Issue #718

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! ⚾

Yesterday we had a partial slate of Monday games (8), as close to half of all MLB teams were traveling or otherwise had the day off. Here are yesterday’s results (link to all game box scores):

  • STL 13, NYY 7 - The Cardinals scored four runs in the first three innings off NYY SP Cam Schlittler (3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 6 K), including Alec Burleson hitting a HR in the first. Burleson connected for a 2-run HR in the fourth off Yankees reliever Tim Hill, while STL SP Michael McGreevy put up zeroes for four innings, finally giving up a 2-run HR to Austin Wells in the fifth. Justin Bruihl came in for McGreevy, but immediately gave up a HR to Trent Grisham before finishing the inning and then pitching a scoreless sixth. St. Louis was ahead 6-3 and brought in Ryne Stanek for the seventh inning, but the Yankees' hitters went to work by scoring four runs to take a 7-6 lead, powered by back-to-back HRs from Ryan McMahon and José Caballero, and then a Grisham double followed by newly acquired Luis García Jr. hitting his first HR for New York.

    The Cardinals did not give up, scoring an impressive seven runs in the top of the eighth, with most of the damage coming against Angel Chivilli, who gave up HRs to Nathan Church, Jimmy Crooks, and Burleson who connected for his third HR of the game. St. Louis reliever Gordon Graceffo pitched two scoreless innings to close out this wild game, which concluded with a combined 23 hits, 20 runs, and 10 HRs (five for each team).

  • TBR 13, COL 9 - The Rays pounded COL SP Michael Lorenzen (3 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 0 K), and continued their barrage against Tanner Gordon who pitched six innings of relief (6 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K). Junior Caminero was 2-5 with 2 HR, 3 runs, and 3 RBI; Richie Palacios was 2-4 with a HR, a walk, 2 runs, and 2 RBI; Jonathan Aranda was 4-5 with a double, 2 runs, and 2 RBI; and Cedric Mullins, Chandler Simpson, and Taylor Walls had two hits apiece. Meanwhile, Ian Seymour pitched fairly well (6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K), giving up a solo HR to Ezequiel Tovar in the third inning. Both teams had 15 hits in this contest and the Rockies scored seven runs in the last three innings, but it wasn't enough. Tovar went 4-4 with 3 runs; Mickey Moniak went 2-4 with a triple and 2 RBI; Willi Castro went 2-5 with a triple; Cole Carrigg was 2-5 with a double; and Kyle Karros was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI.

  • WSH 3, PHI 6 - PHI SP Aaron Nola gave up three runs in the first two innings (6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), giving up a solo HR to rookie 1B Abimelec Ortiz in the first inning (his first major league HR), and then a 2-run HR by Daylen Lile in the second. WSH SP Andrew Alvarez blanked the Phillies for six innings (6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K), but then the Nationals breathed life into the Phillies in the seventh. Alec Bohm flew out, but then Alvarez hit Bryan De La Cruz and walked Bryson Stott, so he was replaced by Tom Cosgrove. He immediately walked Edmundo Sosa to load the bases, and then Derek Hill hit a go-ahead grand slam. Cosgrove then managed to get Garrett Stubbs and Trea Turner out to end the inning, but the damage was done. Philadelphia reliever Orion Kerkering pitched a scoreless eighth, and the Phillies added two insurance runs from a HR by Bryce Harper. Then closer Jhoan Duran struck out two in the ninth to earn his 25th save.

  • PIT 4, MIL 3

  • LAD 5, CHC 10

  • SFG 5, TEX 1

  • TOR 3, HOU 1

  • SDP 1, ARI 5

BONUS TODAY - Who’s on the move?

🤕 Injured Lists

  • LAD C Dalton Rushing - 10-day IL (right elbow inflammation)

  • PIT SP Mitch Keller - 60-day IL (right arm teres major muscle injury)

➡️ Trades

Yesterday was of course the MLB trade deadline, so after we saw some significant trades over the weekend, on Monday there was a flood of moves. For a description of the 25 most significant deals, and a complete list of all others, see the article at MLB. But for those readers interested in just scanning a list of the moves on Monday, here they are:

  • The Angels traded RP Brent Suter to the Braves for minor league SS Nacho Alvarez Jr.

  • The Angels traded RP Kirby Yates to the Pirates for minor league RHP Kyle Robinson

  • The Angels traded RF Jo Adell to the Guardians for minor league C Jacob Cozart

  • The Angels traded SP José Soriano to the Blue Jays for minor leaguers SS Arjun Nimmala, RF Eddie Micheletti Jr., and RHP Angel Rivero

  • The Angels traded RP Ryan Zeferjahn to the Cubs for C/DH Moisés Ballesteros and minor league RHP Mason McGwire

  • The Blue Jays traded RP Jeff Hoffman and cash to the Twins for minor leaguers LHP Dasan Hill, 2B Dameury Pena, and RHP John Klein, plus Other Considerations

  • The Blue Jays traded CF Daulton Varsho and cash to the Astros for SP Spencer Arrighetti

  • The Braves traded C Joey Bart to the White Sox for minor leaguer RHP Duncan Davitt

  • The Braves traded RF Eli White to the Red Sox for RP Tyler Uberstine

  • The Brewers traded RP Codi Heuer to the Orioles for cash

  • The Cardinals traded SP Dustin May and RP JoJo Romero to the Brewers for minor leaguers OF Alexander Frias and OF Josiah Ragsdale

  • The Cardinals traded LF Lars Nootbaar to the Diamondbacks for minor leaguers RHP Daniel Eagen and LHP Sandro Santana, and Player To Be Named Later

  • The Giants traded SP Robbie Ray to the Padres for minor leaguers RHP Miguel Mendez and SS Joniel Hernandez

  • The Giants traded 2B Luis Arraez and RP Caleb Kilian to the Phillies for minor leaguers RHP Marty Gair and RHP Ramon Marquez

  • The Giants traded LF Heliot Ramos to the Yankees for minor leaguers LHP Henry Lalane and SS Kaeden Kent

  • The Marlins traded SP Braxton Garrett to the Cubs for minor leaguers 3B Jonathon Long and RHP Jace Beck

  • The Marlins traded C Liam Hicks to the Rays for minor leaguers 3B Brayden Taylor, SS Adrian Santana, and RHP Jacob Kisting

  • The Marlins traded RP Lake Bachar to the Pirates for RP Brandan Bidois, and minor leaguers LF Brian Sanchez and IF Hyun Seung Lee

  • The Marlins traded RF Rece Hinds to the Orioles for cash

  • The Mets traded RP Luke Weaver and cash to the Pirates for minor league SS Sammy Stafura

  • The Mets traded C Ben Rortvedt to the Dodgers for RP Chayce McDermott

  • The Mets traded RP Brooks Raley to the Phillies for minor leaguers OF John Spikerman and RHP Luke Gabrysh

  • The Mets traded SP Clay Holmes and LF Tyrone Taylor to the Cubs for minor leaguer SS Jefferson Rojas

  • The Nationals traded SP Foster Griffin to the Guardians for RP Will Dion, and minor leaguers LHP Josh Hartle, OF Nick Mitchell, and RHP Kendeglys Virguez

  • The Nationals traded minor league LF Christian Franklin to the Orioles for minor league RHP Joe Glassey

  • The Orioles traded LF Taylor Ward to the Mariners for RP Alex Hoppe and minor leaguers RHP Brock Moore and RHP Harrison Kreiling

  • The Orioles traded C Adley Rutschman, C Jake Rogers, and cash to the Red Sox for C Carlos Narváez, minor leaguers RHP Kyson Witherspoon, CF Enddy Azocar, RHP Anthony Eyanson, and Player To Be Named Later

  • The Orioles traded RP Tyler Wells to the Rays for minor leaguer RHP Michael Forret

  • The Phillies traded RP Nolan Hoffman to the Royals for minor league RHP Manuel Colon

  • The Phillies traded RP Seth Johnson to the Athletics for RF Colby Thomas

  • The Pirates traded RP Hunter Stratton to the Padres for minor leaguer RHP Andrew Moore

  • The Reds traded RP Caleb Ferguson to the Cardinals for Other Considerations

  • The Reds traded DH Nathaniel Lowe and cash to the Guardians for 2B Juan Brito and minor league RHP Alejandro Rivera

  • The Rangers traded 2B Josh Smith and minor league RHP Josh Stephan to the Blue Jays for RP Adam Macko

  • The Rays traded C Hunter Feduccia and minor league RHP Jacob Kmatz to the Dodgers for CF Jack Suwinski and Other Considerations

  • The Red Sox traded 2B Marcelo Mayer to the Giants for RP Erik Miller and minor leaguer CF Carlos Gutierrez

  • The Rockies traded RP Antonio Senzatela to the Brewers for minor leaguers LHP Mark Manfredi and SS Juan Martinez

  • The Rockies traded CF Brenton Doyle to the White Sox for minor leaguers RHP Mason Adams and SS Carlos Vielma

  • The Rockies traded RP Victor Vodnik to the Marlins for 1B Connor Norby and minor leaguer RHP Aiden May

  • The Royals traded SP/RP Kris Bubic to the Dodgers for minor league RHP Carlos Duran

  • The Tigers traded SP Casey Mize and 3B Gage Workman to the Padres for minor leaguers LHP Kash Mayfield and LHP Jackson Wolf

Less than 10 cents a day for maximum baseball goodness!

What you see in this issue of The Baseball Buffet is an abridged version. All-Star subscribers receive the following, every day of the week:

  • Game summaries for every game

  • Current MLB standings

  • Notable player transactions… injuries, call-ups, free agent signings, trades, etc.

  • Rotating statistical leader lists

  • Current hitting streaks of seven or more games

  • On this day in baseball history…

  • Career summaries for each of The Birthday Boys

  • Daily Hitter Watch and Pitcher Watch lists - who has historically done well or poorly against their matchup today?

  • Good Reads… my favorite recent baseball articles from other writers

  • … and the answers to the daily trivia questions!

  • … and during the offseason I still publish every day, covering trades, free-agent signings, and other hot-stove season news!

Become an All-Star subscriber to The Baseball Buffet today for $7 a month, or just $35 a year—that’s right, get 12 months for the price of only 5. That is less than 10 cents a day for maximum baseball goodness delivered to your inbox every morning!


Today’s Trivia Question

One of today's Birthday Boys (see below) is Roger Clemens. He had a long, 24-year career that spanned from 1984-2007. During the middle of his career, he had the second most strikeouts of any pitcher during the 1990s—who had the most? And for bonus points, how many of the rest of the top-10 1990s strikeouts leaderboard can you name?

(Trivia answers are provided for paid All-Star subscribers of the Baseball Buffet.)


🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Row 1: Roger Clemens, Jake Beckley, Dolf Luque
Row 2: Luke Easter, B.J. Surhoff

Currently active players who were born on August 4 include CIN Brady Singer, LAA Kevin Newman (free agent), ATH Henry Bolte, Orlando Arcia (free agent), CIN Brock Burke, BOS Jahmai Jones, ARI Michael Soroka, SFG Jonah Cox, HOU Zach Cole, and SDP Jason Adam.


Today’s Matchups

Today we have a full slate of Tuesday games (15), including the following two interesting matchups (and here is a link to the full schedule):

  • LAD Tarik Skubal vs. CHC Javier Assad - Skubal is making his debut for the Dodgers today, after the Cubs took game one of this big series yesterday

  • TBR Freddy Peralta vs. COL Gabriel Hughes - Peralta makes his debut for the Rays today, and although the game is in Colorado, he has historically done well there with a 1.23 ERA over 22 innings

Additional starting pitchers who are taking the hill today include PHI Jesús Luzardo, CWS Davis Martin, MIN Joe Ryan, TOR Trey Yesavage, and ARI Eduardo Rodriguez.

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Baseball Quote of the Day

One of today's Birthday Boys (see above) is Roger Clemens, so here are some quotes from him, curated from the collection at The Baseball Almanac:

"Everybody kind of perceives me as being angry. It's not anger, it's motivation."

"He (Bo Jackson) hit the ball so hard, I couldn't even turn around in time to see it go over the fence."

"I am intense, no question about it. Every time I toe the rubber, it's no different for me than it was in the World Series. That might be somebody's only chance to see me pitch. They might have driven four hours to get there. I'm going to be out there if I can help it."

"It's never in the past. This town (Boston), this ballpark (Fenway Park), are a part of me. I worked here. I gave my all here. That's the bottom line. That will never change."

"I wish there was a bar I could send opposing teams to and get them hammered or something — I could tell my buddies in New York to leave their places open or something. Playing for the Yankees, guys come at you extremely hard. I have to be ready or I'll be embarrassed."

"My only day off is the day I pitch (in regard to how hard he works out during off-days)."

"This (starting on Opening Day) doesn't have anything to do with age or experience. Nobody just gives you this, you have to earn it."

"When you have a chance to take the ball for the world champs, you take the ball."


⚾ Enjoy the games today! ⚾

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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