The Cincinnati Reds (10-13) will look to rebound from a soul crushing loss on Thursday night that saw them enter the 9th inning with a 2-run lead, only to watch it evaporate while the bullpen didn’t record a single out against the St. Louis Cardinals 7-7).
Starting Lineups
Cincinnati Reds
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St. Louis Cardinals
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| Joey Votto – 1B | Kolten Wong – 2B |
| Nick Castellanos – RF | Tommy Edman – SS |
| Jesse Winker – LF | Paul Goldschmidt – 1B |
| Eugenio Suárez – 3B | Matt Carpenter – 3B |
| Mike Moustakas – 2B | Brad Miller – DH |
| Shogo Akiyama – CF | Tyler O’Neill – LF |
| Josh VanMeter – DH | Dexter Fowler – RF |
| Freddy Galvis – SS | Yadier Molina – C |
| Tucker Barnhart – C | Harrison Bader – CF |
| Anthony DeSclafani – SP | Dakota Hudson – SP |
The Reds have again stacked their lineup with left-handed bats against the St. Louis Cardinals. There’s plenty of reason to do that against Dakota Hudson, who has some big splits against lefties and righties.
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB% | K% |
| A. DeSclafani | 13.0 | 6.23 | 1.31 | 5.5% | 16.4% |
| Dakota Hudson | 8.1 | 5.40 | 1.32 | 5.9% | 20.6% |
| Links: Anthony DeSclafani’s Stats | Dakota Hudson’s Stats |
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Anthony DeSclafani
The first two starts of 2020 went about as well as one could hope for Anthony DeSclafani after throwing 5.0 shutout innings and following it up with 6.0 shutout innings. But he then went out and pulled a “Bronson Arroyo”, who famously would have about one start a year where he just got lit up like he was the tree at Rockafeller Center. The Pirates scored nine runs in 2.0 innings against the Reds right-handed starter the last time he took the mound. Tucker Barnhart noted after the game that they believe he was tipping his pitches and the Reds simply figured out what it was too late.
2020 Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 22 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.5% | 9.1% | .143 | .182 | .190 |
| LHH | 33 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6.1% | 21.2% | .355 | .394 | .710 |
The sample size for Anthony DeSclafani in 2020 is pretty small. He’s faced all of 55 hitters this year. What’s a bit crazy to see in that sample, though, is that he’s only struck out two of the 22 right-handed hitters he’s faced this year. Righties have done absolutely no damage at all against him to this point, with an OPS against him under .400. Left-handed hitters have not made nearly as much contact, but when they have, it’s counted. Lefties have an OPS of 1.104 against him this season.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Curve | Change | |
| Velo | 95.3 | 95.1 | 87.1 | 81.7 | 88.7 |
| Usage | 32% | 21% | 26% | 11% | 9% |
There hasn’t been much change from DeSclafani from 2019-2020 yet when it comes to his pitch usage. A few more change ups and a few less curveballs, but we’re talking 2-3 per game between the two. His fastball velocity is up ever so slightly. The slider and curveball are both about 2 MPH slower than they were last season, though. That hasn’t resulted in much of a change in how the curveball moves, but his slider is acting quite different. In 2019 it was more of a cutter than a slider, but in 2020 thus far it’s more of a pure slider, showing 4 more inches of vertical movement (downward).
Dakota Hudson
With the Cardinals missing so much time due to a COVID-19 outbreak, Dakota Hudson has only made two starts this season. He’s only thrown 8.1 total innings, and he’s taken the loss in both games.
2019 Splits
With just two starts this season, current splits don’t mean much of anything. Here’s how his splits break down for last season:
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| vsRHH | 382 | 79 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 8.2% | 19.4% | .232 | .308 | .362 |
| vsLHH | 375 | 81 | 26 | 0 | 11 | 14.7% | 16.5% | .260 | .369 | .449 |
Last season saw pretty big splits for Dakota Hudson. He didn’t miss many bats against lefties or righties, but he walked a ton of left-handed hitters – nearly as many as he struck out. Lefties also showed a big difference in power against Hudson, too. There’s probably a good reason for that, too – right-handed hitters had a 64% ground ball rate against him. Lefties still hit the ball on the ground a lot, 49.6% – but that’s the difference between being a good ground ball pitcher and an elite one.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Cutter | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 93.8 | 93.9 | 88.9 | 83.2 | 88.7 |
| Usage | 22% | 34% | 25% | 19% | 1% |
You’re not going to see a lot of change ups from Dakota Hudson. He’ll mix in his fastballs a little more than half of the time, then split things up between a cutter and a slider fairly evenly.
When and Where
- Game time: 8:15pm ET
- Where: St. Louis’ Busch Stadium
- Watch: Fox Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 81°, sunny, 0% chance of rain.
NL Central Standings
| Team | Wins | Losses | GB |
| Cubs | 16 | 8 | – |
| Cardinals | 7 | 7 | 4.0 |
| Brewers | 11 | 12 | 4.5 |
| Reds | 10 | 13 | 5.5 |
| Pirates | 4 | 17 | 10.5 |
News and Notes
From earlier today: It’s time for the Reds to try a new closer after Raisel Iglesias was charged with the 14th loss in the last two seasons.
The Reds make up dates with the Pirates
The Cincinnati Reds will play a doubleheader on September 4th at PNC Park, with them being the home team for game two, and another one on September 14th at Great American Ballpark.