The Baseball Buffet for 9/24/2025

Issue #407

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 181st day of the season featured a full slate of Tuesday games:

• TBR 0, BAL 6 - Dean Kremer pitched very well (6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K), and three Baltimore relievers combined for a 2-hit shutout. Colton Cowser went 2-4 with a 2-run HR, and Jordan Westburg was 2-3 with a double, a run, and an RBI.

• DET 2, CLE 5 - Riley Greene hit his 35th HR, but Gavin Williams otherwise did well, striking out 12 in 6 innings (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 12 K). Tarik Skubal also did pretty well (6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K), though his own throwing error was part of ultimately allowing three runs in the sixth. Cleveland tacked on two more in the seventh, while three Guardians’ relievers pitched scoreless innings, including Cade Smith striking out two in the ninth for his 16th save. The outcome means these two clubs are now tied atop the AL Central - quite remarkable given the massive lead the Tigers once had.

• PIT 4, CIN 2 - All of the scoring in this one took place in the second inning. The Pirates scored their four, including a 2-run HR by Oneil Cruz, and then the Reds came back with two via a 2-run HR by Elly De La Cruz. Johan Oviedo went on to strike out 7 over 4.2 innings for the Pirates, and five Pittsburgh relievers kept the Reds off the board, with Dennis Santana notching his 15th save.

• CHW 2, NYY 3 - Shane Smith did well, striking out 8 in 5 innings (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 K), and the White Sox scored two in the sixth from a HR by Colson Montgomery. They were humming along up 2-1 but then in the bottom of the ninth reliever Brandon Eisert got into trouble. He let up singles to Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells, but then induced a double play from Trent Grisham. He intentionally walked Aaron Judge, but then walked Cody Bellinger as well to load the bases. José Caballero then drove in two with a walk off single to center.

• MIA 6, PHI 5 - Kyle Schwarber hit his 54th HR in the first inning, and Otto Kemp hit a 2-run HR in the second. Cristopher Sánchez did very well (7 IP, 3 , 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), but then the Marlins rallied late with homers by Griffin Conine and Heriberto Hernández, tying the game 3-3 and forcing extras. Both teams scored two runs in the tenth inning making it 5-5. In top of the 11th, Hernández singled to advance Connor Norby, the freebie Manfred Man, over to third. Xavier Edwards then hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Norby, and Josh Simpson pitched a scoreless bottom of the 11th for the win.

• BOS 4, TOR 1 - Lucas Giolito walked four in only 4.2 innings, but only allowed one run, and the four Boston relievers that succeeded him kept the Jays off the board entirely. Meanwhile, the Red Sox collected 9 hits and 4 runs off Kevin Gausman (5.2 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K), with Masataka Yoshida going 2-4 with a double and Nathaniel Lowe going 2-2 with 2 walks and 2 RBI.

• WAS 2, ATL 3 - Braves’ rookie starter Hurston Waldrep did well once again (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K), and Atlanta had three homers, two by Michael Harris II and one by Ronal Acuna Jr. James Wood was 2-3 with a HR, a double, and a walk in a losing effort.

• NYM 9, CHC 7 - Francisco Lindor led off the game with his 29th HR of the year. But then the Cubs came right back and scored five in the first two innings off David Peterson (1.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K). They added another run in the fourth, but then the Mets tied it with five runs in the fifth, powered by a 3-run HR by Brandon Nimmo. Both teams scored a run in the sixth, and then Francisco Alvarez hit a 2-run HR in the eighth which proved to be decisive as Mets closer Edwin Díaz was dominant, striking out five for a 2-inning save. This was a crucial win for the Mets, especially as the Reds lost to the Pirates.

• MIN 4, TEX 1 - Joc Pederson led off the bottom of the first with a HR, but Zebby Matthews settled in after that (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K). Kody Clemens was 2-4 with a double, a run, and an RBI, and Cole Sands closed out the game for his 3rd save of the year.

• MIL 0, SDP 7 - Ryan O’Hearn hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning, a rude welcome for 30-year old Bruce Zimmerman who was making his first start in the majors since 2023. He also gave up a 2-run HR to Luis Arraez in the second inning, and then Jose Iglesias added a solo HR later in the eighth. Meanwhile Randy Vásquez was very sharp for the Padres (7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K), and two San Diego relievers combined for the four-hit shutout.

• KCR 8, LAA 4 - Bryce Teodosio hit a 2-run HR in the fifth inning, his first major league homer. But Kansas City’s starter Cole Ragans was otherwise solid, striking out 10 in 5 innings (5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K). The Angels scored two more in the bottom of the ninth, including Taylor Ward connecting for his 35th HR of the year, but it wasn’t enough as the Royals had tallied 15 hits and 8 runs. Maikel Garcia was 3-4 with 2 doubles, a walk, and 3 runs and both Bobby Witt Jr. and Adam Frazier were 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI.

• LAD 4, AZ 5 - Shohei Ohtani stretched to six innings in this one, striking out eight while not allowing any runs (6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K). Teoscar Hernández hit his 25th HR in the second inning, and Ben Rortvedt added a solo HR in the seventh. Down 4-0, the D-Backs scored three in the bottom of the seventh, including a pinch-hit 2-run HR by Adrian Del Castillo. Arizona’s bullpen kept the Dodgers off the board in the 8th and 9th innings, and then in the bottom of the ninth Tanner Scott allowed a hit batter, a walk, consecutive sacrifice flies, and then a walk-off single by Geraldo Perdomo that drove in Tim Tawa for the win.

• COL 3, SEA 4 - Dominic Canzone hit a solo HR in the fifth, but otherwise McCade Brown was outstanding in only his sixth major league start, striking out 10 in 5 innings (5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K). The Rockies had a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth, but then Josh Naylor hit a two-out, bases-loaded double that drove in three runs. Seattle’s closer Andrés Muñoz then came in and struck out two in the top of the ninth to lock down his 38th save.

• STL 9, SFG 8 - The Cardinals scored three in the top of the first, but the Giants came back with five runs in the third. They scored three more in the middle innings, including a solo HR by Heliot Ramos. But the Cardinals kept attacking, with 15 hits overall and another four runs in the seventh, and two more to take the lead in the ninth. Iván Herrera was 2-4 with a HR, his third in as many games. Nolan Arenado was 2-5 with a HR, and Brendan Donovan was an impressive 4-5 with 4 doubles.

• HOU 1, ATH 5 - Jeffrey Springs did well (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K), and three Athletics’ relievers pitched four scoreless innings. Jacob Wilson went 2-3 with a double, 2 walks, and 2 runs, and Tyler Soderstrom went 2-4 with a double.

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 are now within just one game of the Blue Jays in the AL East.

• Continuing an epic run, the Guardians beat the Tigers to now tie them for the AL Central lead—except with that win Cleveland now clinches the head-to-head tiebreaker for the year between these two clubs. Both teams have the wild-card tie-breaker advantage over the Astros for a wildcard spot, should that arise.

• The Mariners won their fifth in a row, and the Astros lost their fourth in a row, giving Seattle a commanding 4-game lead in the AL West.

• A Mets win and a Reds loss puts New York back in the lead for the third NL wildcard. But Arizona has won three in a row and is also in the picture for this final weekend!

• Current Wild Card Leaders: In the AL it is NYY, BOS, and DET (they have tie-breaker advantage over HOU); in the NL it is CHC, SDP, and NYM. See MLB’s 2025 Postseason Watch for the current bracket and more.

Today’s Trivia Question

Aaron Judge looks likely to hold and win the AL batting title. If he does, then at 6 feet, 7 inches tall he would become the tallest batting champion ever. According to Anthony Castrovince at MLB, the previous high mark for batting champions was 6 feet, 5 inches, with five guys that height. How many of these tall hitting leaders can you name? (Hint: one of them won two batting titles, and one of them won three).

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

• ATH CF Denzel Clarke

🤕 Placed on the IL

• STL RP Mason Thompson - 15-day IL (right biceps tendinitis)

• TOR 1B Ty France - 10-day IL (left oblique inflammation)

• ATL 2B Ozzie Albies - 10-day IL (fractured left hammate)

• CHW LF Andrew Benintendi - 10-day IL (achilles tendinitis)

• BAL RP Chayce McDermott - 15-day IL (back discomfort)

League Leaders

No one is reaching 50 doubles this year, but will a few more crack 40 at least?

• 44 - TOR Bo Bichette

• 44 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

• 40 - ATL Matt Olson

• 40 - ATH Brent Rooker

• 39 - BOS Jarren Duran

• 39 - LAD Freddie Freeman

• 38 - NYM Pete Alonso

• 38 - WAS James Wood

• 38 - KCR Maikel Garcia

• 37 - CHC Pete Crow-Armstrong

• 36 - PIT Bryan Reynolds

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 24…

• 1916: First ever pinch-hit grand slam in the American League… has a hole in the story. “At Cleveland's League Park, Marty Kavanagh hits the first-ever pinch-hit grand slam in American League history. The infielder's historic homer proves to be the difference as the Indians beat the Red Sox, 5-3. The ball rolls through a hole in the fence and cannot be retrieved in time for a play at the plate. Kavanagh's blast comes off Boston's Dutch Leonard and ends Boston's seven-game win streak.”

• 1929: Johnny Frederick sets rookie record for doubles. “Brooklyn OF Johnny Frederick connects for his 52nd double in the Robins' 8-6 loss to the Phils. The total remains the all-time rookie record and will stand as the Dodgers' single-season record until beaten by Freddie Freeman in 2023.”

• 1957: The last game at Ebbets Field. “Grounding out, Pirates left-handed first baseman Dee Fondy becomes last player ever to bat in Ebbets Field as the Dodgers blank the Bucs, 2-0, in the last major league game ever played in Brooklyn. Danny McDevitt is the winner and Gil Hodges has the last RBI.”

• 1957: Ted Williams’ streak of reaching first base ends at 16. “Hal Griggs of the Senators gets Ted Williams to ground out, breaking the Red Sox slugger's streak of reaching first base 16 consecutive times. Williams later homers to win the game, 2-1. Williams holds the 20th Century record. For 50 years, it is believed to be the all-time record but research in 2007 will show a 17-appearance streak by Piggy Ward in 1893.”

• 1979: Pete Rose collects 200 hits for a tenth time. “Pete Rose singles in the Phillies' 7 - 2 loss to the Cardinals, giving him 200 hits in a season for the tenth time. He breaks the major league record of nine formerly held by Ty Cobb. Rose hits safely in his 18th straight game, and will extend it to 23 by the end of the season.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Rafael Palmeiro (1964)

• 20-year major league career, spanning from 1986-2005, starting with the Cubs, and then spending most of his time with the Rangers and Orioles

• Four-time All-Star, and three-time Gold Glove Winner (though in 1999 he only played 28 games at 1B, while playing 128 games as a DH)

• Had 100+ RBI ten times, and 100+ runs four times

• Led AL with 191 hits in 1990, with 49 doubles in 1991, and with 124 runs in 1993

• Had 20+ HR for 14 consecutive seasons, including 10 seasons with 35+ HR, and highs of 47 HR in 1999 and 2001

• Overall had 3,020 hits, 1,663 runs, 1,835 RBI, 569 HR, a .288/.371/.515 slash line, and a 132 OPS+

Dixie Walker (1910)

• 18-year major league career, spanning from 1931-1949, with most of his prime spent as a RF with the Brooklyn Dodgers

• Four-time All-Star

• Didn't have much power, hitting 10+ HR only twice, but was a high-average hitter, leading the NL with a .357 average in 1944

• Led the AL with 16 triples in 1937, and the NL with 124 RBI in 1945

• Overall had 1,038 runs, 1,023 RBI, a .306/.383/.437 slash line, and a 121 OPS+

Bernard Gilkey (1966)

• 12-year major league career, spanning from 1990-2001, mostly as a LF for the Cardinals, Mets, and Diamondbacks

• Best overall season was 1996 when he had 30 HR, 44 doubles, 108 runs, 117 RBI, 17 SB, and a .317 average

• Overall had 118 HR, 115 SB, .275/.352/.434 slash line, 110 OPS+

Kevin Millar (1971)

• 12-year major league career, spanning from 1998-2009, mostly with the Marlins, Red Sox, and Orioles

• Played mostly 1B, and some in RF/LF

• Hit 15+ HR seven times, with a high of 25 HR and 96 RBI in 2003

• Overall had 170 HR, a .274/.358/.452 slash line, and 110 OPS+

• Host of the MLB Network show Intentional Talk since 2018

Currently active players who were born on September 24 include LAA Hunter Strickland, MIA Graham Pauley, and ATH Luis Morales.

Today’s Matchups

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

• PIT vs. CIN is interesting both because the Reds are in the Wildcard hunt, and because of the pitching matchup is two baseball’s most impressive high-strikeout pitchers in Paul Skenes (2.03 ERA, 209 K in 181.2 IP) and Hunter Greene (2.74 ERA, 125 K in 101.2 IP).

• DET vs. CLE is game two of this important AL Central series, and this time we have Jack Flaherty (4.60 ERA, 182 K in 156.2 IP) up against Tanner Bibee (4.34 ERA, 157 K in 176.1 IP).

• BOS vs. TOR is similarly game two of this important AL East series, with an interesting pitching matchup with Boston’s ace Garrett Crochet (2.69 ERA, 249 K in 197.1 IP) vs. future Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer (5.06 ERA, 77 K in 80 IP).

• NYM vs. CHC is another important game for the Mets as they fight for a wildcard spot. They will go with 22-year old rookie Jonah Tong (5.94 ERA, 21 K in 16.2 IP) and the Cubs will counter with lefty Matthew Boyd (3.20 ERA, 151 K in 174.1 IP).

Also toeing the rubber today are SDP Dylan Cease, PHI Jesús Luzardo, NYY Max Fried, TEX Jacob deGrom, LAD Blake Snell, SEA Luis Castillo, HOU Hunter Brown, and STL Sonny Gray.

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:

• NYM Francisco Lindor, 13-36 (.361) with 2 HR and 3 doubles vs. CHC Matthew Boyd

• COL Mickey Moniak, 4-14 with 2 HR vs. SEA Luis Castillo

• PIT Oneil Cruz, 4-14 with 2 HR and a double vs. CIN Hunter Greene

• TEX Jake Burger, small sample but is 2-5 with 2 HR vs. MIN Taj Bradley

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:

• DET Gleyber Torres, 5-12 with 2 doubles vs. CLE Tanner Bibee

• WAS Luis Garcia Jr., small sample but is 5-8 with 3 doubles vs. ATL Bryce Elder

• WAS CJ Abrams, 5-12 vs. ATL Bryce Elder

• CIN Gavin Lux, small sample but is 4-8 with 2 doubles vs. PIT Paul Skenes

Who is streaking?

Active hit streaks

• 12 - AZ Geraldo Perdomo

• 12 - SDP Luis Arraez

• 11 - NYM Francisco Lindor

• 10 - NYM Starling Marte

• 9 - NYM Pete Alonso

• 9 - SEA Josh Naylor

• 9 - KCR Salvador Perez

• 8 - STL Alec Burleson

• 8 - AZ Corbin Carroll

• 7 - STL Brendan Donovan

• 7 - ATL Drake Baldwin

• 7 - NYM Juan Soto

• 7 - TEX Josh Jung

• 7 - COL Blaine Crim

Active HR streaks

• 3 - STL Iván Herrera

• 2 - PIT Joey Bart

• 2 - ATL Ronald Acuña Jr.

• 2 - SDP Jose Iglesias

• 2 - NYM Francisco Lindor

• 2 - SFG Heliot Ramos

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:

• BOS Alex Bregman, 2-16 with 5 K though one hit was a HR vs. TOR Max Scherzer

• KCR Bobby Witt Jr., 0-10 with 5 K vs. LAA Yusei Kikuchi

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

• PIT Jack Suwinski, 0-8 with 6 K vs. CIN Hunter Greene

• ATH Shea Langeliers, 0-9 with 5 K vs. HOU Hunter Brown

• MIL Jake Bauers, 1-11 with 5 K vs. SDP Dylan Cease

• LAD Shohei Ohtani, 1-10 with 3 K vs. AZ Ryne Nelson

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

If Aaron Judge wins this year’s AL batting title while being 6-foot, 7-inches tall he will surpass the following batting champions who were each 6-foot, 5-inches (confirmed using the data at baseball-reference.com):

• Dave Parker (1977 and ’78)

• John Olerud (1993)

• Frank Thomas (1997)

• Derrek Lee (2005)

• Joe Mauer (2006, ’08 and ’09)

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.

• ABS Challenge System coming to MLB full time in '26, by Anthony Castrovince at MLB, 9/23/2025

• You've got to be kidding?! Get a load of these bonkers stats from 2025, by Anthony Castrovince at MLB, 9/23/2025

• Here are the 2025 Minor League stat leaders, by Joe Trezza at MLB, 9/22/2025

• 20/20? 20/60?! Here's how power-speed combos are trending for prospects, by Joe Trezza at MLB, 9/23/2025

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!