Today’s game has been postponed. Doubleheader tomorrow at 12:10pm ET.
Cincinnati (2-5) will be looking to Trevor Bauer to help get this season moving in the right direction as they face off against Detroit (5-3) for the 5th time of the season. The game was moved up from it’s originally scheduled start due to a forecast of poor weather in the evening – something far easier to do when there are no fans at the games.
Starting Lineups
Cincinnati Reds
|
Detroit Tigers |
| Shogo Akiyama – LF | Niko Goodrum – SS |
| Joey Votto – 1B | Jonathan Schoop – 2B |
| Nick Castellanos – RF | Miguel Cabrera – DH |
| Mike Moustakas – 2B | C.J. Cron – 1B |
| Eugenio Suarez – 3B | Christin Stewart – LF |
| Jesse Winker – DH | Victor Reyes – RF |
| Nick Senzel – CF | Jeimer Candelario – 3B |
| Freddy Galvis – SS | Grayson Greiner – C |
| Tucker Barnhart – C | JaCoby Jones – CF |
| Trevor Bauer – SP | Michael Fulmer – SP |
The lineup looks familiar doesn’t it? The Reds are going with what feels mostly like the lineup we’re going to see against right-handed pitching on most days once again. The lineup had some struggles on Friday night, but with a different pitcher on the mound maybe things will go a bit differently this afternoon.
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB% | K% |
| Trevor Bauer | 6.1 | 1.42 | 0.47 | 4.5% | 59.1% |
| Michael Fulmer | 2.2 | 13.50 | 2.25 | 7.1% | 14.3% |
| Links: Trevor Bauer’s 2019 Stats | Michael Fulmer’s 2019 Stats | |||||
Trevor Bauer
After being acquired by Cincinnati at the trade deadline last season, Trevor Bauer struggled to keep the ball in the ballpark. As a result of that his ERA jumped from 3.79 with Cleveland to 6.39 in 10 starts with the Reds. His walk and strikeout rates were both better with Cincinnati, but his home run rate made a huge difference.
But in his first start this season, against Detroit in the opening series, Bauer dominated. He allowed a run on two hits and a walk with 13 strikeouts in 6.1 innings. He’ll look to do it again this afternoon. Let’s take a look at how he performed last season when it comes to his splits, and what to expect from his pitches.
Splits
| Split | IP | ERA | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Home | 100.1 | 4.66 | 22 | 8.9% | 29.9% | .216 | .308 | .453 |
| Away | 112.2 | 4.31 | 12 | 9.1% | 25.9% | .242 | .320 | .407 |
| 1st Half | 132.0 | 3.61 | 17 | 9.2% | 26.8% | .214 | .305 | .390 |
| 2nd Half | 81.0 | 5.89 | 17 | 8.8% | 29.4% | .256 | .330 | .489 |
It’s tough to make much of his splits for home/road since he only made 10 starts with the Reds. He only made four home starts with Cincinnati, but had a 4.15 ERA in 26.0 innings with six homers allowed. In six starts on the road he threw 30.1 innings with six homers allowed and an 8.31 ERA. Small sample sizes on both ends of that one.
That said, the first half and second half numbers for Trevor Bauer are dramatic. His ERA jumped up by more than two full runs. A lot of that was a much higher home run rate, but his BABIP against also jumped from .269 to .325.
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| vsRHH | 491 | 94 | 27 | 3 | 14 | 8.3% | 31.0% | .216 | .294 | .388 |
| vsLHH | 420 | 90 | 16 | 4 | 20 | 9.8% | 24.1% | .247 | .339 | .478 |
When it comes to splits against hitters from both sides of the plate, Bauer is much better against right-handed hitters. His walk rate is lower, his strikeout rate is much higher, and his home run rate is much lower. Lefties just make more contact, and they hit for a lot more power – or at least they did in 2019 – against Bauer.
Pitch Usage and Value
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Change | Curve | Cutter | |
| Velo | 94.8 | 95.0 | 79.8 | 86.3 | 79.4 | 84.8 |
| Usage | 38% | 4% | 16% | 20% | 14% | 8% |
| Value/100 | -0.33 | 1.68 | -0.21 | -0.96 | 0.88 | 0.34 |
| MLB Rank | 82 | 9 | 62 | 80 | 16 | 18 |
| MLB Rank among 130 pitchers with 100 IP in 2019 | ||||||
Trevor Bauer seems to throw everything but the kitchen sink. Well, that and Alex Blandino’s knuckleball. On one side, he’s bringing an above-average 2-seamer, curve, and cutter to the table. On the other side of that, of the six pitches he throws, those three account for just 26% of the pitches that he throws. The three pitches that he threw most frequently in 2019 were all of negative value according to Fangraphs Pitch Values.
Michael Fulmer
The former 1st round pick was the 2016 American League Rookie of the year and an All-Star in 2017 for Detroit, but struggled in 2018 in 24 starts and then missed all of 2019 after having Tommy John surgery. In his first start of the year he allowed four runs on three homers in just 2.2 innings.
When Detroit came to Cincinnati for two exhibition games before the regular season began, Michael Fulmer started one of those games. He only threw 2.0 innings, but those innings were of the shutout variety and he struck out four of the eight batters he faced on the day.
Given that Michael Fulmer missed all of the 2019 season, we’re going to skip over some of the information we’d normally provide here for the opposing starting pitchers because going back two seasons doesn’t make too much sense.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| vsRHH | 931 | 209 | 37 | 3 | 25 | 6.1% | 19.7% | .245 | .297 | .383 |
| vsLHH | 964 | 210 | 44 | 2 | 26 | 7.5% | 18.2% | .241 | .307 | .386 |
| Career Splits | ||||||||||
For his career, Michael Fulmer doesn’t really show splits against lefties or righties – his rates are pretty even across the board with a small edge for lefties over righties.
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 93.2 | 93.7 | 86.7 | 87.2 | 77.1 |
| Usage | 53% | 5% | 29% | 10% | 3% |
The above data is from his first start of the season, which didn’t go well. It’s just one start, but coming back from Tommy John surgery the velocity for Michael Fulmer was down significantly. In 2018 he averaged 96.6 MPH on his fastball and in his first start this season that was down 3.5 MPH, averaging 93.15 according to Brooks Baseball. Perhaps that could change, but between his two innings against the Reds in the exhibition and his first start of the year the hardest he’s thrown is 94.6 MPH.
When and Where
- Game time: 1:10pm ET
- Where: Detroit’s Comerica Park
- Watch: Fox Sports Ohio, Fox Sports Detroit, MLB.tv, Fox Sports 1 (out of market only)
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 76° and cloudy with a 40% chance of rain.
NL Central Standings
| Team | Wins | Losses | GB |
| Cubs | 5 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Brewers | 3 | 3 | 1.5 |
| Cardinals | 2 | 3 | 2.0 |
| Pirates | 2 | 5 | 2.5 |
| Reds | 2 | 5 | 2.5 |
News and Notes
The season feels like it’s on the brink
The St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers game has been postponed for the second straight day as more Cardinals members have tested positive for COVID-19. Another player and three more staff members have tested positive today, bringing their total to three players according to Jon Heyman.
Earlier this morning Rob Manfred reportedly called their networks to inform them that they need to have alternate programming ready in case the season is put on hold and or cancelled.
The national TV partners of #MLB have indeed been told to have alternate programming ready next week in case games are postponed, as @KeithOlbermann reported.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 1, 2020
The Reds designated hitter must get going
Seven games into the season the Cincinnati Reds designated hitters are a combined 1-23 (.043) with six walks. They’ve also been pinch hit for six times and have gone hitless, with two walks, in those appearances, too. Something’s got to give.