The Cincinnati Reds (26-27) will look to beat the Chicago White Sox (34-18) on Sunday and pick up a series win. The Reds are sending Michael Lorenzen to the mound at 1:10pm ET and the White Sox will counter with Dylan Cease as they hope to grab the series victory for themselves.
Starting Lineups
Chicago White Sox
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
| Tim Anderson – SS | Shogo Akiyama – LF |
| Nick Madrigal – 2B | Nick Castellanos – RF |
| Jose Abreu – 1B | Joey Votto – 1B |
| Eloy Jimenez – LF | Eugenio Suárez – 3B |
| Edwin Encarnacio – DH | Mike Moustakas – 2B |
| James McCann – C | Jesse Winker – DH |
| Nomar Mazara – RF | Brian Goodwin – CF |
| Luis Robert – CF | Freddy Galvis – SS |
| Yolmer Sanchez | Tucker Barnhart – C |
| Dylan Cease – SP | Michael Lorenzen – SP |
The Reds are going lefty heavy to begin Sunday against Dylan Cease, who has had some problems with left-handed hitters this year.
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB% | K% |
| Michael Lorenzen | 25.2 | 4.56 | 1.48 | 12.3% | 20.2% |
| Dylan Cease | 50.2 | 3.20 | 1.38 | 11.5% | 15.7% |
| Links: Michael Lorenzen’s Stats | Dylan Cease’s Stats |
|||||
Michael Lorenzen
The Reds are giving Michael Lorenzen another chance at starting as the season winds down. He showed out well in his last start, allowing just one run in 5.0 innings and striking out six without a walk.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Cutter | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 97.3 | 96.3 | 93.0 | 85.4 | 87.2 | 93.1 |
| Usage | 34% | 7% | 19% | 13% | 19% | 8% |
Dylan Cease
Very little makes sense when you look at what’s happened against Dylan Cease this season with regards to his ERA. He’s posted a 3.20 ERA this season in 50.2 innings. That’s good and you’d expect to see some good peripherals with that. Instead, we don’t see a single peripheral that looks good. His walk rate of 11.5% ranks 88th out of 90 pitchers with 40 innings or more this season. His strikeout rate of 15.7% ranks 83rd. His home run rate is 69th.
Where he’s been able to overcome those, well, bad results, are in stranding runners where he ranks 12th and in BABIP, where he ranks 14th.
Lefties are hitting .271/.363/.523 against him this season. Righties are hitting .200/.304/.400 against him this season.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | Change | Slider | Curve | |
| Velo | 97.6 | 83.1 | 85.1 | 78.8 |
| Usage | 47% | 12% | 31% | 10% |
When and Where
- Game time: 1:10pm ET
- Where: Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati
- Watch: Fox Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 66°, sunny, 0% chance of rain
NL Central Standings
| Team | Wins | Losses | GB |
| Cubs | 31 | 21 | – |
| Cardinals | 25 | 24 | 4.5 |
| Reds | 26 | 27 | 5.5 |
| Brewers | 25 | 26 | 5.5 |
| Pittsburgh | 15 | 37 | 16.0 |
News and Notes
Stat of the Day
Robert Stephenson has allowed 8 home runs this season. He’s only allowed 11 total hits.
Updated Playoff Odds
After the loss last night, the Cincinnati Reds playoff odds fell to 45.4% according to Fangraphs. Baseball Reference has their playoff odds at 40.5%.