The Cincinnati Reds (15-20) will look to rebound after last night’s loss to the St. Louis Cardinals (13-13) in the second game of their three game series. The Reds will be sending Sonny Gray to the mound to counter the Cardinals starter Kwang-Hyun Kim.
Starting Lineups
St. Louis Cardinals
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Cincinnati Reds
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| Kolton Wong – 2B | Joey Votto – 1B |
| Tommy Edman – LF | Nick Castellanos – RF |
| Paul Goldschmidt – 1B | Matt Davidson – DH |
| Brad Miller – DH | Eugenio Suárez – 3B |
| Paul DeJong – SS | Mike Moustakas – 2B |
| Yadier Molina – C | Aristides Aquino – LF |
| Matt Carpenter – 3B | Jose Garcia – SS |
| Dexter Fowler – RF | Shogo Akiyama – CF |
| Thomas Lane – CF | Curt Casali – C |
| Kwang-Hyun Kim – SP | Sonny Gray – SP |
With a left-handed starter on the mound, the Reds are going heavy with right-handed hitters on the night. Joey Votto, Mike Moustakas, and Shogo Akiyama represent the only lefties in the lineup. As you can see below in the pitcher breakdown – Kim rarely misses bats against right-handed hitters, which hopefully is a recipe for success for the Cincinnati lineup.
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB% | K% |
| Sonny Gray | 41.2 | 1.94 | 1.01 | 9.0% | 32.9% |
| Kwang-Hyun Kim | 16.2 | 1.08 | 0.90 | 6.2% | 10.8% |
| Links: Sonny Gray’s Stats | Kwang-Hyun Kim’s Stats |
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Sonny Gray
There haven’t been many pitchers in Major League Baseball that have been better than Sonny Gray since the start of 2019. He’s made 38 starts for Cincinnati in that time with a 2.70 ERA. He’ll be looking to pick up his sixth win of the year
2020 Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 68 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.4% | 36.8% | .210 | .279 | .274 |
| LHH | 99 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10.1% | 30.3% | .159 | .253 | .284 |
No one has found much success against Sonny Gray this year. Righties have a slightly higher OPS, but with less power, less walks, and more strikeouts.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Curve | Change | |
| Velo | 93.6 | 93.2 | 83.4 | 81.0 | 89.1 |
| Usage | 28% | 27% | 17% | 27% | 1% |
Kwang-Hyun Kim
The left-handed pitcher has made three starts and one relief appearance this year with the Cardinals. He’s only thrown 16.2 innings, but they’ve been good ones as he’s allowed just two earned runs on the season to this point. He doesn’t miss bats, with one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball – but that has not come back to harm him yet.
2020 Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 55 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.6% | 7.3% | .170 | .200 | .245 |
| LHH | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20.0% | 30.0% | .250 | .400 | .500 |
The sample size is pretty small to work with here. The sample is a lot larger against right-handed hitters, who have made a bunch of contact but done very little with it. Lefties have only been sent to the plate 10 times this year against Kim, so the sample is rather useless to look at – but both hits against him while facing lefties were doubles.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | Curve | Change | Slider | |
| Velo | 90.7 | 70.3 | 80.6 | 83.0 |
| Usage | 45% | 11% | 10% | 34% |
When and Where
- Game time: 6:40pm ET
- Where: Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati.
- Watch: Fox Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 81°, cloudy, 5% chance of rain
NL Central Standings
| Team | Wins | Losses | GB |
| Cubs | 20 | 14 | – |
| Cardinals | 13 | 13 | 3.0 |
| Brewers | 16 | 18 | 4.0 |
| Reds | 15 | 20 | 5.5 |
| Pirates | 10 | 22 | 9.0 |
News and Notes
Brian Goodwin and Archie Bradley are activated tonight
The two newest Cincinnati Reds have been added to the roster in time for tonight’s game as both Brian Goodwin and Archie Bradley arrived at Great American Ballpark before first pitch. Outfielder Mark Payton and right-handed pitcher José De León were optioned to the alternate roster at Prasco Park to create room for them on the 28-man roster.
Nick Senzel is working out at Prasco Park
Manager David Bell noted this afternoon that Nick Senzel would be at Prasco Park working out today as he makes his way back from the injured list.
Reds outfielder Nick Senzel to begin working out at Prasco today
Jesse Winker drops his appeal
In the least shocking news of the day, Jesse Winker has dropped his appeal of his 1-game suspension and will be serving that suspension tonight for his involvement in a bench clearing shouting match with the Chicago Cubs over the weekend.
Updated Playoff Odds
After the loss last night to the Cardinals, the Cincinnati Reds playoff odds are now at 40.4% according to Fangraphs, who projects them to finish 29-31 on the season at this point. Baseball Reference projects the playoff odds for the Reds at 20..%.