The Baseball Buffet for 8/9/2025

Issue #361

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 135th day of the season featured a full slate of Friday games:

• ATH 2, BAL 3 - J.T. Ginn allowed 3 runs off two homers in the first inning by Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle, who was playing in his first game since May 30th. Ginn settled in after that and went on to strike out 9 in 5 innings, but the damage was done, as Tomoyuki Sugano had a good game (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) and eventually Keegan Akin pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.

• LAA 5, DET 6 - The Angels got to Detroit’s ace Tarik Skubal (4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K), including HR by Gustavo Campero and Zach Neto in the fifth inning. Jo Adell added a solo HR in the 8th, his 24th of the year. But it wasn’t enough as the Tigers had a couple of dingers too, first from Spencer Torkelson and then a 3-run HR by Matt Vierling (his first HR in 11 months!). Kyle Finnegan struck out two in the ninth to record his 23rd save.

• MIA 5, ATL 1 - Jurickson Profar hit a solo HR in the 6th inning, but otherwise Edward Cabrera was outstanding (8 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K). The Marlins scored their five runs in the middle innings, including 2-run HR by Heriberto Hernandez.

• CIN 2, PIT 3 - I should have checked the strikeouts over/under for Chase Burns against the Pirates, who as a team strikeout quite a lot. If it was 7 or even 8, I would have bet the over—and sure enough, Burns had 10 K in 6 innings (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K). Unfortunately for Cincy fans, Tony Santillan gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth, the result of a Bryan Reynolds triple with guys on first and third.

• HOU 5, NYY 3 - Jose Altuve hit a 2-run HR in the first inning, but then Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler settled in (5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K). Three Yankees relievers kept the Astros off the board through regulation, while New York finally got to Hunter Brown (5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) for two runs in the sixth inning. The game was tied 2-2 through nine, and the Yankees put their faith in Devin Williams once again. Alas, Carlos Correa hit a single to drive in Altuve, and then with two outs Taylor Trammell hit a 2-run HR to give Houston added insurance. Josh Hader had pitched the ninth, but came back out for the bottom of the tenth, and while one run scored, it wasn’t enough.

• CLE 9, CHW 5 - Cleveland scored five runs in the first inning, and kept scoring against Aaron Civale after that too (3.1 IP, 8 H, 9 ER, 2 BB, 6 K). Brooks Baldwin had a HR, but it is hard to win when your lineup goes 1-14 with runners in scoring position.

• KCR 4, MIN 9 - Mike Yastrzemski hit a leadoff HR in the first inning, but Joe Ryan settled in after that (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K). The Twins tallied 14 hits, with Matt Wallner going 2-5 with a HR and a double; Kody Clemens 2-5 with a 2-run HR; and Ryan Jeffers 3-4 with a walk and 3 runs.

• NYM 2, MIL 3 - Juan Soto and Starling Marte hit solo homers in the first and second innings, respectively. But then Brandon Woodruff was solid after that (7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K), and Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill pitched scoreless frames, with Megill earning his 27th save. Milwaukee scored all three of their runs in the fifth inning, including a 2-run HR by Brice Turang. The ending was an exciting play at the plate, as Jeff McNeil had singled to center, but Blake Perkins fired a throw home and William Contreras tagged the sliding Marte for the final out.

• CHC 0, STL 5 - Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy pitched well (6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) and three St. Louis relievers combined for the shutout. Their batters tallied 13 hits, with Jordan Walker going 3-4 with a HR and 2 RBI; Alec Burleson was 3-4, and Masyn Winn was 2-4 with a double.

• PHI 9, TEX 1 - Kyle Schwarber hit a HR in the first inning, his 41st of the year. Brandon Marsh then added a solo HR in the fourth, as Merrill Kelly struggled in this one (4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 4 K). The Phillies piled on another five runs in the ninth, including a 3-run HR by Trea Turner. Meanwhile, Cristopher Sánchez did well (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and three Phillies relievers kept the Rangers off the scoreboard.

• COL 1, AZ 6 - Arizona scored three runs in the bottom of the first, and then Blaze Alexander hit a solo HR in the fourth, and Corbin Carroll added a 2-run HR in the fifth. That is all the D-Backs would need, as Zac Gallen pitched well (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K), and three relievers pitched scoreless innings the rest of the way.

• BOS 10, SDP 2 - Nick Pivetta was doing well until allowing four runs in the top of the fourth, including a 2-run HR by Wilyer Abreu, his 21st of the season. Already up 5-0, the Red Sox added another five runs in the final two innings, including a 2-run HR by Masataka Yoshida. Meanwhile, Walker Buehler pitched six shutout innings (6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) and the Padres struggled leaving 12 runners on base overall.

• TBR 2, SEA 3 - Luis Castillo allowed solo HR to Brandon Lowe in the first inning and Junior Caminero in the sixth, but otherwise pitched a good game (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K). Drew Rasmussen shut out the Mariners through six innings (6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K), but then in the bottom of the eighth, down 2-0, Cal Raleigh came through with a 3-run HR, his MLB-leading 43rd of the season. Matt Brash came in to pitch the top of the ninth and proceeded to strike out three to earn his second save.

• TOR 1, LAD 5 - It was a battle of future Hall of Famers, and both did well: Max Scherzer (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and Clayton Kershaw (6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). The Blue Jays actually outhit the Dodgers 10-7, but they couldn’t score more than a lone run in the second inning. Shohei Ohtani was 3-5 with a double and 2 runs, and Mookie Betts was 2-4 with a HR, 2 runs, and 3 RBI.

• WAS 0, SFG 5 - After Matt Gage opened with a scoreless first inning, Kai-Wei Teng pitched five good innings (5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), and three Giants relievers combined for the four-hit shutout. Rafael Devers hit a solo HR in the first inning, his 21st of the year, and Casey Schmitt had a 2-run HR in the sixth.

Standings

I am providing current standings as part of The Baseball Buffet (regular standings by division most days, wild-card standings on Wednesdays.) The image below is a modified version of the text-based standings at Plain Text Sports, and here also is a link to the official standings at MLB.com.

Notes:

• The Red Sox got closer to the Blue Jays and are now 3 games behind.

• The Brewers extended their streak to seven wins, and coupled with a Cubs loss are now five up in the NL Central.

• Similarly, a Phillies win and a Mets loss gives Philadelphia a 3.5 game lead in the NL East.

• And ditto in the NL West, where LAD is now ahead of SDP by 3 games.

• Current Wild Card Leaders: BOS/SEA/NYY and CHC/SDP/NYM

Today’s Trivia Question

Shohei Ohtani recently became the third Japan-born player to reach 1,000 MLB hits. Can you name the other two? (If that was too easy, for extra credit give this a try: can you name the two Japan-born players who rank 4th and 5th in hits in MLB, with 774 and 721 hits, respectively?)

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 on Rehab Assignment

• CHW SP Martín Pérez

• MIL SP Robert Gasser

• BAL C Maverick Handley

• SEA RF Luke Raley

• KCR LF Mark Canha

• SFG RP Erik Miller

🤕 Placed on the IL

• MIL SP Logan Henderson - 15-day IL (right elbow inflammation)

• MIN C Christian Vazquez - 10-day IL (left shoulder infection)

• BAL LF Colton Cowser - 7-day IL (concussion)

• SFG RF Jerar Encarnacion - 10-day IL (right hamstring strain)

• COL SS Orlando Arcia - 10-day IL (right elbow inflammation)

• TBR CF Johnny DeLuca - 10-day IL (left hamstring strain)

• BAL RF Tyler O’Neill - 10-day IL (right wrist inflammation)

MLB Debut

• SFG OF Drew Gilbert - The 24-year old batted ninth and went 0-4 with one strikeout in the Giants 5-0 victory of the Nationals. Before the call-up, he had hit 14 HR with 55 RBI, 6 SB, a .262 average, and a .369 OBP, mostly at the AAA level.

• COL 3B Kyle Karros - The 23-year old batted eighth and was 1-3 with a single, a walk, an RBI, and a strikeout. Before the call-up, he had 6 HR and 7 SB with a .301 average, mostly at AA and AAA. Kyle is the son of former major leaguer Eric Karros (284 HR, mostly as a 1B with the Dodgers).

League Leaders

Bobby Witt Jr. remains atop the doubles leaderboard, but Bo Bichette has been gaining ground:

• 37 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

• 35 - TOR Bo Bichette

• 31 - CHC Pete Crow-Armstrong

• 31 - BOS Jarren Duran

• 29 - MIL Jackson Chourio

• 29 - STL Willson Contreras

• 29 - LAD Freddie Freeman

• 29 - KCR Maikel Garcia

• 29 - SDP Manny Machado

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history (for a longer list, see the feature at the Baseball Almanac or the Bullpen feature at Baseball-Reference.com):

📅 On August 9…

• 1975: Davey Lopes sets a new record for consecutive stolen bases. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Davey Lopes steals his 32nd consecutive base without being caught for the Dodgers in a 2-0 win over the Mets. This breaks the major-league record set by Max Carey in 1922.”

• 1976: John Candelaria throws a no-hitter. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Twenty-two-year-old John Candelaria survives a bases-loaded situation in the 3rd inning to hurl a no-hit game to beat the Dodgers, 2-0. Candelaria improves his record to 11-4 for the second-place Pirates.”

• 1981: Baseball returns from the strike. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Major league baseball returns in a big way from its in-season strike as 72,086 fans attend the belated All-Star Game in Cleveland. Vida Blue becomes the first pitcher to win an All-Star game for both leagues. Game MVP Gary Carter of the Expos hits a pair of solo home runs and Phillies 3B Mike Schmidt adds a two-run shot in the 8th off Rollie Fingers to give the National League a 5-4 win. It is the NL's tenth win in a row and 17th in the last 18 games.”

• 1988: Night baseball finally comes to Wrigley field. As described at baseball-reference.com, “The Cubs play their first-ever official night game at Wrigley Field defeating the Mets, 6-4. Last night's attempt to play a night game was rained out after four innings.”

• 1999: Five grand slams in one day. As described at baseball-reference.com, “For the first time in major league history, five grand slams are hit in a single day. Cardinal Fernando Tatis, Expo Jose Vidro, Marlin Mike Lowell, Yankee Bernie Williams, and Mariner Jay Buhner all connect to set the record.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Ted Simmons (1949) is a Hall of Famer who had a 21-year career, mostly as a catcher until late in his career when he played 1B and DH. He spent 13 years with the Cardinals, 5 with the Brewers, and his final three with the Braves. Simmons was a good hitting catcher, with 20+ HR in six seasons and 100+ RBI three times. An eight-time All-Star, overall Simmons had 2,472 hits, 248 HR, 1,389 RBI, a .285/.348/.437 slash line, and a 118 OPS+.

• Troy Percival (1969) was a major league relief pitcher for 14-years, spanning from 1995-2009. Most of his career was with the Angels, and he had an impressive ten seasons with 25+ saves. A four-time All-Star, overall Percival had 358 saves, a 3.17 ERA, and a 146 ERA+.

• Claude Osteen (1939) had an 18-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1957-1975, and spending 9 years with the Dodgers and the rest spread across five other clubs. He had 15+ wins eight times, including 20 wins in both 1969 and 1972. He also pitched well in three World Series games in 1965/1966, posting a 0.86 ERA over 21 innings. A three-time All-Star, overall Osteen had a nearly even 196-195 record, a 3.30 ERA, and a 104 ERA+.

• Tommie Agee (1942) had a 12 year major league career that spanned from 1962-1973, mostly as a CF. He struggled in four brief stints in the majors with the Indians and White Sox, but finally stuck in 1966 and took home the AL Rookie of the Year Award for the White Sox after hitting 22 HR, with 86 RBI, 44 SB, 98 runs, and a .273 average. He was an All-Star that year and the following, but then was traded after the 1967 season to the Mets. He was a key member of the 1969 Miracle Mets that won the World Series, hitting 26 HR, with 76 RBI, 12 SB, 97 runs, and a .271 average. The following season he did well again with 24 HR, 75 RBI, 31 SB, 107 runs, and a .286 average. Overall, Agee won two Gold Glove Awards, had 130 HR, 167 SB, a .255/.320/.412 slash line, and a 109 OPS+.

• Jason Heyward (1989) was the Braves first-round (14th overall) draft pick in 2007. He was an All-Star and came in second in the NL Rookie of the year voting in 2010 after hitting 18 HR with 72 RBI, 11 SB, and a .277 average. He didn’t develop much power beyond that, hitting 20+ HR only twice in a 16-year career thus far. Early in his career he stole some bases, with 20+ SB three times. But his biggest strength has been his outstanding fielding taking home five NL Gold Glove Awards while playing with the Braves and Cubs. Most recently Heyward played some with the Padres this year, but was hitting only .176 and so was released in late June. Overall so far Heyward has 186 HR, 125 SB, and a .255/.336/.408 slash line.

• Deion Sanders (1967) came along just after Bo Jackson as a two-sport player in both the MLB and the NFL. Obviously a very gifted athlete, he played nine years in the major leagues but only got into more than 100 games once. Nonetheless, he led the NL with 14 triples in 1992 and had 20+ SB four times, including 38 in 92 games in 1994 and 56 in 115 games in 1997. Nicknamed Neon Deion and Prime Time, Sanders spent time with the Yankees, Braves, Giants, and Reds.

In addition to Jason Heyward, currently active players who were born on August 9 include MIA Xavier Edwards, HOU Brendan Rodgers, ATL Luke Williams, and CHW Owen White.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have a full slate of Saturday games (16), including a Miami-Atlanta doubleheader, so there are lots of possibilities. Some games and pitchers that jump out to me are:

• HOU vs. NYY is game two of this important series, and features Framber Valdez (2.83 ERA, 144 K in 140 IP) up against Luis Gil who is making his second start of the year after coming off the IL.

• PHI vs. TEX is also a game two in an interesting series. Jacob deGrom (2.80 ERA, 135 K in 128.2 IP) has generally been good this year, but has given up 5 earned runs in each of last two starts. The Phillies will counter with Jesús Luzardo (4.32 ERA, 147 K in 127 IP).

• BOS vs. SDP features two teams in the hunt and has Lucas Giolito (3.57 ERA, 81 K in 95.2 IP) taking on Michael King (2.59 ERA, 64 K in 55.2 IP) who is making his first appearance since May 18th.

• TOR vs. LAD is game two of this series of division-leaders, and has Chris Bassitt (4.12 ERA, 126 K in 129 IP) and Blake Snell making his fourth start of the year.

• MIA vs. ATL has Ryan Gusto (4.92 ERA, 87 K in 86 IP), who Miami recently acquired from the Astros, taking on Hurston Waldrep, making his second start of the year. But what makes this game interesting—historic of course—is that Jen Pawol will be on the field as the first female umpire in a regular season MLB game. She has put in the time, having worked over 1,200 Minor Leagues across all levels over the past 10 years. She is scheduled to be at 1B in game one today, 3B in game two, and then behind the plate on Sunday.

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, 8-25 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. MIN Bailey Ober

• DET Gleyber Torres, 12-30 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. LAA Yusei Kikuchi

• ATL Ozzie Albies, 13-42 with 2 HR and 4 doubles vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara

• LAD Shohei Ohtani, only 6-26 (.231) but has 2 HR, a triple, and a double vs. TOR Chris Bassitt

• LAD Max Muncy, small sample but is 2-8 with 2 HR vs. TOR Chris Bassitt

• TEX Adolis Garcia, small sample but is 2-4 with 2 HR vs. PHI Jesús Luzardo

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:

• KCR Bobby Witt Jr., 12-25 with a HR, 2 triples, and 2 doubles vs. MIN Bailey Ober… that is pretty good!

• KCR Vinnie Pasquantino, 5-12 with a double vs. MIN Bailey Ober

• LAD Miguel Rojas, 6-12 with a double vs. TOR Chris Bassitt

• NYY Austin Slater, 6-15 vs. HOU Framber Valdez

• CHC Ian Happ, 5-12 with 2 doubles vs. STL Andre Pallante

• LAA Yoán Moncada, 5-9 with a HR and a double vs. DET Charlie Morton

• LAA Luis Rengifo, 5-12 with a HR vs. DET Charlie Morton

• BOS Alex Bregman, small sample but is 5-6 vs. SDP Michael King

Who is streaking?

Active hit streaks

• 12 - SFG Dominic Smith

• 10 - MIN Ryan Jeffers

• 9 - MIN Luke Keaschall

• 9 - ATH Tyler Soderstrom

• 8 - TOR Bo Bichette

• 7 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

• 7 - SFG Jung Hoo Lee

• 7 - LAA Mike Trout

• 7 - BAL Adley Rutschman

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:

• PHI Kyle Schwarber, 2-16 with 7 K though one hit was a HR vs. TEX Jacob deGrom

• ATL Matt Olson, 2-20 with 7 K vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara

• CHC Dansby Swanson, 0-11 with 4 K vs. STL Andre Pallante

• KCR Maikel Garcia, 1-12 with 4 K vs. MIN Bailey Ober

• LAA Zach Neto, 0-9 with 5 K vs. DET Charlie Morton

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

Here the top five players in hits in MLB who were born in Japan:

• 3,089 - Ichiro Suzuki (2001-2019)

• 1,253 - Hideki Matsui (2003-2012)

• 1,003 - Shohei Ohtani (2018-present)

• 774 - Nori Aoki (2012-2017)

• 721 - Dave Roberts (1999-2008)

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.

• 9 under-the-radar players stepping up for division title contenders, by Brian Murphy at MLB, 8/8/2025

• Crushing it: 7 players hitting the ball harder than ever, by Jason Foster at MLB, 8/8/2025

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!