The Baseball Buffet for 8/31/2025

Issue #383

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 157th day of the season featured a full slate of Saturday games:

• MIL 4, TOR 1 - Both starting pitchers did well in this one: Quinn Priester (6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) and Kevin Gausman (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K). The game was tied 1-1 through eight, and Toronto brought in closer Jeff Hoffman. He proceeded to give up 3 runs, including back-to-back HR by Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich. Abner Uribe then pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth to earn his 4th save and lower his ERA to 1.65 on the year. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays, looking ahead to the postseason must be concerned about Hoffman: he now has a 5.11 ERA on the year, an 11.37 ERA over his last 7 games, and a 6.43 ERA over his last 15.

• TBR 4, WAS 1 - Josh Lowe was all of the Rays’ offense, going 2-3, with a 3-run HR in the first and a solo HR in the fourth. Ryan Pepiot did well (5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K) and Bryan Baker pitched a scoreless ninth for his 3rd save of the year.

• PIT 10, BOS 3 - Carlos Narváez hit a HR in the third inning, but Johan Oviedo otherwise pitched fairly well (5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K). The Bucs’ offense showed up in this one, as they tallied 12 hits with Oneil Cruz hitting a HR; Bryan Reynolds going 1-2 with 3 walks and 2 RBI; and Spencer Horwitz, Andrew McCutchen, and Nick Gonzalez having two hits apiece.

• MIA 11, NYM 8 - The Marlins jumped on David Peterson, scoring five in the first and three more in the third (2 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 1 K). Edward Cabrera struggled as well (4 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), giving up HR to Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos, and Juan Soto. In the sixth inning, Soto hit another dinger, a 2-run HR to tie the game 8-8. But Miami came right back with a run in the seventh, and then scored two in the ninth off Edwin Díaz. Tyler Phillips pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth for his 3rd save.

• ATL 2, PHI 3 - This one was a pitchers’ duel as it looked like it might be: Cristopher Sánchez (7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) and Chris Sale (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K), in his first game back from the IL. The game was tied 1-1 through nine, and the Braves scored one in the top of the tenth. But then Hunter Stratton and Dylan Dodd couldn’t hold back the Phillies, as they loaded the bases and then with two outs Trea Turner singled to right and drove in both Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos for the walk-off win.

• STL 4, CIN 2 - Michael McGreevy pitched pretty well (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K), and Willson Contreras and Pedro Pagés each hit homers. Matt McLain hit a HR for the Reds, his 12th of the year.

• LAA 4, HOU 1 - Zach Neto hit a HR in the third inning, but that was the only hit that Spencer Arrighetti allowed (6.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 8 K). Angels starter Kyle Hendricks did well (6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K), and LA scored three in the top of the ninth off the usually-reliable Bryan Abreu. Kenley Jansen then pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth for his 24th save.

• SDP 12, MIN 3 - Elías Díaz had a HR in the fifth inning, but that was the only hit that Twins starter Taj Bradley allowed (5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K). Byron Buxton also hit a HR in the fifth, his 28th of the year, but then four Padres relievers pitched scoreless innings the rest of the way. Minnesota’s bullpen didn’t do as well, letting up nine runs in the final four innings, including a second HR by Díaz in the seventh, and a 2-run HR by Ramón Laureano in the eighth.

• NYY 5, CHW 3 - The White Sox outhit the Yankees 8-6, but were 2-15 with runners in scoring position and left nine guys on base overall. Cam Schlittler did very well once again (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER ,1 BB, 8 K), and New York had solo HR by Aaron Judge in the fourth and Austin Wells in the seventh. The game was tied 2-2 through nine, and neither team scored in the tenth. The Yankees scored three runs in the top of the 11th, driven in by a single by Cody Bellinger, a double by Jazz Chisholm Jr., and a double by Anthony Volpe. Camilo Doval allowed one run to score in the bottom of the frame, but then closed it out for his 16th save.

• DET 1, KCR 3 - Stephen Kolek pitched well through six innings (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K), and four Royals’ relievers combined for three scoreless innings, including Carlos Estévez earning his MLB-leading 36th save. The Royals scored their three runs off a solo HR by Maikel Garcia in the fourth, and a 2-run HR by Bobby Witt Jr. in the eighth, his 20th of the year.

• SEA 3, CLE 4 - Kyle Manzardo hit a 2-run HR in the sixth to give the Guardians a 3-0 lead. Gavin Williams (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K) finally allowed a run in the seventh via a HR by Jorge Polanco. Cleveland scored one more in the bottom of the frame, which was important because Julio Rodríguez hit a 2-run HR in the top of the eighth. Still holding a 4-3 lead, Cade Smith closed out the game and earned his 9th save.

• BAL 11, SFG 1 - Willy Adames hit a HR in the bottom of the first, but Trevor Rogers recovered and had yet another great performance (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K), lowering his ERA to 1.39 in 90.1 IP on the year. The Orioles got going with seven runs in the third and fourth innings, and then scored another four runs late. Jeremiah Jackson went 2-5 with a HR, a double, and 4 RBI; Ryan Mountcastle went 2-5 with a HR and a double; and rookie catcher Samuel Basallo hit his first major league HR.

• CHC 4, COL 3 - Michael Busch was 2-4 with a triple; Kyle Tucker was 2-3 with a double, a walk, and 2 runs; and Ian Happ was 2-3 with a double and two walks. Javier Assad allowed three runs, but did well enough to get the win, and Daniel Palencia struck out two in the ninth for his 21st save.

• AZ 6, LAD 1 - Tyler Glasnow didn’t have a bad game (7 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K), but the three runs he allowed were all it took as the Dodgers only managed six hits and a lone run in the seventh. Corbin Carroll and Ildemaro Vargas hit HR for the D-Backs, while Eduardo Rodriguez had a good start (6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K).

• TEX 9, ATH 3 - Athletics’ 24-year old rookie Mason Barnett made his major league debut, but ran into trouble early (4 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 K). The Rangers then spread out their 17 hits and 9 runs, including HR by Wyatt Langford and Dylan Moore. Adolis García was 3-5 with 2 runs, and Josh Jung was 3-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI.

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:

• The Yankees won again and are now riding a seven-game winning streak. Toronto lost, so the gap between them is down to two games.

• The Padres narrowed the NL West gap back to just one game.

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

Today’s Trivia Question

In yesterday’s On This Day In Baseball History section, I noted that Kent Tekulve was the second pitcher to play in 1,000 or more games, with Hoyt Wilhelm having been the first. Tekulve (1,050) now ranks 9th in games pitched, and Wilhelm (1,070) ranks 6th. Can you name the top five pitchers in all-time games pitched?

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

• MIA SP Ryan Weathers

🤕 Placed on the IL

• MIA RP Tyler Zuber - 15-day IL (right lat strain)

• WAS SP MacKenzie Gore - 15-day IL (left shoulder inflammation)

• PIT 2B Ronny Simon - 10-day IL (dislocated left shoulder)

League Leaders

Remember when Aaron Judge was batting close to .400 well into the season? Or at least .370-ish? He is down to .321 now… still ahead of everyone else, but far from those earlier lofty numbers. But his OBP is still looking really solid at .441, and it has actually risen over his past four games. He might end up being the only player with an OBP over .400 this year, if Smith dips a bit and Soto doesn’t continue his recent surge in the final month.

• .441 - NYY Aaron Judge

• .402 - LAD Will Smith

• .395 - NYM Juan Soto

• .392 - AZ Ketel Marte

• .388 - TOR George Springer

• .387 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

• .387 - AZ Geraldo Perdomo

• .384 - TOR Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

• .381 - CHC Kyle Tucker

• .379 - SFG Rafael Devers

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 31…

• 1935: Vern Kennedy throws a no-hitter, and hits a bases-loaded triple. “In the first no-hitter thrown in Comiskey Park history, Vern Kennedy holds the Indians hitless and triples home three runs in a 5-0 White Sox win.”

• 1937: Rudy York sets a record for HR in a month. “Detroit's rookie Rudy York sets a new record for home runs in a month, hitting his 17th and 18th to eclipse Babe Ruth's mark set in September 1927. He knocks in seven runs against Pete Appleton, as Detroit beats Washington, 12-3.”

• 1943: Rudy York has another great August. “Detroit's Rudy York hits two home runs to bring his August home run total to 17, one less than his 1937 record for home runs in a single month, which he also set in August.”

• 1950: Gil Hodges hits four HR in a game. “Gil Hodges becomes the fourth major leaguer in the century to hit four home runs in one game as Brooklyn routs the Braves, 19-3. The Dodger first baseman also ties the major league record for total bases with 17.”

• 1959: Sandy Koufax strikes out 18 batters. “Sandy Koufax fans 18 Giants to set a National League mark in a 5-2 Dodger win. The game is witnessed by a crowd of 82,974 spectators (60,194 of whom have paid admission), the largest ever for a regular-season game.”

• 1990: Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr. play together. “Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey, Sr. become the first father and son to play in the same lineup for a team in Major League Baseball with the Seattle Mariners; Willie Wells and Willie Wells Jr. had previously done so in the Negro Leagues.”

• 1990: The Red Sox trade away Jeff Bagwell. “Refusing to part with Triple-A third baseman Scott Cooper to get Larry Andersen from the Astros for the stretch run, Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman trades the Eastern League's MVP, Jeff Bagwell, for the right-handed relief pitcher. The University of Hartford standout will go on to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1991 and will becomes the league's MVP the same year Andersen retires from the Phillies (1994), on his way to being inducted in the Hall of Fame.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

• Frank Robinson (1935) is a Hall of Famer who had a 21-year major league playing career as an OF, spanning from 1956-1976. He played mostly with the Reds and Orioles, but concluded his career as a player-manager for the Indians, making history in 1975 as the first Black manager in the AL or NL. Robinson won the NL Rookie of the Year award in his age-20 season in 1956 after hitting 38 HR with 83 RBI, a .290 average, and leading the league with 122 runs. He had eleven seasons with 30+ HR in his career, including 37 in 1961 when he won the NL MVP Award for the Reds, and then 39 HR in 1962. His career high of 49 HR came in 1966, the year he won the AL Triple Crown with 122 RBI and a .316 average, becoming the first player to win an MVP in both the NL and AL. Robinson had 100+ runs in eight seasons, and 100+ RBI in six seasons. An All-Star in 12 seasons, overall he had 2,943 hits, 1,829 runs, 586 HR, 1,812 RBI, 204 SB, a .294/.389/.537 slash line, and a 154 OPS+. After managing the Indians from 1975-1977, he later led the Giants, Orioles, and Expos/Nationals for a combined 16 years as a skipper in the majors.

• Eddie Plank (1875) is a Hall of Famer who had a 17-year major league career, spanning from 1901-1917. He spent most of that time with the Philadelphia Athletics, and was considered one of the top pitchers of his era. He won 20+ games eight times, and was effective in the postseason with a 1.32 ERA over 54.2 innings (even though his record was somehow only 2-5). Overall, Plank had a 326-194 (.627) record, a 2.35 ERA, and a 122 ERA+.

• Ray Dandridge (1913) is a Hall of Famer and was one of the best 3B of the Negro Leagues. He played 8 years in what are considered major Negro Leagues, while also playing additional seasons in the Mexican League and then late in his career at AAA. He was a three-time All-Star, outstanding defensively, and a high-average hitter, with a .319/.360/.433 slash line based on the numbers currently available at baseball-reference.com.

• Hideo Nomo (1968) pitched five seasons in his native Japan before joining the Dodgers in 1995 and winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award after going 13-6 with a 2.54 ERA, and an NL-leading 236 strikeouts. Nomo had an unorthodox windup and was a high-strikeout pitcher, again leading the AL with 220 K in 2001. He was also a bit wild, often appearing amongst the league leaders in walks. Overall, Nomo had a 123-109 (.530) record and 4.24 ERA over 12 major league seasons.

• William Bell (1897) had a 14-year major league pitching career in the Negro Leagues, spanning from 1923-1937. According to the statistics available at baseball-reference.com, Bell had an impressive career 114-52 (.687) record, 3.26 ERA, and 135 ERA+.

A currently active player who was born on August 31 is HOU Ronel Blanco.

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:

• MIL vs. TOR is game three of this important inter-league matchup (MIL has taken the first two), and going today we have Brandon Woodruff (3.10 ERA, 63 K in 49.1 IP) and Max Scherzer (3.82 ERA, 61 K in 66 IP).

• ATL vs. PHI is interesting as the Phillies are leading their division but trying to keep ahead of the Mets. They have Jesús Luzardo (4.23 ERA, 175 K in 149 IP) pitching today, but face Atlanta’s surprising rookie Hurston Waldrep (0.90 ERA, 24 K in 30 IP over five starts).

Also on the bump today are MIN Joe Ryan, NYM Kodai Senga, HOU Hunter Brown, DET Tarik Skubal, CHC Matthew Boyd, SFG Justin Verlander, TEX Jacob deGrom, and LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

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 Salvador Perez, 11-36 (.306) with 4 HR and 2 doubles vs. DET Tarik Skubal

• MIL Christian Yelich, 13-42 (.310) with 3 HR, a triple, and 2 doubles vs. TOR Max Scherzer

• LAD Mookie Betts, 7-17 with 2 HR and a double vs. AZ Brandon Pfaadt

• LAD Michael Conforto, 3-11 with 2 HR vs. AZ Brandon Pfaadt

• NYY Giancarlo Stanton, 4-14 with 2 HR vs. CHW Martín Pérez

• NYM Cedric Mullins, small sample but is 4-6 with 2 HR vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara

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:

• ATL Marcell Ozuna, 6-16 with a HR and a double vs. PHI Jesús Luzardo

• TEX Wyatt Langford, small sample but is 5-7 vs. ATH J.T. Ginn

• DET Zach McKinstry, 5-11 with a triple vs. KCR Michael Wacha

• NYY Ryan McMahon, 5-10 with a HR and a double vs. CHW Martín Pérez

Who is streaking?

Active hit streaks

• 18 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

• 14 - TOR Bo Bichette

• 10 - MIL Andruw Monasterio

• 10 - BAL Jeremiah Jackson

• 8 - TEX Joc Pederson

• 7 - TEX Josh Jung - is 15-29 (.517) during this streak

• 7 - CHW Andrew Benintendi

• 7 - MIL Caleb Durbin

• 7 - SEA Jorge Polanco

• 7 - ATL Jurickson Profar

• 7 - MIA Connor Norby

Active HR streaks

• 2 - KCR Maikel Garcia

• 2 - CLE Kyle Manzardo

• 2 - STL Pedro Pagés

• 2 - SEA Jorge Polanco

• 2 - NYM Juan Soto

• 2 - NYM Mark Vientos

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:

• KCR Bobby Witt Jr., 4-30 with 7 K vs. DET Tarik Skubal

• KCR Vinnie Pasquantino, 2-13 with 4 K vs. DET Tarik Skubal

• ATL Michael Harris II, 1-10 with 6 K vs. PHI Jesús Luzardo

• ATL Sean Murphy, 1-10 with 5 K vs. PHI Jesús Luzardo

• LAD Max Muncy, 2-14 with 5 K vs. AZ Brandon Pfaadt

• AZ Corbin Carroll, 0-11 with 4 K vs. LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto

• AZ Lourdes Gurriel Jr., 1-11 with 2 K vs. LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto

• DET Dillon Dingler, 1-10 with 3 K vs. KCR Michael Wacha

• CIN TJ Friedl, 2-20 with 3 K vs. STL Andre Pallante

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

The top-five all-time leaders in major league games pitched are:

• 1,252 - Jesse Orosco

• 1,178 - Mike Stanton

• 1,119 - John Franco

• 1,115 - Mariano Rivera

• 1,071 - Dennis Eckersley

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.

• Ranking the best moves from Trade Deadline, 1 month later, by Brian Murphy at MLB, 8/30/2025

• How Much Candy Is in a Major League Dugout?, by Davy Andrews at FanGraphs, 8/29/2025

• A Roundup of Recent Injuries Among the AL Contenders: The Appendix Appendix, by Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs, 8/29/2025

• Watch Those Fingers! A Roundup of Recent Injuries Among the NL Contenders, by Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs, 8/29/2025

• Is Giancarlo Stanton BACK Back?, by Dan Szymborski at FanGraphs, 8/28/2025

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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