The Baseball Buffet for 8/29/2025

Issue #381

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 155th day of the season featured a partial slate of Thursday games:

• PIT 1, STL 4 - Tommy Pham hit a first-inning HR, but then Miles Mikolas settled in and did well over 5 innings (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). Pirates’ starter Braxton Ashcraft pitched well also (5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K), but then Yohan Ramírez allowed three runs in the seventh, including a 2-run HR by Jordan Walker. Three Cardinals’ relievers kept the Bucs off the board over the final four innings, and JoJo Romero earned his 5th save.

• BOS 3, BAL 2 - Orioles catcher Alex Jackson hit a solo HR in the third inning, but Boston’s ace Garrett Crochet otherwise did pretty well (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K), and three Red Sox relievers pitched scoreless innings the rest of the way. Trevor Story and Rob Refsnyder hit homers off Cade Povich (5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K). With the game tied 2-2 in the top of the eighth, Romy Gonzalez singled to left and drove in Roman Anthony from second for what would be the decisive run.

• COL 3, HOU 4 - Jose Altuve and Christian Walker hit back-to-back HR in the bottom of the first, and the Astros scored another run in the second. Jason Alexander struck out 8 in 5.2 innings, but allowed homers to Ezequiel Tovar and Yanquiel Fernández. The game was tied 3-3 through seven innings, and Christian Walker hit his second HR of the game in the bottom of the eighth. Bryan Abreu then struck out two in the top of the ninth to secure his 4th save of the year and lower his ERA to 1.47.

• AZ 6, MIL 4 - All ten runs in this one were scored in the first three innings. Sal Frelick hit his 10th HR in the bottom of the first, but the D-Backs scored three runs in the second and three more in the third. 29-year old Arizona rookie Taylor Rushi made his major league debut, throwing three scoreless innings to close out the game and earn his first save.

• CHC 3, SFG 4 - Both Shota Imanaga (7 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) and Logan Webb (7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) allowed three runs and two HR in this one. Willy Adames hit 2 HR, one in the first inning and another in the sixth. The Cubs’ dingers came from Dansby Swanson and Michael Busch. With the game tied 3-3, Chicago brought in their closer Daniel Palencia for the bottom of the ninth, but he allowed three hits including a walk-off single by Jung Hoo Lee which drove in Christian Koss for the win.

• MIA 7, NYM 4 - Pete Alonso was 2-4 with a HR and a double, and Francisco Lindor went 3-5. The game was tied 4-4 through six, when Mets’ reliever Gregory Soto gave up three hits and the Marlins scored three runs. Miami’s bullpen shut things down after that, with Calvin Faucher earning his 12th save of the year.

• NYY 10, CHW 4 - Cody Bellinger hit a HR in the first inning, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. added one in the second. But then Miguel Vargas hit a grand slam in the bottom of the second, and that tied the game up 4-4. It was all New York after that though, as they scored six more runs, including Trent Grisham hitting a 2-run HR in the eighth. And their bullpen came through with four scoreless innings, striking out seven along the way.

• ATL 4, PHI 19 - Aaron Nola gave up three runs in the top of the first inning, but the Phillies immediately came back with five in the bottom of the frame. That included three HR by Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, and Max Kepler. Nola bounced back and pitched six innings, giving up a HR to Matt Olson in sixth. But the big story of the game was Schwarber, as he went on to hit three more HR and collect a total of nine RBI. Bryce Harper was 2-3 with a HR, a walk, and 3 runs, and Harrison Bader was 4-5 with a triple, a double, and 3 runs.
  
  In hindsight, I really should have bet on the Phillies to do well, and in particular bet on Schwarber to hit at least one HR and Bader to either have a HR or at least get several total bases. Why? My newsletter yesterday shared that Schwarber was only 3-17 against Atlanta starter Cal Quantrill, but that the three hits were all HR. And Bader in a small sample was 5-7 with 3 HR and a double against Quantrill!

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 BOS/NYY/SEA; in the NL it is CHC/SDP/NYM.

Today’s Trivia Question

As noted, Kyle Schwarber yesterday became just the 19th hitter since 1901 to hit four HR in a game. So here are some trivia questions about this feat:

• Who was the first player (since 1901) to hit four HR in a game?

• The Phillies have now had the most (3) players to hit four HR in a game… who are the other two?

• What player had the most RBI in the game in which he had four HR?

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

• MIN SP David Festa

• SEA 2B Ryan Bliss

• HOU LF Taylor Trammell

• CHW RP Owen White

🤕 Placed on the IL

• CHC SP Jameson Taillon - 15-day IL (left groin strain)

🚼 Placed on the Paternity List

• BOS 1B Nathaniel Lowe

👋🏻 Released

• CLE 1B Carlos Santana - The Guardians decided to part ways with their 39-year old 1B, ending his third stint with the club. Santana wasn’t hitting very well this year, with a .225 average and 11 HR in 396 AB. He still has a good eye and walks a fair amount, and is a capable defender at 1B (he actually won the AL Gold Glove Award at 1B last year). The move frees up playing time for younger players for the rest of the year for the Guardians, so they can better plan for the future. But as with Nathaniel Lowe being released by the Nationals and then joining the Red Sox, I could see a contending team picking up Santana—especially if an untimely injury hits their 1B or DH.

League Leaders

Funny how yesterday I shared out the RBI leaderboard, which had Kyle Schwarber at the top with 110… and then he goes and gets nine more with his 4-HR day. Here are the current doubles leaders… maybe Witt or Bichette will collect three or four more doubles today!

• 41 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

• 40 - TOR Bo Bichette

• 35 - ATL Matt Olson

• 34 - NYM Pete Alonso

• 34 - CHC Pete Crow-Armstrong

• 34 - BOS Jarren Duran

• 34 - LAD Freddie Freeman

• 34 - PIT Bryan Reynolds

• 32 - KCR Maikel Garcia

• 32 - SDP Manny Machado

• 32 - KCR Salvador Perez

• 32 - ATH Brent Rooker

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 29…

• 1925: The Babe gets into some trouble. “After a night on the town, Babe Ruth shows up late for batting practice. Miller Huggins suspends Ruth and slaps a $5,000 fine on him for disobeying orders on the field and team rules off the field. In the showdown between the Bambino and the tiny manager, Jake Ruppert backs up his manager. Ruth is forced to apologize before he's reinstated nine days later. The day after his return to the lineup, Ruth will hit home run number 300.”

• 1964: An eventful doubleheader for the Yankees. “On Elston Howard Night, the Yankees take two from Boston, 10-2 and 6-1. Joe Pepitone's three home runs, including a grand slam, and Roger Maris's six singles lead the offense. Mickey Mantle hits home run number 447 in the opener and ties Babe Ruth's career strikeout record (1,330) in the nightcap.”

• 1967: Bert Campaneris hits three triples. “Bert Campaneris bangs out three triples for Kansas City, but Cleveland still wins, 9-8, in ten innings. Campy is the first to have three triples in a game since Ben Chapman in 1939.”

• 1972: Jim Barr retires 41 batters in a row. “During a 3-0 win over St. Louis, San Francisco's Jim Barr retires the first 20 batters to face him. Six days earlier, Barr had gotten out the last 21 men to face him. This gives Barr a major-league record of 41 consecutive batsmen retired. The record will be broken 37 years later by Mark Buehrle.”

• 1977: Lou Brock sets a new career SB mark. “The Cardinals' Lou Brock steals two bases in a 4-3 loss to the Padres. It is career steal 893 for Brock, breaking Ty Cobb's modern record.”

• 1992: Charlie Leibrandt celebrates a bit too early. “After striking out his 1,000th career batter in Atlanta's 7-6 win over Philadelphia, Braves P Charlie Leibrandt rolls the ball into the Atlanta dugout to keep as a souvenir. Unfortunately, he forgets to call time, and baserunner Ricky Jordan is allowed to advance on the error.”

• 1993: George Brett joins exclusive company with his 200th SB. “Kansas City's George Brett steals a base in the Royals' 5-4 win over the Red Sox, making him only the third player in history with 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, and 200 stolen bases. Willie Mays and Hank Aaron are the others to accomplish the feat.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

• Roy Oswalt (1977) had a 13-year major league pitching career, spanning from 2001-2013, mostly with the Astros before spending some time with the Phillies, Rangers, and Rockies. He came in second in the NL Rookie of the Year award voting in 2001 after posting a 14-3 record and 2.73 ERA. The following year he went 19-9 with a 3.01 ERA, and then in 2004 he led the NL in wins with a 20-10 record. He was 20-12 in 2005, and then led the NL with 2.98 ERA in 2006. A three-time All-Star, Oswalt had a career 163-102 (.615) record, 3.36 ERA, and a 127 ERA+.

• Doug DeCinces (1950) had a 15-year major league career as a 3B spanning from 1973-1987, mostly spent with the Orioles and Angels. A good defender at the hot corner, he was frequently amongst the league leaders in several fielding statistics. He also had some pop, hitting 20+ HR five times, including a career high 30 HR and 97 RBI in 1982. Overall, DeCinces had 237 HR, a .259/.329/.445 slash line, and a 115 OPS+.

• Noah Syndergaard (1992) was drafted late in the first round in 2010 by the Toronto Blue Jays, but was traded after the 2012 season in a package deal to the Mets for established star pitcher R.A. Dickey. Syndergaard had a good rookie campaign in 2015 going 9-7 with a 3.24 ERA, then was an All-Star in 2016 with a 14-9 record, 2.60 ERA, and 218 K in 183.2 IP. He never reached those heights again, as he’s been effective at times but also hampered by various injuries. He last pitched in the majors for the Dodgers and Guardians in 2023, and then this year pitched a few games in the minors in the White Sox organization. He was released on August 2nd of this year, so it remains to be seen if he can mount a comeback at now age 33.

Currently active players who were born on August 29 include HOU Hunter Brown, LAA Chris Taylor, TEX Evan Carter, ATH Justin Sterner, and MIA Seth Martinez.

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:

• MIL vs. TOR is an interesting inter-league matchup, and I suppose a potential World Series preview. And we have two good starters going today in Freddy Peralta (2.68 ERA, 160 K in 147.2 IP) and Shane Bieber making his second start of the season.

• PIT vs. BOS is partly interesting because it features NL Cy Young Award candidate Paul Skenes (2.07 ERA, 181 K In 161 IP) pitching on the road at Fenway. But in addition to that, according to sources the Red Sox are calling up prospect Payton Tolle to make his major league debut. Across three minor league levels this year Tolle has a 3.04 ERA, with 133 K and only 68 hits allowed in 91.2 innings. Tolle was the Red Sox second draft pick last year.

• MIA vs. NYM features the major league debut of 22-year old Mets prospect Jonah Tong, who has been outstanding this year in the minors: 1.76 ERA and 162 K and only 50 hits allowed in 102 IP at AA, and then a 0.00 ERA with 17 K in 11.2 IP in two starts at AAA. Sheesh. The Marlins will go with the also still 22-years old Eury Pérez (3.44 ERA, 70 K In 70.2 IP).

Also taking the mound today are PIT Paul Skenes, PHI Ranger Suárez, SEA George Kirby, NYY Carlos Rodón, CHC Cade Horton, TEX Jack Leiter, LAD Blake Snell, and SFG Robbie Ray.

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:

• PHI Nick Castellanos, small sample but is 4-8 with 4 HR vs. ATL Bryce Elder… that is pretty good!

• ATL Ozzie Albies, 7-28 with 3 HR vs. PHI Ranger Suárez

• HOU Yordan Alvarez, 8-21 with 3 HR and 3 doubles vs. LAA Tyler Anderson

• DET Riley Greene, only 2-13 but with 2 HR vs. KCR Seth Lugo

• ATL Sean Murphy, only 3-14 but with 2 HR vs. PHI Ranger Suárez

• MIN Byron Buxton, 4-10 with 2 HR and a double vs. SDP Nestor Cortes

• AZ Ketel Marte, 6-28 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. LAD Blake Snell

• LAD Freddie Freeman, 7-25 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. AZ Zac Gallen

• SFG Rafael Devers, 7-23 with 2 HR and a double vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• KCR Mike Yastrzemski, 7-21 with 2 HR and 3 doubles vs. DET Chris Paddack

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:

• CHC Ian Happ, 6-13 with a double vs. COL Germán Márquez

• CLE Steven Kwan, 5-11 with a triple vs. SEA George Kirby

• HOU Mauricio Dubón, 5-13 with a double vs. LAA Tyler Anderson

• CLE José Ramírez, 5-9 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. SEA George Kirby

• LAA Luis Rengifo, 5-11 with a HR vs. HOU Cristian Javier

• CHC Dansby Swanson, 5-10 with a HR, a triple, and 2 doubles vs. COL Germán Márquez

• SFG Willy Adames, 4-9 with a HR and a double vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• DET Wenceel Pérez, 4-8 with a HR vs. KCR Seth Lugo

Who is streaking?

Active hit streaks

• 16 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

• 12 - TOR Bo Bichette

• 11 - MIL Brice Turang

• 11 - PHI Bryce Harper

• 11 - PHI Alec Bohm

• 8 - MIL Andruw Monasterio

• 8 - BAL Jeremiah Jackson

• 7 - TEX Joc Pederson

Active HR streaks

• 4 - CHW Colson Montgomery

• 2 - NYY Cody Bellinger

• 2 - NYY Trent Grisham

• 2 - ATL Matt Olson

• 2 - TEX Kyle Higashioka

• 2 - MIN Luke Keaschall

• 2 - TEX Corey Seager

• 2 - SEA Eugenio Suárez

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:

• LAA Taylor Ward, 1-14 with 9 K vs. HOU Cristian Javier

• LAA Mike Trout, 0-12 with 8 K vs. HOU Cristian Javier

• CHW Andrew Benintendi, 0-13 with 3 K vs. NYY Carlos Rodón

• SFG Matt Chapman, 2-17 with 5 K though one hit was a HR vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• ATL Michael Harris II, 3-23 with 4 K vs. PHI Ranger Suárez

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

The first player (since 1901) to hit four HR in a game was Lou Gehrig, on June 3rd, 1932, when the Yankees beat the Athletics 20-13.

In addition to Kyle Schwarber yesterday, the two other Philadelphia Phillies who have hit four HR in a game have been Mike Schmidt in 1976 and Chuck Klein in 1936.

The most RBI by a player with four HR in a game is 12, by Mark Whiten in 1993 when his Cardinals beat the Reds 15-2. His 12 RBI tied the record for most in a single game (Jim Bottomley in 1924).

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.

• Stats of the Week: Skenes, Skubal make more history, by Sarah Langs at MLB, 8/28/2025

• A look at every four-homer game in MLB history, by Oliver Macklin at MLB, 8/28/2025

• Baseball’s Star Trek: the Next Generation: Rating the Top Rookies of 2026, by Dan Schlossberg at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter (second article), 8/29/2025

• Arky Vaughan should’ve been a no-doubt HOFer, by Mark Kolier at Almost Cooperstown, 8/29/2025

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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