Fresh off of a tie (yes, a dreaded tie!) against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday afternoon in Goodyear, the Cincinnati Reds hit the road to take on the Milwaukee Brewers.
Cincinnati Reds (4-5-1) Starting Lineup
- Nick Castellanos – RF
- Joey Votto – 1B
- Mike Moustakas – 2B
- Nick Senzel – DH
- Aristides Aquino – CF
- Josh VanMeter – 3B
- Phillip Ervin – LF
- Curt Casali – C
- Kyle Farmer – SS
- Luis Castillo – RHP
These guys are expected to pitch in relief today: Tyler Mahle, Jose De Leon, Tony Santillan, Ryan Hendrix, and Alex Powers.
Reserve players on today’s roster (this is incomplete – usually the Reds will post the travel roster for the press online, but that didn’t happen today so the only players on the bench/bullpen listed are those in big league camp – no minor leaguers making the trip are listed, but some will certainly be there):
Pitchers
- See note above.
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Milwaukee Brewers (6-4) Starting Lineup
- Eric Sogard – 3B
- Omar Narvaez – DH
- Logan Morrison – 1B
- Manny Pina – C
- Orlando Arcia – SS
- Ben Gamel – RF
- Jace Peterson – CF
- Ronny Rodriguez – 2B
- Corey Ray – LF
- Freddy Peralta – 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. You can watch the game this afternoon on Fox Sports Ohio and MLB.tv.
Reds links and news
We’re going to keep talking about Jose Garcia for now and forever. Maybe. But definitely for now. Over at Baseball America there’s a piece from earlier this week that was published looking at the improvements and strides he made during the 2019 season.
Kiley McDaniel of ESPN released his Top 100 Prospect list and there were five Cincinnati Reds prospects that were among that group. As we discussed at RedsMinorLeagues.com – that’s a lot of Top 100 prospects for a farm system that some national publications seem to rate among the absolute worst in baseball….
YoutubeTV will be keeping Fox Sports Ohio and the Cincinnati Reds games for the 2020 season as the two sides came to an agreement earlier today.
Final: Brewers 6 – Reds 4
The Reds put together a big third inning that saw them take a 4-1 lead, but the offense got quiet after that and the Brewers chipped away at the bullpen.
The Highlights
Luis Castillo struck out five batters in 3.0 innings without a walk and allowed one earned run.
56 seconds of filth.#LaPiedra ? #RedsST ??? pic.twitter.com/wCUx5f9ZaT
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) March 5, 2020
Alex Powers tossed a shutout inning out of the bullpen with two strikeouts. Ryan Hendrix was charged with two unearned runs in his inning of work that included two strikeouts. In total the Reds pitching staff struck out 12 hitters with just two walks on the day – both by Tyler Mahle, who allowed two earned in 3.0 innings of relief.
Kyle Farmer picked up his first home run of the spring – a solo shot that kicked off a 4-run third inning. Mike Moustakas and Josh VanMeter both added doubles, and both had an RBI on the day. Joey Votto went 0-1 with two more walks on the day. Phillip Ervin reached base three times, but didn’t record an official at-bat as he was hit by two different pitches and walked in his other plate appearance. Prospects Alfredo Rodriguez and Jonathan India each picked up a single later in the game after taking over for the starters. You can see the entire box score for the game here.
Freddy Galvis has never made me nervous as our starting SS, but not having him available on opening day does. The Reds seem clear that Senzel is a no go for SS, citing his shoulder surgery as one of the reasons. Suarez is also coming off a shoulder surgery, so he’s not the answer. A winning 2020 Reds team can not have their starting SS being one of the following, Farmer, Blandino, or Colon. Garcia is too young, and inexperienced, so is Pasta Rodriguez on this club?
I’d personally rather see Blandino over Farmer if push comes to shove there. Better on base skills.
I agree there’s no problem with Galvis if he’s healthy.
I suppose the question is—would AlfRod be any worse than Farmer or Blandino?
Please Blandino. 8th in the lineup, hope the SPs practice bunting, Winker at leadoff with a walk, and they score some 3rd inning runs this year. At least in April, then they’ll need Galvis or equivalent.
You mean the Blandino who got thrown out at 2nd the other day because he didnt know what the count was?
I bet Blandino can catch a flip from second base to turn a double play. Farmer still learning that one.
See, they all make mistakes.
For not playing there since college, Farmer looks quite good to me and should continue to improve. If he can play catcher and every infield position, it allows the other IF backup to be a bat-first guy.
this lineup could be very similar to the reds opening day lineup. hope we can make a statement today against the brewers
The Punisher is too fast for the Brewers
So true.
And the pen is blue.
The GD pen is blue.
Yes it is the spring but 2 hits over the last 6 innings is well just like last year.
Say it’s not so with the season start three weeks away.