José Ramírez 279

• Total Bases: Earl Averill 3,200, José Ramírez 2,951

• RBI: Earl Averill 1,084, Jim Thome 937, José Ramírez 932

• Runs: Earl Averill 1,154, Tris Speaker 1,079, José Ramírez 979

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 players exceeding expectations in 2025, by Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru at MLB, 8/23/2025

• No no-nos?! Here’s how rare 2025’s no-hitter drought is, by Theo DeRosa at MLB, 8/22/2025

• Whatever Became Of The .300 Hitter?, by Dan Schlossberg at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 8/23/2025

• Braves Could Have Two Centerfielders in Same Cooperstown Class, by Dan Schlossberg at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 8/23/2025

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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