Spring Game Thread: Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Angels

Jose De Leon will take the mound for the Cincinnati Reds this afternoon as they line up to face Mike Trout’s Los Angeles Angels at 3:10pm ET. Cincinnati is coming off of their first win of the spring on Monday as they beat up on the Texas Rangers.

Cincinnati Reds (1-1) Starting Lineup

1. Shogo Akiyama – LF
2. Aristides Aquino – CF
3. Curt Casali – C
4. Derek Dietrich – 1B
5. Alex Blandino – 2B
6. Scott Schebler – RF
7. Jonathan India – 3B
8. Jose Garcia – SS
9. Tyler Stephenson – DH
10. Jose De Leon – RHP

These guys are expected to pitch in relief today: Josh Smith, Alex Powers, and Tony Santillan.

Reserve players on today’s roster:

Pitchers

• Brandon Finnegan
• Ryan Lillie
• Ryan Nutof
• Austin Orewiler
• Matt Pidich
• Dylan Rheault
• Jesus Reyes
• Walker Weickel

Catchers

• Ernesto Liberatore
• Chris Okey
• Francisco Pena
• Kyle Farmer

Infielders

• Brantley Bell
• Alberti Chavez
• Matt Davidson
• Gavin LaValley
• Alejo Lopez
• Alfredo Rodriguez
• Blake Trahan

Outfielders

• Brandon Barnes
• Stuart Fairchild
• Mark Payton
• Andy Sugilio

Los Angeles Angels (1-1) Starting Lineup

1. David Fletcher – 2B
2. Mike Trout – CF
3. Anthony Rendon – 3B
4. Shohei Ohtani – DH
5. Justin Upton – LF
6. Albert Pujols – 1B
7. Jason Castro – C
8. Andrelton Simmons – SS
9. Taylor Ward – RF
10. Dylan Bundy – RHP

Where to watch/listen/follow the game

The game will be live on the Reds on Radio Network. In the greater Cincinnati area the game will be available on 1360 WSAI AM. You will also be able to watch the game on Fox Sports Ohio, as well as MLB.tv. The broadcast will be from the Angels home feed on both.

Reds links and news

Nick Senzel had his first full day of baseball activities in Goodyear on Monday. Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer has all of the details from Senzel, who is looking to get into games next week.

Reliever Jose Adames missed all of the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Then he missed every week of the 2019 season except for the final one – throwing 3.2 innings during the season’s final week in rookie ball as he returned from rehab. On Monday he hit 100 MPH in the 9th inning for the Reds as he picked up the save in the win over Texas. For a little more on his backstory, I wrote a little about his journey back to the mound here.

C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic looked at how the Reds organization has embraced technology and how you can see it everywhere out in Goodyear during spring training as they use it everywhere – even during batting practice.

The latest episode of The Jim Day Podcast is out and this one features Reds outfielder Nick Senzel. Things get a bit real on the podcast, but they also have some lighter moments, too – like when Derek Dietrich makes an unscheduled guest appearance. You can give it a listen on Google Play, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify – or wherever else you listen to your podcasts.

If you’re in the greater Phoenix area, this could be useful to note for you: The Reds will have a “B game” on March 4th at the White Sox complex at 10:30am.

Final: Angels 7 – Reds 3

The Reds offense sputtered for the most part on Tuesday in their loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

The Highlights

It was the Jose Garcia show on Tuesday. The Reds 4th rated prospect got the start at shortstop and got to show off in front of David Bell and the big league coaching staff. He made several nice plays in the field, showing off both his range and his arm. But what he did at the plate is what he’ll be noted for on the day. On a day with the wind blowing in, hard, Garcia hit two home runs on the day.

Only one other starting player had a hit on the day – Shogo Akiyama, who had an infield single off of the glove of the pitcher. Prospects Brantley Bell and Alfredo Rodriguez both singled later in the game for Cincinnati.

On the mound the Reds got a shutout inning of relief from prospects Alex Powers and Matt Pidich, as well as former big leaguer Brandon Finnegan. Jesus Reyes, who has had limited time with the big league club, was charged with an unearned run in 1.1 innings. The first three pitchers of the day – Jose De Leon, Ryan Lillie, and Josh Smith – all allowed two earned runs in their outings.

You can check out the entire box score for the game here.