Tonight the Reds (69-79) and the Diamondbacks (75-73) meet in the second game of this weekend series at Chase Field in Phoenix. The Reds will try to continue to hurt the Diamondbacks’ wild card chances while going for their third straight win. First pitch is at 8:10 ET.
Starting Pitchers
| Name | IP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | K% | BB% |
| Anthony DeSclafani | 148.2 | 4.06 | 4.65 | 4.45 | 24.00% | 7.50% |
| Merrill Kelly | 163.1 | 4.68 | 4.72 | 4.68 | 19.50% | 7.10% |
REDS
The most encouraging part of Anthony DeSclafani’s season has been that he’s pitched 148.2 innings. It’s the most of his career since his first season with the Reds in 2015. His K% is up from a year ago, and he’s one strikeout shy of his career high 151 strikeouts in 2015. However, once again, it’s the home run ball that continues to plague him, as he’s given up 28 home runs. While his HR/9 of 1.7 is slightly down from a year ago (1.88), it’s still seventh worst in MLB in 2019.
In his last start, against these Diamondbacks, he pitched six innings and gave up two earned runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts. David Peralta is 3-for-9 against DeSclafani and Ketel Marte is 1-for-5 with a home run against him. That home run came last Sunday at GABP.
DIAMONDBACKS
Arizona signed Merrill Kelly last December after he had a 3.80 ERA in his Korean league career. In this rookie season of his, after not pitching for an American professional team since 2014, he’s had a 4.68 ERA/4.72 FIP in 163.2 innings. He gave up three runs in six innings in his most recent start in New York. But in the start before that at home against the Padres, he pitched seven innings of two-hit, shut-out baseball with nine strikeouts.
Kelly has four pitches, but mostly throws his fastball. He’s thrown it 46.7% of the time, while the next pitch he’s thrown the most is his curveball at 21.5%. Throwing his fastball a lot could be a reason for why he has given up a lot of hard hit balls. According to FanGraphs, his hard hit rates are fairly high. His Hard% is at 42.4% and his Med% is at 44.9%. Kelly has also allowed 28 home runs this season. When hitters are making contact with his pitches, they are crushing them over the fence.
Freddy Galvis and Kevin Gausman are the only Reds to have faced Kelly in his career. Galvis is 1-for-2 against him.
Lineups
| REDS | DIAMONDBACKS |
| 1. Josh VanMeter (LF) 2. Joey Votto (1B) 3. Eugenio Suarez (3B) 4. Aristides Aquino (RF) 5. Tucker Barnhart (C) 6. Freddy Galvis (SS) 7. Jose Peraza (2B) 8. Michael Lorenzen (CF) 9. Anthony DeSclafani (P) |
1. Ildemaro Vargas (2B) 2. Ketel Marte (CF) 3. Eduardo Escobar (3B) 4. Christian Walker (1B) 5. Josh Rojas (LF) 6. Carson Kelly (C) 7. Nick Ahmed (SS) 8. Jarrod Dyson (RF) 9. Merrill Kelly (P) |
Michael Lorenzen is starting in center field. That is all.
Stat of the Day
Since May 24, he's hitting .300/.381/.472 good for a 121 wRC+. 367 PAs. And that feels, like, exactly right for a 35 yo Votto, doesn't it?
— Jason Linden (@JasonLinden) September 14, 2019
If someone tells you that Joey Votto isn’t having a good season, please refer them to these stats. He’s been a .300 hitter since the end of May. Since coming off the IL at the end of August, Votto is hitting .313/.408/.516.
News and Notes
-And speaking of Votto, this Twitter thread from Joel Luckhaupt is quite interesting.
In this chart, I compared Votto to a couple of players you might expect to have a higher average exit velocity than Votto. I also added in Peraza as a comp for pre-stance change Votto. pic.twitter.com/jfivJNQDDS
— Joel Luckhaupt (@jluckhaupt) September 14, 2019
Yes, he's hitting the ball very hard more frequently, but raising up his floor is one way for him to battle Father Time. Let's just hope that this swing is still with him when he comes back next spring.
— Joel Luckhaupt (@jluckhaupt) September 14, 2019
-Enjoy re-living that moment when the Reds last won the World Series. I don’t remember it, because I was a baby, but at least I can say I was born when it happened 😉
Marty Brennaman narrates the clinching of the Reds' fifth World Series title in today's classic call! ??#ThanksMarty pic.twitter.com/vt8b2BWtmH
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) September 14, 2019
-Finally, Happy Birthday to the skipper, David Bell. Hopefully the Reds can get him a win for his birthday present.
Happy birthday, David Bell! ? pic.twitter.com/eqY0Wi8Prn
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) September 14, 2019
As happy as I am that Votto has turned it around, I can’t for the life of me understand what he was doing for the first 2 months of the season with his crazy crouched stance and choked up so much on the bat. Was he not seeing the ball well and felt he needed to do that to shrink the strikezone and speed up his bat? It obviously didn’t work out if that was the plan. He has always had a power stroke which combined with his keen eye and selectivity made him deadly and forced a lot of walks. One can only wonder if he had used the normal batting stance for the entire season what might have been the first two months when the Reds offense struggled mightily. They could have really used his normal numbers those first two months. Between that and Iglesias blowing 11 games this could have been a very different season. But alas it is what it is and we can only hope they put together a more consistent season in 2020.
More stellar OF defense, a double played into a triple, and thus the 1-0 for Arizona
Man JVM has a lot to figure out. He’s young- but man. To be fair, I don’t remember seeing him fumble as much when he plays second. He really doesn’t play the outfield very well. He’s better than me I guess.
Once again tonight Murderer’s Row, TB 5th, Galvis 6th, Peraza 7th….DB might as well put Lorenzen 5th.
I would rather see O’Grady in the OF and JVM at 2B
Good night Irene, lol, man, Brantley is funny I like the guy alot and offers good insight as well as the comedy. Top 10 draft pick is firmly within our grasp as long as they don’t go on some kind of meaningless winning streak. It’s very difficult to judge Bell under these circumstances.
I am listening on the radio cause I got blacked out tonight. Good to hear Marty and the Cowboy a couple last times.
DeSclafani’s great one hit pitching over 7 innings didn’t keep the Reds on a meaningless winning streak. And to add to a crazy night, UK loses again to UF in the last minute after leading the whole game.
If Lorenzen is in centerfield and Senzel is at second base, I’ll feel a bit better about the Reds offense in 2020.