If you are inclined to read about the history-making game last night, here’s the recap. That’s all I’m going to say about it. The Reds (69-80) will go for the series win this afternoon against the Diamondbacks (76-73) at Chase Field. First pitch is at 4:10 EDT.
Starting Pitchers
| Name | IP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | K% | BB% |
| Trevor Bauer | 198.0 | 4.55 | 4.41 | 4.40 | 27.7% | 9.5% |
| Zac Gallen | 74.1 | 2.66 | 3.17 | 4.02 | 29.4% | 11.0% |
REDS
Trevor Bauer tries again to get things fixed before the 2019 season ends. He looked like he was on track in his last start against the Mariners when he took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but he gave up a home run in the fifth and the sixth to lose the lead. The Reds would eventually lose on a Kyle Seager home run in the eighth.
Many of Bauer’s struggles have come from giving up home runs. He has allowed the sixth most home runs in MLB and his HR/9 rate is 1.45, 17th worst in MLB. His BB% is also higher this season at 9.5%. [I know I sound like a broken record when I talk about walks and home runs for a struggling pitcher, but that’s usually were the problem lies when that pitcher is struggling].
If you’re looking for positives for Bauer, he only needs two innings to reach 200 innings for the first time in his career. He’s also got 236 strikeouts on the season. Fifty-one of those strikeouts came after he was traded to the Reds, in 41.1 innings. His K% is down from his near Cy Young season a year ago, but it’s still very high at 27.7%.
DIAMONDBACKS
Despite pitching fairly well in his minor league career in the Cardinals and Marlins organizations, Arizona is Zac Gallen’s third organization since being drafted in 2016. He made 14 starts with the Marlins Triple-A team early in the season, posting a 1.77 ERA in 91.1 innings, while striking out 112 and walking only 17. Gallen made his major league debut for Miami on June 20. He continued his success at the major league level, with a 2.72 ERA in 36.1 inning with the Marlins. After he was traded to the Diamondbacks at the deadline, he has pitched better, posting a 2.61 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 38.0 innings.
Gallen won’t give up a lot of home runs. Throughout his professional career, his HR/9 rate has been consistently under 1.00. He also won’t walk a lot of batters, though he’s walked more since being in the majors than through his minor league career. The highest his BB% ever got was 8.2%, and in 2019 before being called up, it was at 5.1% at Triple-A.
He throws five pitches, but very rarely throws the sinker. Instead, Gallen relies on his four-seamer that tops out around 93 mph, and then throws the curve ball and the change up with varying speeds to keep hitters off balance. His change up can get up to 85 mph, while his curve is a slow curve around 79 mph.
Lineups
| REDS | DIAMONDBACKS |
| 1. Phillip Ervin (LF) 2. Josh VanMeter (2B) 3. Eugenio Suarez (3B) 4. Aristides Aquino (RF) 5. Tucker Barnhart (C) 6. Michael Lorenzen (CF) 7. Brian O’Grady (1B) 8. Jose Peraza (SS) 9. Trevor Bauer (P) |
1. Wilmer Flores (2B) 2. Ketel Marte (CF) 3. Eduardo Escobar (3B) 4. Christian Walker (1B) 5. Josh Rojas (LF) 6. Adam Jones (RF) 7. Nick Ahmed (SS) 8. Alex Avila (C) 9. Zac Gallen (P) |
-Alex Avila is 7-for-19 with two home runs against Bauer.
-None of the Reds have faced Gallen. This game is going to go one of two ways.
News and Notes
-It looks like Freddy Galvis will be alright. He left the game last night in the middle of an at-bat.
Freddy Galvis told David Bell after the game that he was OK to play tomorrow. Thought he popped something when he initially hurt his knee, but he was walking around afterward. #Reds https://t.co/kjuGwbewTo
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) September 15, 2019
-Speaking of Galvis, he did a really cool thing for a kid yesterday.
Freddy Galvis has a fan for life. #BiggerThanBaseball pic.twitter.com/gcrQ9j2rL1
— MLB (@MLB) September 15, 2019
Final Thought
#GetTheHitting, Reds.
4 of the last 5 Reds SP to be hung with the loss:
9/14 – DeSclafani – 1 hit allowed
9/11 – Gray – 2 hits
9/7 – Castillo – 3 hits
9/2 – DeSclafani – 3 hitsReds SP have 14 losses this year when allowing ? 3 hits. No other team's SP have more than 8. Record is 15 (1962 Colt .45s)
— Joel Luckhaupt (@jluckhaupt) September 15, 2019
I like ervin and van meter at the top of the lineup. Is it time to move Joey back to the 3 hole now?
I agree, TB should never bat 5th, let’s see what they have
Man the century from hades continues for Cincinnati sports . 49ers whipping the Bengals. Reds with another 90 loss season potentially. When does college hoops start up,? Lol
When will the torture ever end? It’s not even fun going to gabp or PBS because of all the fans from the visiting teams rub it in. Lol.
I doubt it since there are only 13 games left this season and Shchi did not say this was a recommendation for next season, though one can infer that Lorenzen in CF is not likely a 2020 plan.
If only the Reds traded for Zac Gallen instead of Trevor Bauer, irregardless of how they perform today. Gallen has 5+ years of control and Bauer has ~1.2 years when traded. Yet, the Reds gave up the much better prospect than what the Diamondbacks gave up.
It hopefully won’t matter because Bauer has been great and on a decent pitch count ….
but, the Reds rarely seem to bust up games and put teams away. That last inning felt ripe for the picking.
Only Suarez, Aquino and Van Meter have hits… leadoff and 5 through 8…nada.
Probably have enough offense to win today, but too many passengers on the Reds offensive bus.
If Suarez were to be gone for an extended amount of time in 2020….yikes.
A big game and win for Trevor Bauer
If the Reds are not seriously considering Lorenzen as a possible 2020 CF, why is he taking starts from players who need to be evaluated? Or is a position switch possible? They can’t get him enough starts this year to meet two way player criteria.
I hope the rest of the staff develops the Bauer mindset that the game is nine innings, not five, six, seven or eight, then develop what it takes to throw that many effectively. If you shoot for nine and fall an inning or two short, you’e still rested the BP. Shoot for six and fall short and you have put the team in a bad way.