The Baseball Buffet for 9/17/2025

Issue #400

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 174th day of the season featured a full slate of Tuesday games:

• ATL 6, WAS 3 (Gm 1) - The Nationals scored first with two runs in the second, but then José Suarez did well after that (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K). The Braves scored five in the fourth, including a 2-run HR by Jurickson Profar, and a solo HR by Matt Olson, his 27th on the season and fourth HR in as many games. The Braves tallied 13 hits in all, with Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris each going 3-4. Raisel Iglesias struck out two in the ninth and secured his 26th save.

• ATL 5, WAS 0 (Gm 2) - Game two of this doubleheader was a pitchers’ duel, with both starters not allowing any runs: MacKenzie Gore (5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and Chris Sale (8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K). The bullpens didn’t either, at least through nine, forcing extras at 0-0. In the top of the tenth, the Braves hit Mason Thompson (0.1 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K), starting with a Drake Baldwin double and then the hot-hitting Matt Olson later had a bases-loaded triple. Atlanta’s reliever Tyler Kinley, who had pitched the ninth, came back out for the tenth and put up another zero for the win.

• CLE 7, DET 5 - Gleyber Torres hit a HR in the third inning, but Joey Cantillo otherwise pitched well through five (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K). Casey Mize struck out 8 over 5.1 innings, but also allowed three runs including a solo HR by Gabriel Arias. Down 3-2 in the ninth, Detroit pinch hitter Kerry Carpenter hit a HR off Cleveland’s closer Cade Smith to force extras. The Tigers brought in Will Vest for the tenth, but he allowed 5 hits and 4 runs (3 earned), with big hits being a double by Steven Kwan, a triple by Angel Martínez, a ground-rule double by José Ramírez, and another double by Kyle Manzardo. Spencer Torkelson hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of the tenth, but it wasn’t enough.

• CHC 4, PIT 1 - Paul Skenes had a rare rough outing (3.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K), including giving up a HR to Michael Busch, his 29th of the year. Busch was 3-4 on the day, with 2 doubles and a walk as well, and Nico Hoerner also had three hits. Meanwhile Cubs’ rookie Cade Horton pitched five strong innings (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), and four Chicago relievers pitched scoreless frames, including Brad Keller striking out two in the ninth for his 3rd save.

• ATH 2, BOS 1 - Boston scored one in the bottom of the third, but Jeffrey Springs (4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) and two Athletics’ relievers limited the damage after that. Red Sox’ rookie Connelly Early did well again in his second major league start (5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K), but the A’s scored two in the sixth and that is all it would take. Of note, Trevor Story went 3-4 and had two stolen bases, giving him 30 SB and 0 CS on the season.

• SDP 3, NYM 8 - In this battle of former Yankees relievers (Michael King and Clay Holmes), the Mets jumped on King early (3 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 0 BB, 2 K), including homers by Brett Baty, Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and Cedric Mullins. Holmes (4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) allowed solo homers to Jackson Merrill and Jake Cronenworth, and then Sean Manaea (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) let up a HR to Freddy Fermin but otherwise pitched five strong innings in relief for the win.

• TOR 6, TBR 5 - Ryan Pepiot couldn’t get out of the second inning (1.2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K), and Toronto kept scoring off his successors with homers by Nathan Lukes and Joey Loperfido. Brandon Lowe hit a 3-run HR, his 29th of the year, and the score was 6-3 after five innings. The Rays scored in the eighth and ninth innings, but Jays’ closer Jeff Hoffman came in and struck out two to close it out and earn his 31st save.

• SEA 12, KCR 5 - The Mariners scored ten runs in the first five innings, and added two more in the ninth. Dominic Canzone had three HR, and Cal Raleigh had two. His first was his 55th of the year, which passed Mickey Mantle (1961) for most HR by a switch hitter, while his second gave him 56 which matches the Mariners’ franchise record set by Ken Griffey Jr. in both 1997 and 1998. Meanwhile, Royals’ rookie catcher Carter Jensen hit the first two HR of his major league career, but it wasn’t enough against the Canzone and Raleigh onslaught.

• BAL 8, CHW 7 - Chicago’s rookie catcher Kyle Teel hit a 2-run HR in the first inning, but then the Orioles scored two runs in four different innings, including 2-run homers by rookies Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers. Chicago stormed back with five in the bottom of the eighth, including a 2-run HR by Andrew Benintendi. But then Keegan Akin struck out two in the ninth to lock down his 6th save.

• NYY 10, MIN 9 - Like the Mariners, the Yankees scored plenty early on, including a 2-run HR by Trent Grisham. They built up 10-1 lead through four innings, but then James Outman hit a 2-run HR in the fifth, and Yankees’ reliever Ryan Yarbrough really struggled in the sixth (0.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K), including a 2-run HR by Ryan Fitzgerald. The bottom of the ninth was tense as Trevor Larnach hit a HR to bring the Twins within one, but then David Bednar was able to close it out for his 25th save.

• LAA 2, MIL 9 - The Brewers spread nine runs across six different innings, tallying 13 hits and led by Christian Yelich who was 3-5 with a HR and a double. Freddy Peralta struck out 10 in 6 innings (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K) to run his record to 17-6 on the year.

• CIN 0, STL 3 - Andrew Abbot allowed 8 hits and 3 runs in only 4.2 innings, including a 2-run HR by Thomas Saggese. That is all it would take as Michael McGreevy was outstanding (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K) and two Cardinals’ relievers combined for a 3-hit shutout, including Riley O’Brien who notched his 5th save.

• TEX 5, HOU 6 - AJ Blubaugh struck out 7 in just 3 innings of work, while his Astros’ teammates scored six early off Merrill Kelly (3 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K). The Rangers came back with four in the eighth, including a 2-run HR by Jonah Heim. But after giving up a couple of hits, Bryan Abreu was able to close it out for his 7th save.

• MIA 6, COL 5 - The Marlins tagged Kyle Freeland for six runs in less than six innings (5.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K), while their starter Eury Pérez was great through the first five (5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K). Miami’s bullpen got into trouble late in the game, including Mickey Moniak hitting a 3-run HR in the eighth. But after giving up two runs (one earned) in the ninth, Ronny Henriquez was able to close it out for his 7th save.

• SFG 5, AZ 6 - Eduardo Rodriguez struggled (5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K), giving up four runs in the first and then a solo HR to Wilmer Flores in the third. But the D-Backs came back and the game was tied 5-5 through five. Arizona’s bullpen threw four scoreless innings, and then in the bottom of the ninth, with the bases loaded, Jordan Lawler hit an infield single that drove in the speedy Corbin Carroll for the win.

• PHI 9, LAD 6 - Shohei Ohtani was outstanding on the mound, throwing a no-hitter for fiving innings (5 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). Although he’d only thrown 68 pitches, the Dodgers elected to take him out to preserve him for the postseason. Perhaps the right decision in that regard, but Justin Wrobleski came in and gave up five hits and five runs while only getting one out in the sixth, including giving up a 3-run HR to Brandon Marsh. On offense, the Dodgers got homers from Alex Call and Kiké Hernández early on, but needed a HR by Ohtani in the 8th to help them tie the game up. Unfortunately for Dodgers fans, Blake Treinen then gave up a 3-run HR to Rafael Marchán in the top of the ninth, and Jhoan Duran pitched a scoreless ninth for his 31st save.

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 Mariners won their 10th in a row, so maintained a half-game lead in the AL West over the Astros. The Rangers lost their third in a row, and have slipped to 4.5 back in the division and 3.5 behind in the wild card race.

• Cleveland is surging, having won five in a row in and nine of their last ten, but remain 3 behind for a wild card spot.

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

Today’s Trivia Question

Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks recently topped 1,000 career strikeouts with the club. Who are the other two pitchers for the relatively young Diamondbacks who had over 1,000 strikeouts for the team?

[Note: Two days ago I made an error in the trivia answer. The question was which players have had 40 HR / 30 SB seasons two times. I said there were two such players, Jeff Bagwell and Ronald Acuña Jr., but there is a third in Barry Bonds. Thanks to my readers who find my typos and errors… please continue to help me, as I make corrections to online web versions of each edition.]

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 a Rehab Assignment

• LAD RP Brock Stewart

• SEA SP Logan Evans

• LAD SP Roki Sasaki

• CHC C Miguel Amaya

• NYM C Luis Torrens

• SFG Carson Whisenhunt

🤕 Placed on the IL

• PHI 2B Edmundo Sosa - 10-day IL (right groin strain)

• LAA SS Zach Neto - 10-day IL (left hand strain)

League Leaders

We are in the final stretch, and for the ERA crowns we have Paul Skenes (even with his poor outing yesterday) in the lead in the NL, and a close battle in the AL between Tarik Skubal and Hunter Brown:

• 2.03 - PIT Paul Skenes*

• 2.26 - DET Tarik Skubal*

• 2.27 - HOU Hunter Brown

• 2.63 - BOS Garrett Crochet

• 2.65 - MIL Freddy Peralta

• 2.66 - LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto

• 2.66 - PHI Cristopher Sánchez

• 2.73 - SDP Nick Pivetta

• 2.82 - TEX Jacob deGrom

• 2.88 - CIN Andrew Abbott

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 September 17…

• 1906: Eddie Collins makes his debut. “Playing as "Sullivan," Columbia University junior Eddie Collins makes his debut at SS with the Athletics. He gets one hit off Ed Walsh and strikes out twice. Collins will play 25 years in the majors, bat .333, and become a member of the Hall of Fame.”

• 1912: Casey Stengel makes his debut. “Charlie "Casey" Stengel makes an impressive major league debut, leading seventh-place Brooklyn to a surprising 7-3 win over the streaking Pirates. The likable outfielder from Kansas City collects four hits, a walk, a pair of stolen bases and two tie-breaking RBI, the second of which puts Brooklyn ahead to stay and saddles 24-game winner Claude Hendrix with his ninth and final defeat of the season.”

• 1931: Earl Webb breaks the single-season doubles record. “On his 32nd birthday, OF Earl Webb of the Red Sox ties and then sets the still-standing major-league record for two-base hits at 65. Earl doubles in the lidlifter, a 9-2 win over the visiting Indians, to tie George Burns' double record at 64. Burns set his record in 1926. In the second game, a 2-1 Sox loss, Webb doubles off Pete Jablonowski to set the record.”

• 1941: Stan Musial makes his debut. “In front of only 3,585 fans in St. Louis, twenty-year-old Stan Musial makes his major league debut against the Braves going 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Musial, who started the season in the Western Association (Class C), will hit .426 in 12 games.”

• 1955: Brooks Robinson makes his debut. “Future Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson goes 2 for 4 in his first game as the O's top the Senators, 3-1.”

• 1968: Gaylord Perry throws a no-hitter. “At Candlestick Park, Giants hurler Gaylord Perry (14-14) no-hits the Cardinals and Bob Gibson, 1-0, with the only run of the game being tallied on Ron Hunt's solo home run. Tomorrow the Redbirds will return the favor and no-hit San Francisco.”

• 1984: Rookie Dwight Gooden strikes out 16… again. “Dwight Gooden strikes out 16 batters for the second straight start to tie the major-league record of 32 strikeouts in consecutive games, but balks home the winning run in the 8th inning of a 2-1 loss to the Phillies. It is Gooden's fifth straight outing with ten or more strikeouts.”

• 1993: Nolan Ryan records his last strikeout. “Texas Ranger superstar Nolan Ryan strikes out Angels catcher Greg Myers for his 5,714th and final career strikeout.”

• 1996: Hideo Nomo throws a no-hitter. “Dodgers P Hideo Nomo hurls a 9-0 no-hitter against the Rockies in hitter-friendly Coors Field. Nomo fans eight and walks four in winning his 16th game of the year. A researcher will later determine that this was the most impressive no-hitter of all-time, given the hitting environment of Coors Field and the strength of the opposition's hitters.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Orlando Cepeda (1937)

• Hall of Famer

• 17-year major league career, primarily as a 1B spanning from 1958-1974, starting with the Giants for nine years, and the Cardinals, Braves, and three other clubs for the rest

• Won the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 1958 after leading the league with 38 doubles, to go with 25 HR, 96 RBI, and a .312 average

• Seven-time All-Star, including in 1967 when he won the NL MVP award after leading the league with 111 RBI to go with 25 HR, 37 doubles, and a .325 average

• Hit 20+ HR in 12 seasons, scored 100+ runs three times, and posted 100+ RBI five times

• Overall, had 379 HR, 1,365 RBI, 142 SB, .297/.350/.499 slash line, and a 133 OPS+

José Ramírez (1992)

• Has so far played 13 years in the major leagues, from 2013-2025, all for the Cleveland Indians/Guardians

• Seven-time All-Star at 3B

• Eight seasons with 20+ HR with a high of 39 HR in both 2018 and 2024, and eight seasons with 20+ SB with a high of 41 SB in 2024

• Led the AL with 56 doubles in 2017 and 44 doubles in 2022

• Four seasons with 100+ runs and four seasons with 100+ RBI

• So far has 283 HR, 281 SB, a .279/.352/.503 slash line, and a 131 OPS+

Marcus Semien (1990)

• Has so far played 13 years in the major leagues, from 2013-2025, starting with the White Sox, then spent six years with the A's, one with Toronto, and the last four with Texas

• Known as a very durable player, he has played 159 or more games in seven seasons

• Three-time All-Star, and won a Gold Glove Award as a 2B in 2021

• Five seasons with 100+ runs and two seasons with 100+ RBI

• Six seasons with 20+ HR with a high of 45 HR in 2021

• So far has 253 HR, 139 SB, a .253/.321/.435 slash line, and a 109 OPS+

John Franco (1960)

• Drafted by the Dodgers in the fifth round in 1981, but was traded to the Reds while still in the minors

• Led the NL with 39 saves in 1988 with the Reds, then again while with the Mets with 33 saves in 1990 and with 30 in the strike-shortened 1994 season

• Over a 21-year career was an All-Star four times, and had 25+ saves 11 times

• Overall, had 424 saves, a 2.89 ERA, and a 138 ERA+

Dan Haren (1980)

• Drafted in the second round by the Cardinals in 2001

• Over 13 seasons, from 2003-2015, pitched for eight different major league teams, including the Cardinals, A's, Diamondbacks, Angels, and four others

• Three-time All-Star

• Posted 200+ strikeouts in three consecutive seasons (2008-2010)

• Overall, had a 153-131 (.539) record, 2,013 strikeouts, a 3.75 ERA, and a 109 ERA+

In addition to José Ramírez and Marcus Semien, other currently active players who were born on September 17 include WAS James Wood, DET Dillon Dingler, STL Pedro Pagés, LAA Ben Joyce, and BAL Kade Strowd.

Today’s Matchups

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

• TEX vs. HOU is another important game between these two AL West clubs fighting for the playoffs, with Jacob deGrom (2.82 ERA, 171 K in 162.2 IP) taking on Cristian Javier (4.78 ERA, 26 K in 26.1 IP over six starts).

• PHI vs. LAD features two strong teams and two strong starters in PHI Jesús Luzardo (4.03 ERA, 200 K in 169.2 IP) and Blake Snell (2.79 ERA, 55 K in 48.1 IP over nine starts).

• NYM vs. SDP is another important game for the Mets, who have won two in a row after their losing streak. Trying to keep the D-Backs from stealing third wildcard spot, they’ll go with David Peterson (3.77 ERA, 148 K in 162.1 IP) and the Padres will counter with Nick Pivetta (2.73 ERA, 180 K in 171.1 IP).

Also on the hill today are CHC Matthew Boyd, SFG Justin Verlander, TOR Kevin Gausman, and MIL Brandon Woodruff.

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:

• PIT Andrew McCutchen, 4-12 with 2 HR vs. CHC Matthew Boyd

• CLE José Ramírez, 6-23 with 2 HR vs. DET Jack Flaherty

• HOU Victor Caratini, 6-22 with 2 HR vs. TEX Jacob deGrom

• NYM Cedric Mullins, 10-31 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. SDP Nick Pivetta

• AZ Corbin Carroll, only 2-10 but with 2 HR vs. SFG Justin Verlander

• AZ Pavin Smith, 3-9 with 2 HR vs. SFG Justin Verlander

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, 8-18 with 2 triples and 2 doubles vs. PIT Johan Oviedo

• CHC Nico Hoerner, 7-12 with a double vs. PIT Johan Oviedo

• NYM Starling Marte, 5-9 with a HR vs. SDP Nick Pivetta

• NYM Jeff McNeil, 5-10 with a HR and 2 doubles SDP Nick Pivetta

• TBR Yandy Díaz, 5-10 with a HR vs. TOR Kevin Gausman

• NYY Ben Rice, small sample but is 4-6 with 2 doubles MIN Taj Bradley

• SFG Willy Adames, small sample but is 4-7 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. AZ Brandon Pfaadt

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:

• HOU Christian Walker, 1-15 with 7 K though the one hit was a HR vs. TEX Jacob deGrom

• TEX Adolís García, 3-23 with 7 K vs. HOU Cristian Javier

• TEX Jonah Heim, 2-15 with 2 K vs. HOU Cristian Javier

• PHI Nick Castellanos, 2-19 with 6 K vs. LAD Blake Snell

• CLE Daniel Schneemann, 0-10 with 4 K vs. DET Jack Flaherty

• DET Riley Greene, 0-10 with 4 K vs. CLE Gavin Williams

• AZ Ketel Marte, 2-19 with 5 K vs. SFG Justin Verlander

• LAD Shohei Ohtani, 1-10 with 5 K though the one hit was a HR vs. PHI Jesús Luzardo

• BAL Ryan Mountcastle, 1-10 with 2 K though the one hit was a HR vs. CHW Martín Pérez

• DET Wenceel Pérez, 1-10 with 2 K vs. CLE Gavin Williams

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

The three pitchers with 1,000+ strikeouts for the Arizona Diamondbacks are:

• 2,077 - Randy Johnson

• 1,065 - Brandon Webb

• 1,005 - Zac Gallen (so far)

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.

• Redford, who starred as Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural,' passes away at 89, by Thomas Harrigan at MLB, 9/16/2025

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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