Let’s play two today! The Pittsburgh Pirates (25-25) and the Cincinnati Reds (24-28) start a four-game series with a day-night doubleheader on this Memorial Day holiday. First pitch of Game 1 is scheduled for 1:10 ET from Great American Ball Park.
The Pirates come to town having just been swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in Pittsburgh. Pirates pitchers gave up 28 runs in three games and only scored 11 runs. That took their run differential to -59, the only NL Central team with a negative run differential.
Starting Pitchers
Name | IP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | K% | BB% |
Luis Castillo | 64.1 | 2.38 | 3.18 | 3.21 | 30.50% | 10.90% |
Nick Kingham | 24.2 | 8.76 | 5.04 | 5.41 | 19.30% | 11.80% |
Luis Castillo looks to rebound from his first bad start of the season against the Milwaukee Brewers last Wednesday where he didn’t make it out of the third inning and gave up four runs on five hits while walking two and only striking out three. It happens because this is baseball. Castillo said himself after the game that he just didn’t have it that day.
Castillo has been able to both strike batters out and induce ground balls. With 87 strikeouts in 64.1 innings and a GB/FB ratio of 2.40, it’s no wonder his stats are among the best pitchers in the league right now. A reason for his success is the development of his change up. He’s using it about 31.5% of the time, up from 26.3% in 2018. And he’s figured out how to use both his change up and his four seamer together in a way that works.
Luis Castillo, Unfair 3 Pitch K (99mph Fastball/Foul, 98mph Fastball/Foul & 88mph Changeup). pic.twitter.com/FZUBl4JFmg
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 17, 2019
Castillo faced the Pirates on Opening Day and gave up only one run on two hits with eight strikeouts in 5.2 innings.
Nick Kingham pitched out of the Pirates bullpen for the first month of the season and wasn’t terrible. He had a 4.35 ERA and 3.58 FIP and struck out 10 in 10.1 innings, while walking four. But the Pirates moved him to the starting rotation at the beginning of May and it has been pretty much a disaster. He’s given up 27 hits and 19 runs in 14.1 innings. He’s also had some control issues, having walked 12 batters in that span. Kingham throws five pitches, but mostly relies on his four-seamer. A lot of the four-seamers he’s thrown have been in the middle of the zone, which could explain why he’s been getting hit hard during his last few starts.
Tucker Barnhart is 3-for-3 with a triple against Kingham. Derek Dietrich and Eugenio Suarez have each hit a home run off him.
Lineups
PIRATES | REDS |
1. Adam Frazier (2B) 2. Bryan Reynolds (LF) 3. Starling Marte (CF) 4. Josh Bell (1B) 5. Melky Cabrera (RF) 6. Colin Moran (3B) 7. Elias Diaz (C) 8. Kevin Newman (SS) 9. Nick Kingham (P) |
1. Nick Senzel (CF) 2. Joey Votto (1B) 3. Eugenio Suarez (3B) 4. Derek Dietrich (2B) 5. Jesse Winker (LF) 6. Yasiel Puig (RF) 7. Jose Iglesias (SS) 8. Tucker Barnhart (C) 9. Luis Castillo (P) |
Derek Dietrich has a 1.667 OPS against the Pirates this season. #Reds
— ???? ????y (@Nicholaspkirby) May 27, 2019
News and Notes
-Cody Reed comes up for the day. My guess is that he’ll go back to Louisville when the Reds announce a starter tomorrow.
The Cincinnati #Reds have called up Cody Reed https://t.co/MQr4oPPtDt pic.twitter.com/Yeg8PD3kCL
— Doug Gray (@dougdirt24) May 27, 2019
-Scooter Gennett is getting closer to returning.
Scooter Gennett's workload continues to increase during his rehab. ?? https://t.co/NPLEOZ5edc pic.twitter.com/6QQWXCjHSV
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 27, 2019
-Here’s a chart that shows how good the Reds pitching has been this season.
Breaking down pitching swing and miss % by team… #Reds ? pic.twitter.com/MAQpzm10Hq
— Daren Willman (@darenw) May 26, 2019
Final Thoughts
The Reds went 6-5 in a stretch of 11 games against 2018 first place teams, which included capturing two series wins against the #stupidcubs. But now it gets interesting. If the Reds really want to prove they can get back into the wild card race and maybe the division race too, they need to prove it this coming week. With seven games against the Pirates and Nationals, this is the perfect opportunity to get out of the NL Central basement.