The Cincinnati Reds (21-26) will be hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates (14-30) today for a double header starting at 4:10pm ET. The Reds are sending out Trevor Bauer and Anthony DeSclafani, hoping for a sweep of the last place Pirates, who are sending out Cody Ponce and Mitch Keller.
Game 1 Information
Starting Lineups
Pittsburgh Pirates
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
| Erik Gonzalez – SS | Shogo Akiyama – LF |
| Adam Frazier – LF | Nick Castellanos – DH |
| Ke’Bryan Hayes – 3B | Joey Votto – 1B |
| Colin Moran – 1B | Eugenio Suárez – 3B |
| Josh Bell – DH | Mike Moustakas – 2B |
| Bryan Reynolds – CF | Aristides Aquino – RF |
| Kevin Newman – 2B | Nick Senzel – CF |
| Cole Tucker – RF | Tucker Barnhart – C |
| John Ryan Murphy – C | Jose Garcia – SS |
| Cody Ponce – SP | Trevor Bauer – SP |
*Stares intensely at the center field position on the lineup card*
That’s right – Nick Senzel is back. No active roster move is required for today since the team can have 29 players. Cody Ponce and Trevor Bauer are facing off in a double header for the second time this year. Cincinnati is hoping things go better this time around as they lost that game 4-3 10 days ago.
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB% | K% |
| Trevor Bauer | 51.2 | 1.74 | 0.79 | 6.6% | 36.0% |
| Cody Ponce | 13.0 | 3.46 | 1.15 | 7.7% | 17.3% |
| Links: Trevor Bauer’s Stats | Cody Ponce’s Stats |
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Trevor Bauer
A Cy Young contender, Trevor Bauer is going to need to dominate a team that he should today in the Pittsburgh Pirates if he’s going to remain in that race. And the Reds need him to do so, too, if they’re going to remain in the playoff race.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Cutter | Change | Slider | Curve | |
| Velo | 93.8 | 94.5 | 85.0 | 84.5 | 80.8 | 79.6 |
| Usage | 51% | 1% | 22% | 1% | 15% | 11% |
Cody Ponce
Pittsburgh hasn’t used Cody Ponce much this season – he’s pitched just four times. His last two appearances came as a starter in double headers. The last time he took the mound was against Cincinnati on September 4th when he allowed three runs in 4.0 innings and gave up two homers.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Cutter | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 93.7 | 93.7 | 89.9 | 85.2 | 78.5 |
| Usage | 41% | 1% | 26% | 9% | 23% |
Game 2 Information
Starting Lineups
Pittsburgh Pirates
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
| Erik Gonzalez – SS | Shogo Akiyama – LF |
| Adam Frazier – LF | Nick Castellanos – RF |
| Ke’Bryan Hayes – 3B | Joey Votto – DH |
| Colin Moran – DH | Eugenio Suárez – 3B |
| Josh Bell – 1B | Mike Moustakas – 1B |
| Bryan Reynolds – CF | Brian Goodwin – CF |
| Gregory Polanco – RF | Freddy Galvis – 2B |
| Kevin Newman – 2B | Kyle Farmer – SS |
| Jacob Stallings – C | Curt Casali – C |
| Mitch Keller – SP | Anthony DeSclafani – SP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB% | K% |
| A. DeSclafani | 25.0 | 7.20 | 1.76 | 11.7% | 13.3% |
| Mitch Keller | 7.2 | 3.52 | 1.43 | 12.9% | 9.7% |
| Links: Anthony DeSclafani’s Stats | Mitch Keller’s Stats |
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Anthony DeSclafani
It’s been a down season for Anthony DeSclafani, who has watched his walk rate spike and his strikeout rate decline down to Bronson Arroyo levels. He’s going to need to step up today as the Reds have zero room for error moving forward.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Change | Slider | Curve | |
| Velo | 95.3 | 95.2 | 88.6 | 86.8 | 82.2 |
| Usage | 33% | 18% | 8% | 30% | 11% |
Mitch Keller
The Pirates will be sending Mitch Keller to the mound for just the third time this season. He’s thrown just 7.2 innings this season walked four batters, given up two home runs, and struck out three batters. Last season with Pittsburgh he allowed 72 hits in 48.0 innings.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 92.9 | 85.9 | 88.1 | 77.2 |
| Usage | 59% | 18% | 4% | 18% |
When and Where
- Game time: 4:10pm ET
- Where: Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati
- Watch: Fox Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 76°, mostly sunny, 0% chance of rain
NL Central Standings
| Team | Wins | Losses | GB |
| Cubs | 28 | 20 | – |
| Cardinals | 20 | 20 | 4.0 |
| Brewers | 20 | 24 | 6.0 |
| Reds | 21 | 26 | 6.5 |
| Pittsburgh | 14 | 30 | 12.0 |
News and Notes
Jesse Winker’s availability
Jesse Winker is still out of the lineup – he hasn’t taken the field since he left the game on the 10th with a back issue (tightened up). Manager David Bell said pre-game that Winker would test his back out before game 1 with the hopes that he’ll be available off the bench today.
Are we weeing a new and improved Luis Castillo?
There are some things going on this season for Luis Castillo that look different from the past few seasons, but is he really any different in 2020 than he has been since coming up to the Major Leagues in June of 2017?
Matt Bowman will have Tommy John surgery this week
Matt Bowman will have Tommy John surgery later this week. #Reds
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) September 14, 2020
Updated Playoff Odds
After a weekend series win against the St. Louis Cardinals, Fangraphs has the Cincinnati Reds playoff odds at 25.1% and projects them to finish the season at 28-32. Baseball Reference has the Cincinnati Reds playoff odds at 22.1%.