The Cincinnati Reds (25-26) will host the Chicago White Sox (33-17) for a 3-game series starting tonight at 7:10pm ET at Great American Ballpark. The White Sox have the best record in the American League and just clinched a playoff spot yesterday. Chicago will be sending rookie Jonathan Stiever to the mound, making just his second big league appearance.
Starting Lineups
Chicago White Sox
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Cincinnati Reds
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| Nick Madrigal – 2B | Shogo Akiyama – LF |
| Yasmani Grandal – C | Nick Castellanos – RF |
| Jose Abreu – 1B | Joey Votto – 1B |
| Eloy Jimenez – LF | Eugenio Suárez – 3B |
| Edwin Encarnacion – DH | Mike Moustakas – 2B |
| Yoan Moncada – 3B | Jesse Winker – DH |
| Luis Robert – CF | Brian Goodwin – CF |
| Nomar Mazara – RF | Jose Garcia – SS |
| Yolmer Sanchez – SS | Tucker Barnhart – C |
| Jonathan Stiever – SP | Tyler Mahle – SP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB% | K% |
| Tyler Mahle | 39.2 | 4.31 | 1.13 | 10.2% | 28.9% |
| Jonathan Stiever | 3.2 | 2.45 | 1.09 | 14.3% | 21.4% |
| Links: Tyler Mahle’s Stats | Jonathan Stiever’s Stats |
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Tyler Mahle
Both the Reds and Tyler Mahle would like to see a rebound to the guy who made the starts on August 28th, September 2nd, and September 8th tonight instead of the one who didn’t make it out of the 3rd inning the last time he took the mound and struggled to throw strikes as he walked four batters in 2.2 innings.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | Cutter | Slider | Split | Curve | |
| Velo | 94.1 | 87.3 | 85.6 | 87.8 | 80.5 |
| Usage | 55% | 27% | 7% | 11% | 1% |
Jonathan Stiever
The Chicago White Sox are sending out Jonathan Stiever for only his second career appearance. The 23-year-old allowed a run in 3.2 innings last week against the Detroit Tigers. Prior to that his highest level of experience was in Advanced-A in 2019 where he made 12 starts with a 2.15 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 71.0 innings. He began the year as the White Sox #6 prospect according to Baseball America.
Pitch Usage in 2020
With just 3.2 innings, this isn’t too useful when looking at the usage rates.
| 4-Seam | Change | Slider | Curve | |
| Velo | 92.8 | 79.9 | 83.9 | 75.5 |
| Usage | 66% | 11% | 16% | 7% |
When and Where
- Game time: 7:10pm ET
- Where: Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati
- Watch: Fox Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 61°, sunny, 0% chance of rain
NL Central Standings
| Team | Wins | Losses | GB |
| Cubs | 30 | 20 | – |
| Reds | 25 | 26 | 5.5 |
| Cardinals | 22 | 24 | 6.0 |
| Brewers | 23 | 26 | 6.5 |
| Pittsburgh | 15 | 34 | 14.5 |
News and Notes
Trevor Bauer to start on Saturday, Michael Lorenzen Sunday
The Cincinnati Reds began today without announcing any of their rotation for this series. But we now know that Tyler Mahle’s pitching tonight and that Trevor Bauer will face off against Dallas Keuchel on Saturday in a match up of two of the best starters in Major League Baseball in 2020. Michael Lorenzen, who allowed just one run in 5.0 innings with no walks and six strikeouts in his only start of the season this past week, will start on Sunday.
Roster moves
The Reds have activated Eugenio Suárez today. The corresponding roster move was to option reliever RJ Alaniz back to the alternate roster at Prasco Park. They also announced that outfielder Nick Williams cleared waivers and was outrighted to Prasco Park’s alternate roster.
Updated Playoff Odds
Fangraphs has the Cincinnati Reds playoff odds up to 54.5%% after all of the games on Thursday, with several working out in the Reds favor. Baseball Reference has the Reds playoff odds at 49.3%.