The Baseball Buffet for 8/24/2025

Issue #376

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 150th day of the season featured a nearly full slate of Saturday games:

• BOS 12, NYY 1 - It was going to be a tough one for New York going up against Boston’s ace Garrett Crochet, but this one ended up ugly. Crochet did well per usual (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K), with the lone Yankees’ run coming from a solo HR by Giancarlo Stanton in the fourth. Meanwhile, the Red Sox tallied 17 hits and padded what was a 5-1 lead by adding another 7 in the ninth off Paul Blackburn, who had recently signed with New York. Trevor Story was 3-5 with a HR and a double; Carlos Narváez was 3-4 with a HR; and David Hamilton was 3-5 with a triple.

• TOR 7, MIA 6 - José Berríos pitched well (6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K), but the Marlins, down 4-3 through eight, scored one in the bottom of the ninth to force extras. Both teams scored one in the tenth, and one in the eleventh. Tied 6-6 in the top of the 12th, Bo Bichette singled to drive in George Springer. Toronto turned to their seventh pitcher of the game, Brendon Little, and he held the Marlins scoreless for his first save of the year. Springer was 3-6 with a HR and a double, and Bichette was 4-6 with 2 runs.

• WAS 4, PHI 6 - Edmundo Sosa hit a 3-run HR in the fourth, and Trea Turner added a solo HR in the fifth. Aaron Nola was doing well (6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) until the sixth when he allowed solo homers to CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. The Phillies would hold on though, with Jhoan Duran notching his 23rd save.

• KCR 2, DET 4 - Chris Paddack did well over five innings (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K). Bobby Witt Jr. hit a HR in the sixth inning, but the Tigers had two HR in this one from Spencer Torkelson and Andy Ibáñez. Will Vest got the last four outs, two by strikeout, for his 19th save.

• COL 1, PIT 5 - Mike Burrows did well in a short start (4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K), and the Pirates got homers from Andrew McCutchen and Jared Triolo. Yohan Ramírez allowed a HR to Brenton Doyle in the ninth, but that was all the Rockies would get in this one.

• HOU 9, BAL 8 - The Astros scored five in the top of the first off Dean Kremer (5 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), including HR by Carlos Correa, Jesús Sánchez, and Victor Caratini. The Orioles came back with three runs in the bottom of the frame off Cristian Javier (2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K), and then after Houston had gone up 7-5 the Orioles tied it with HR by Jeremiah Jackson and Colton Cowser. In the top of the seventh Christian Walker hit a 2-run HR, and the Orioles could only manage one more run in the eighth, as Bryan Abreu finally closed things down in the ninth for his 3rd save.

• CLE 0, TEX 10 - Jack Leiter was outstanding (7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K) and two Texas’ relievers combined for the 3-hit shutout. Meanwhile the Rangers spread out lots of scoring against Logan Allen (5 IP, 8 H, 9 ER, 3 BB, 2 K), including homers in three different innings by Cody Freeman (his first major league HR), Josh Jung, and Adolis García.

• MIN 3, CHW 7 - Three Twins hit solo HR: Kody Clemens, Matt Wallner, and Royce Lewis. But that was all the scoring they could muster while Chicago busted out for six runs in the second inning, including a grand slam by rookie Colson Montgomery. Luis Robert Jr. added a solo HR in the eighth, his 14th of the year.

• SFG 7, MIL 1 - Freddy Peralta did well per usual (5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K), but then the Milwaukee bullpen gave up seven runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Casey Schmitt was 2-4 with a HR, a double and 4 RBI, and Dominic Smith was 2-5 with a double and 2 runs. Logan Webb pitched well (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) and two Giants’ relievers kept the Brewers from scoring over the final three frames.

• NYM 9, ATL 2 - Clay Holmes pitched fairly well (6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) and three Mets’ relievers kept the Braves off the board the rest of the way. New York scored in bunches, including six HR with Jeff McNeil and Mark Vientos each hitting two, and then Pete Alonso and Starling Marte having one apiece.

• CIN 1, AZ 10 - Arizona got to Andrew Abbott early in this one (4 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 6 K), including HR by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Geraldo Perdomo. Blaze Alexander also had a good day, going 3-4 with a HR and a double.

• LAD 1, SDP 5 - The Padres took the second straight game from the Dodgers, pulling one ahead in the NL West. Rookie Alex Freeland hit a pinch-hit solo HR in the 8th, but that was one of only two hits for LA on the day. Nestor Cortes was outstanding (6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) and Adrian Morejon secured his 3rd save, lowering his ERA on the year to 1.81. The Padres only had three hits themselves, but also collected six walks as Tyler Glasnow only went four innings (4 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K).

• CHC 12, LAA 1 - Cubs' rookie Cade Horton had another good game (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K), with the only Angels’ run coming from a HR by Jo Adell in the seventh, his 29th of the year. Meanwhile, Victor Mederos and Carson Fulmer each allowed six runs, with Kyler Tucker going 3-5 with 2 HR, a double, and 5 RBI; and Reese McGuire hitting a grand slam in the fourth inning.

• ATH 2, SEA 1 - There were only eight total hits in this one, as both starting pitchers did well: Jeffrey Springs (5.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) and George Kirby (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K). Randy Arozarena hit his 24th HR of the year, providing the only run for Seattle. The game was tied 1-1 through nine, and in the top of the tenth, with two outs Shea Langeliers hit a double to drive in Colby Thomas from third. The Mariners threatened in the bottom of the tenth, but with the bases loaded and two outs Arozarena hit a grounder to third and the A’s got the force out at second. Tyler Soderstrom’s MLB-leading 20-game hitting streak came to an end, as he went 0-3 with 2 walks.

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:

• Boston has won the first three games in New York, with one game in the series left today.

• The Padres have won five in a row, including the first two against the Dodgers this weekend, so are now one game up in the NL West.

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

Today’s Trivia Question

As noted below, today is Cal Ripken Jr.’s birthday. Something I don’t mention in my brief write-up is that Ripken set a new career record for grounding into double plays, with his 350 topping the 328 times that Hank Aaron did it. What two players have since surpassed Ripken on the all-time leaderboard for times grounding into double plays?

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

• BAL SP/RP Cody Poteet

• PIT CF Oneil Cruz

• HOU 2B Brendan Rodgers

🤕 Placed on the IL

• NYM SP Frankie Montas - 15-day IL (right elbow UCL injury)

• KCR RP/SP Bailey Falter - 15-day IL (left bicep contusion)

• SDP CF Jackson Merrill - 10-day IL (left ankle sprain)

• TEX 2B Marcus Semien - 10-day IL (left foot contusion)

Also of note, Phillies SP Zack Wheeler is out for the rest of the season due to needing thoracic outlet surgery.

🚼 Placed on the Paternity List

• LAD SP Blake Snell

League Leaders

I don’t think I’ve shared out here the BAA—Batting Average Against—pitching leaders yet this year. I took a look today, and interesting to see that Carlos Rodón (103 hits in 152.2 IP) is the leader:

• .187 - NYY Carlos Rodón

• .190 - SDP Nick Pivetta

• .197 - MIL Freddy Peralta

• .197 - DET Tarik Skubal

• .197 - PHI Zack Wheeler

• .197 - TEX Jacob deGrom

• .198 - PIT Paul Skenes

• .199 - HOU Hunter Brown

• .201 - LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto

• .205 - SFG Robbie Ray

• .205 - SEA Bryan Woo

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 24…

• 1905: Ed Reulbach throws a 20-inning complete game. “In Philadelphia, the Cubs defeat the Phillies in 20 innings, 2-1, with Ed Reulbach going the distance for Chicago.”

• 1919: Pitcher is struck by lightning, knocked unconscious, but completes the game. “Cleveland P Ray Caldwell is flattened by a bolt of lightning in his debut with the team. He recovers to get the final out of the game, and defeats Philadelphia, 2-1.”

• 1945: Bob Feller is back. “Cleveland ace Bob Feller returns from the Navy and attracts a home crowd of 46,477, who watch him strike out 12 and yield only four hits in a 4-2 win over Detroit's Hal Newhouser. He will get nine starts during the remainder of the year, and his five wins will include a one-hitter and two four-hitters. With the war now over, fans are clamoring for entertainment and it is clear Feller is still baseball's number one ticket seller.”

• 1951: Fans make the decisions. “In another of Bill Veeck's legendary public relations stunts, "Fans Managers' Night," the Browns defeat the Athletics, 5-3. The Browns' coaches hold up placards for 1115 fans, who vote "yes" or "no" on the options given them. Manager Zack Taylor sits in a box behind the dugout with two fans who monitor the voting. Adding to the festivities is Max Patkin, the clown prince of baseball, who coaches at first base for several innings. Sherm Lollar voted in to start behind the plate instead of Matt Batts, has three hits including a homer, and Hank Arft, also voted in, knocks home two. Gus Zernial's 28th home run accounts for all the A's runs.”

• 1975: Ed Halicki throws a no-hitter. “In the second game of a doubleheader sweep, Giant hurler Ed Halicki no-hits the Mets, 6-0. The 6' 7" righthander strikes out ten Mets to improve his record to 8-10. Craig Swan takes the loss. Controversy arises when Rusty Staub hits a ball off Halicki's leg, which caroms to 2B Derrel Thomas, who picks it up then drops it. Official scorer Joe Sargis rules it an E-4. New York columnist Dick Young, watching the game on TV, writes that it should be a hit and accuses Sargis of subscribing to the theory that the first hit off a starter should be a "good one." The no-hitter stands but UPI's Sargis loses his job as a sometime scorer.”

• 1982: John Wathan sets a new record for SB by a catcher. “Royals catcher John Wathan steals his 31st base, breaking Ray Schalk's 1916 record for stolen bases by a catcher. The backstop will wind up with 36 for the season.”

• 1983: Don’t mess around with Tippy Martinez and Lenn Sakata. “Orioles southpaw Tippy Martinez picks off three runners in the 10th inning as the Blue Jays take long leads trying to take advantage of his new battery mate, Lenn Sakata, an infielder with no professional catching experience pressed into service behind the plate. The converted catcher gets revenge as his three-run homer in the bottom of the frame wins the game, 7-4.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

• Cal Ripken Jr. (1960) is a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest SS of all time. He had a 21-year career in the majors, spanning from 1981-2001, all with the Baltimore Orioles. At 6’4” and 200 pounds, his size and ability is a major reason the SS position has been redefined such that power hitting is far more common, if not expected. Ripken hit 20+ HR in 12 seasons, had 100+ RBI four times, and scored 100+ runs three times, including in 1983 when he led the AL with 121 runs, 211 hits, and 47 doubles, along with providing 27 HR, 102 RBI, and a .318 average. He was AL MVP that season, and earned the award again in 1991 when he had 210 hits, 46 doubles, 34 HR, 114 RBI, and a .323 average. Other accolades included winning the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1982, and then being an AL All-Star every remaining year of his career (19 times). He was good defensively as well, earning two Gold Glove Awards and frequently leading or at least appearing in various fielding statistics leaderboards. Ripken’s most famous achievement of course was breaking Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games played streak (2.130), and ultimately playing in 2,632 games in a row. Overall, Ripken had 431 HR, 3,184 hits, 1,695 RBI, a .276/.340/.447 slash line, and a 112 OPS+.

• Harry Hooper (1887) is a Hall of Famer who had a 17-year major league career as a RF for the Red Sox and White Sox. He didn’t hit for much power (75 HR in 10,278 plate appearances), but was a good run scorer with three 100+ run seasons, and nine seasons with 20+ SB. Hooper’s biggest contribution was on defense, as he was considered one of the best outfielders of his era, leading the AL in RF assists nine times, RF putouts ten times, and RF fielding percentage seven times. He remains the all-time MLB career leader in RF assists and RF double plays. Overall, Hooper had 2,466 hits, 1,429 runs, 375 SB, a .281/.368/.387 slash line, and a 114 OPS+.

• Tim Salmon (1968) was drafted in the 3rd round by the Angels in 1989 and went on to have a 14-year career with them, spanning from 1992-2006. He won the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 1993 after hitting 31 HR with 95 RBI, 93 runs, and a .283 average. That was his first of eight seasons with 20+ HR, and first of five with 30+ HR. He scored 100+ runs twice, had 100+ RBI twice, and received down-ballot MVP votes three times—and yet oddly was never selected as an All-Star. Overall, Salmon had 299 HR, 1,016 RBI, a .282/.385/.498 slash line, and a 128 OPS+.

• Brett Gardner (1983) was like Ripken and Salmon above in that he played his entire 14-year career with one team, in his case the New York Yankees from 2008-2021. He developed some power in the second half of his career, with four seasons of 15+ HR and a high of 28 in 2019. He had good wheels too, stealing 20+ bases seven times, including leading the AL with 49 SB in 2011. He was an All-Star in 2015, and then took home a Gold Glove Award as a LF in 2016. Overall, Gardner had 139 HR, 274 SB, and a .256/.342/.398 slash line.

Currently active players who were born on August 24 include SDP Mason Miller, LAD Kiké Hernández, LAD Alex Freeland, CHW Steven Wilson, and SEA Luke Jackson.

Today’s Matchups

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

• BOS vs. NYY is game four of this extended series in New York, with Boston having taken the first three. The Yankees might have their best shot today though, as they have Carlos Rodón (3.24 ERA, 169 K in 152.2 IP) while the Red Sox will counter with Dustin May (4.59 ERA, 114 K in 119.2 IP).

• LAD vs. SDP is game three of this important series in deciding the NL West crown, with the Padres having won the first two so far. We have solid pitchers today in Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.90 ERA, 151 K in 133.2 IP) and Nick Pivetta (2.81 ERA, 154 K In 147.1 IP).

• COL vs. PIT is interesting for two reasons: Paul Skenes (2.16 ERA, 174 K in 154 IP) is pitching for the Pirates, while the Rockies will go with rookie McCade Brown, their 3rd round 2021 draft pick, making his major league debut.

Also toeing the rubber today are BAL Trevor Rogers, PHI Ranger Suárez, NYM David Peterson, TOR Kevin Gausman, SFG Robbie Ray, TEX Merrill Kelly, and SEA Logan Gilbert.

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:

• ATL Matt Olson, 5-21 with 4 HR vs. NYM David Peterson

• NYM Francisco Lindor, 6-10 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. ATL Bryce Elder

• LAD Michael Conforto, only 2-11 but with 2 HR vs. SDP Nick Pivetta

• LAD Shohei Ohtani, 5-14 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. SDP Nick Pivetta

• PHI Bryson Stott, 7-18 with 2 HR and a double vs. WAS Jake Irvin

• PHI Max Kepler, small sample but is 2-7 with 2 HR vs. WAS Jake Irvin

• SDP Manny Machado, 3-9 with 2 HR vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto

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:

• LAD Freddie Freeman, 15-39 (.385) with a HR, a triple, and 4 doubles vs. SDP Nick Pivetta

• SDP Xander Bogaerts, 6-10 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto

• PHI J.T. Realmuto, 6-15 with a HR vs. WAS Jake Irvin

• PHI Harrison Bader, small sample but is 5-6 with a double vs. WAS Jake Irvin

• ATL Jurickson Profar, small sample but is 5-8 with 2 doubles vs. NYM David Peterson

• BOS Connor Wong, 4-10 with a HR and a double vs. NYY Carlos Rodón

Who is streaking?

Active hit streaks

• 12 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

• 11 - NYM Francisco Lindor - is 23-47 (.489) with 4 HR

• 10 - AZ Corbin Carroll

• 10 - COL Ryan Ritter

• 9 - AZ Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

• 9 - BAL Ryan Mountcastle

• 8 - TOR Bo Bichette

• 8 - HOU Carlos Correa

• 7 - ATL Nacho Alvarez Jr.

• 7 - PHI J.T. Realmuto

• 7 - MIL Sal Frelick

• 7 - CIN Ke’Bryan Hayes

• 7 - TOR George Springer

• 7 - PIT Nick Gonzalez

Active HR streaks

• 3 - HOU Christian Walker

• 3 - STL Willson Contreras

• 2 - BAL Colton Cowser

• 2 - COL Brenton Doyle

• 2 - LAD Alex Freeland

• 2 - MIN Royce Lewis

• 2 - CHW Colson Montgomery

• 2 - CHC Kyle Tucker

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:

• ATH Brent Rooker, 1-16 with 10 K vs. SEA Logan Gilbert

• NYY Trent Grisham, 1-17 with 9 K though the one hit was a HR vs. BOS Dustin May

• ATL Michael Harris II, 2-15 with 7 K vs. NYM David Peterson

• CIN Gavin Lux, 2-19 with 6 K vs. AZ Zac Gallen

• DET Riley Greene, 1-12 with 5 K though the one hit was a HR vs. KCR Seth Lugo

• BOS Jarren Duran, 2-15 with 5 K vs. NYY Carlos Rodón

• NYM Jeff McNeil, 1-12 though only 1 K vs. ATL Bryce Elder

• BOS Romy Gonzalez, 1-11 though only 1 K vs. NYY Carlos Rodón

• ATH JJ Bleday, 2-15 with 2 K vs. SEA Logan Gilbert

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

The career “leader” board for times grounded into double plays is as follows:

• 426 - Albert Pujols

• 364 - Miguel Cabrera

• 350 - Cal Ripken Jr.

• 337 - Iván Rodríguez

• 328 - Hank Aaron

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 thrilling stat races that could come down to wire, by Jared Greenspan at MLB, 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.

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!