THE STREAK IS DEAD! Thanks to this home run by Kyle Farmer in the third inning of yesterday’s game, the 30-inning scoreless streak is no longer. Unfortunately, the Reds would go on to lose on a walk off single in 10 innings. Baby steps, right?
? Kyle Farmer gets the Reds on the scoreboard! ? pic.twitter.com/ZbBLea5ejb
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 6, 2019
The Reds (1-7) try to avoid the four game sweep against the Pirates (4-3) this afternoon at PNC Park. First pitch is set for 1:35 ET.
Starting Pitchers
REDS
Anthony DeSclafani will try to build off his first start this season when he went five innings and gave up only one run on three hits to the Milwaukee Brewers. He did have three walks, but struck out eight. If DeSclafani in 2019 can be the DeSclafani of 2016 with a 3.28 ERA and a 3.96 FIP, it’s going to be a very good year for him.
DeSclafani has five pitches, but usually uses only three (slider, four-seamer, sinker) on a regular basis. He threw his curve only 64 times in all of 2018. On Monday against the Brewers, he still threw the four-seamer and slider most, but also threw his curve 13 times–nine of those to left-handed hitters–and recorded three strikeouts with it.
Colin Moran and Elias Diaz each have a home run off DeSclafani, while Josh Bell is 4-for-9 with two doubles against him.
PIRATES
The Pirates traded two top prospects for Chris Archer after the All-Star break last season. The Pirates were in the midst of a 11-game winning streak at the time and thought Archer could be the player they needed to help them contend for the playoffs last year. It did not work, as the Pirates went 26-27 in August and September, but they did get Archer for 2019 and two option years, if they choose to pick up those.
Archer made his first start on Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals, pitching five innings of scoreless baseball, giving up two hits while walking three and striking out eight. He’s primarily a two-pitch pitcher, relying on his slider and four-seam fastball. He will occasionally throw a sinker and a change-up, but very rarely throws a curve. Because he uses only two pitches mainly, Archer does do well facing a lineup the third time through the order. Last season, his FIP went from 3.62 the second time through to a 4.10 FIP the third time through.
Only two current Reds have faced Archer. Jose Iglesias is 4-for-16 with a walk, and Derek Dietrich is 0-for-4 against him.
| IP | ERA | FIP | WHIP | HR/9 | BB% | K% | |
| Anthony DeSclafani (2018) | 115 | 4.93 | 4.83 | 1.29 | 1.88 | 6.20% | 22.30% |
| Chris Archer (2018) | 148.1 | 4.31 | 3.75 | 1.38 | 1.15 | 7.70% | 25.40% |
Bullpens
REDS
Raisel Iglesias may be the only one not available to pitch out the bullpen, given that he pitched 2.1 innings and gave up the walk-off hit. However, the Reds do have an off day tomorrow, so David Bell might choose to pitch Iglesias if he is needed. Michael Lorenzen hasn’t looked too good on the mound during this first week. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a day off, as he has been used a lot thus far.
PIRATES
The Pirates also look to be in pretty good shape with their bullpen. Keone Kela is the only reliever who has pitched back-to-back days. Even though the Pirates play tomorrow, Clint Hurdle should have everyone available with the possible exception of Kela.
Lineups
| REDS | PIRATES |
| 1. Jesse Winker (LF) 2. Yasiel Puig (RF) 3. Scott Schebler (CF) 4. Eugenio Suarez (3B) 5. Derek Dietrich (1B) 6. Jose Peraza (2B) 7. Tucker Barnhart (C) 8. Jose Iglesias (SS) 9. Anthony DeSclafani (P) |
1. Adam Frazier (2B) 2. Starling Marte (CF) 3. Francisco Cervelli (C) 4. Josh Bell (1B) 5. Jung Ho Kang (3B) 6. Melky Cabrera (RF) 7. Jason Martin (LF) 8. Erik Gonzalez (SS) 9. Chris Archer (P) |
-Joey Votto gets the day off today. If he’s going to get regularly scheduled days off this season, a Sunday afternoon before an off day is a good time to do it.
News and Notes
On this date two years ago:
April 6, 2017: @Lorenzen55 crushes his second career home run, this one a pinch-hit, go-ahead job to help the Reds defeat the Phillies. #OTD #MikeyBiceps ? pic.twitter.com/1POw21LIzv
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 7, 2019
Taylor Trammell hit his first home run of the year last night at Double-A Chattanooga.
1st 2019 ?#Reds No. 2 prospect Taylor Trammell (#MLB No. 16) launched his first homer of the season tonight for @ChattLookouts. Live stats for all @Reds prospects: https://t.co/uBHGs11ZI8 pic.twitter.com/TlIdkbRY0X
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 7, 2019
Interesting piece in the Cincinnati Enquirer about David Bell and how he weighs analytics vs. intuition.
David Bell said it can be a challenge weighing a manager’s intuition vs. analytics. “Sometimes, you definitely can go too far with (numbers).” #Reds https://t.co/f8N56CYadv
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) April 7, 2019
All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com, Fangraphs, and baseballsavant.com.